A handful of World Trade Organization member countries have policies unfriendly toward the U.S. satellite industry, according to a new Satellite Industry Assn. (SIA) report. The document, which some experts said could have some influence, also singled out several countries not part of WTO but with membership offers on the table.
Despite assurances to the contrary from the Defense Dept., sources say the agency may drastically alter the structure of it’s $2.1 billion commercial satellite contract. Major service providers such as Intelsat and SES Americom have sought the changes.
There’s a potential for interference between Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC) and Fixed Satellite Service (FSS) earth stations, the Satellite Industry Assn. (SIA) said in comments to the FCC. The SIA stressed that interference assessments should be required of applicants for all DSRC, as should interference mitigation techniques. SIA also recommended that the FCC not license DSRC stations until the applicants complete the “interference contours” for in-band cases. The SIA said it was crucial that FSS earth stations continue to be deployed where they're needed, unencumbered by the possible proliferation of DSRC stations.
Interference from UWB operations under the Multiband OFDM Alliance (MBOA) Special Interest Group’s proposal would be at 4 times the power of other UWB systems, the Coalition of C-band Constituents told the FCC. The group was responding to a request to the FCC by MBOA for a waiver of certain measurement procedures for frequency- hopping orthogonal frequency domain modulation (OFDM) because it said the existing tests didn’t account for the new technology its system uses. The Satellite Industry Assn. (SIA) asked the Commission to deny the waiver because that would mean inaccurate results (CD Sept 30 p6). The Coalition submitted a filing and engineering study that supported those concerns and said the resulting interference would increase, though pulses would last only 242.2 nanosec., “while seeming to be operating in a compliant manner.” MBOA’s proposal -- averaging the signals instead of comparing the length of quiet periods to periods between pulses -- would “hide the fact that [it] has gotten a four-fold power increase over competing UWB systems by virtue of a defective measurement technique,” the Coalition said.
The Satellite Industry Assn. weighed in strongly Wed. against a waiver request filed in Aug. by the Multiband OFDM Alliance (MBOA), one of the 2 main ultra-wideband (UWB) groups. With other comments still coming in, the SIA filing is considered critical since satellite operators are the incumbents that will be most affected by any UWB interference.
A proposal that the Commission allow smaller, less obtrusive antennas for 11-GHz transmissions encountered almost no opposition and should be allowed, FiberTower told the FCC Tues. FiberTower said in its reply comments that only the Satellite Industry Assn. (SIA) raised objections. The company did agree with SIA that rule language should give earth station applicants the same protection provided 4-ft. fixed satellite applicants: “FiberTower repairs that discrepancy with a modification to its proposed rule language,” the company said. FiberTower denied complaints that 2-ft. antennas, as compared to traditional 4-ft. models, will increase interference for FSS earth stations. “Under the proposed rules, earth stations are affected identically by 2-ft. antennas and 4-ft. antennas,” the company said: “Just as SIA would have no basis to complain about increased use of the band by 4-ft. FS antennas, it can have no objection to 2-ft. antennas under these rules.” Many companies, from wireless carriers to gas pipelines, use the frequency for communications between units (CD Aug 25 p8).
Spectrum incumbents, led by satellite operators, are expected to object strongly to a request for waiver filed by the Multiband OFDM Alliance (MBOA) in late Aug. asking the FCC to waive some of its measurement procedures for frequency-hopping (FH) OFDM ultra-wideband devices. One source said Tues. that some of the first satellite studies of FH, the technology promoted by the MBOA, show more interference than for direct sequencing. Maritime radar interests, the Coast Guard and the FAA are also scrutinizing the FH proposal.
Satellite operators led by the Satellite Industry Assn. (SIA) are joining wireless carriers in objecting to a proposed auction of H-block spectrum. The satellite interests see potential interference from the 1995 MHz to 2000 MHz or upper band part of the allocation. Wireless carriers see potential interference instead from the lower band allocation at 1915-1920 MHz. Wireless carrier sources said Wed. the new round of objections may not be enough to stave off a vote establishing an H-block auction at the Sept. 9 meeting.
“Scant support” for an FCC proposal to allow use of unlicensed devices in the extended C-band should indicate such a rule change is against the public interest, said the Satellite Industry Assn. (SIA). The FCC made the proposal in April and suggested that the band (3650-3700 MHz) could have both licensed and unlicensed uses, including new and advanced wireless services. The proposal included safeguards for existing fixed satellite service (FSS) operations in the band, such as requiring professional installation of unlicensed devices and “listen-before-talk” capabilities (CD April 16 p4). But SIA said in reply comments there was “little or no enthusiasm from potential [wireless ISP (WISP)] providers or customers, thus evidencing the limited interest in this spectrum for unlicensed devices.” SIA said the Commission’s proposed protections aren’t proven, and proposals by commenters that would require satellite licensees to reimburse new entrants for the protection forget that new entrants would “operate on an unprotected, non-harmful interference basis, and thus are required to bear the burden of interference avoidance.” If the Commission adopts its proposed rules, the “exclusion,” or protection, zones around earth stations should be expanded, rather than eliminated as suggested by some commenters.
A proposal by FiberTower that the FCC allow much smaller antennas for 11-GHz transmissions could be a boon to companies from railroads managing their trains to wireless carriers building out their systems. But it has run into strong opposition from the Satellite Industry Assn. (SIA), which is raising interference concerns.