Groups ranging from citizens advocates to wireless companies told NTIA they would like more-efficient spectrum management, but many drew the line at consolidating that function in one place, such as the White House. Reflecting the controversial nature of the Bush Administration’s inquiry into spectrum management improvements, a think tank defended a report it presented last fall against critics who argued the report would place all spectrum regulation under one person. Meanwhile, several other commenters said they were as concerned about improved management as they were about who was responsible for it.
House and Senate Appropriations Agriculture Subcommittees leaders received letters Wed. from the Wireless Communications Assn. (WCA) and TIA, both urging full funding of the Rural Utilities Service (RUS) broadband loan program. The TIA letter urged $20 million for the RUS program in the 2005 agriculture appropriations bill. The measure didn’t receive full funding in the 2004 Omnibus Appropriations bill, but Sens. Dorgan (D-N.D.) and Burns (R-Mont.) successfully pushed an increase from $9 million to $15.1 million. TIA argued that a funding of $20 million, which was originally authorized in the 2002 Farm Bill, would create $700 million in loans and loan guarantees for broadband services in rural communities with populations up to 20,000. “The RUS program helps break down the financial barriers that have created the broadband digital divide in our country,” said TIA Pres. Matthew Flanigan. WCA has also circulated a similar letter that was sent to the House and Senate Appropriations Agriculture Subcommittee leaders. It had 73 signatures, including TIA’s, as well as Alcatel, CEA, Cisco, Corning, EIA, Lucent, OFS, the Rural Broadband Federation, SIA, and USTA. “Considering that these monies serve the dual purpose of providing broadband connectivity for rural communities and creating new jobs for the nation, this expenditure would appear to be money well spent,” said the letter.
The renewal of blanket licenses for mobile earth station terminals (METs) and VSATs shouldn’t depend on whether all are deployed within a year, the Satellite Industry Assn. (SIA) told the FCC. The renewals of MET and VSAT licenses were 2 of several clarifications SIA made to the FCC as part of the regulatory review of licensing and spectrum use of satellite network earth stations and space stations. In a letter, SIA said it didn’t support Commission proposals for METs that require MET licensees to bring their networks into use within a year of the issue of the blanket license and proposing renewal only for the licenses for the stations brought into use. SIA said the revocation of licenses for stations not in use “is inconsistent with the concept of blanket licenses as adopted for mobile satellite service (MSS) systems” and with an order which said blanket licenses also cover compatible METs used temporarily in the U.S.: “MET licensees of global MSS systems can never construct or deploy in the U.S. the total number of METs in their U.S. blanket licenses; because they must assume that an indeterminable number of technically compatible roaming METs may be brought into the U.S. by visiting non-U.S. users at any time.” SIA said a similar VSAT proposal -- limiting the number of blanket license renewals based on the number of VSATs actually deployed -- is “impractical” and will only increase the burden on operators and Commission staff: “The very purpose of the Commission’s blanket licensing policy is to permit flexibility and system growth, to reduce administrative overhead for both the Commission and the licensee, and to prevent regulatory delays. Limiting renewals to the number of installed VSATs would defeat the main purpose of the policy and restrict the flexibility it has brought to the licensees.” Additionally, SIA said it opposed “licensing C-band and Ku-band FSS antennas on the basis of power density reductions.”
The Satellite Bcstg. & Communications Assn.’s (SBCA) nearly 7-month search for a president has ended. The association named Richard DalBello, current Satellite Industry Assn. (SIA) pres., to replace Andrew Wright, who resigned in Sept. “As a result of Richard’s past experience in the public and private sectors he has an unmatched appreciation for the complexity of the issues affecting our industry,” said SBCA Chmn. David Moskowitz.
The Satellite Bcstg. & Communications Assn.’s (SBCA) nearly 7-month search for a president has ended. The association named Richard DalBello, current Satellite Industry Assn. (SIA) pres., to replace Andrew Wright, who resigned in Sept. (CD Sept 8 p4). “As a result of Richard’s past experience in the public and private sectors he has an unmatched appreciation for the complexity of the issues affecting our industry,” said SBCA Chmn. David Moskowitz.
The Satellite Industry Assn. (SIA) and the Asia-Pacific Satellite Communications Council (APSCC) plan increased cooperation, according to a memorandum of understanding (MOU) they signed. They said the MOU would allow members to “become members of each other’s organizations, co-sponsor events, collaborate and/or draft documents of mutual interest.” Additionally, the groups hoped to: (1) Increase coordination between groups in the U.S. and Asia-Pacific region. (2) Create a broader base and more powerful global voice. (3) Provide nonpartisan information, opinion and commentary on issues affecting the satellite community.
AT&T told NTIA it believed mitigation measures could be implemented to allow deployment of unlicensed devices at 3650-3700 MHz while protecting earth stations from harmful interference. NTIA sought comment on frequency or geographic avoidance technologies and other techniques to prevent or reduce interference in this band related to unlicensed devices. The FCC opened an inquiry in 2002 on making additional spectrum available for unlicensed devices. The inquiry covered the feasibility of allowing unlicensed devices in bands such as 3650-3700 MHz at power levels higher than other unlicensed transmitters with certain technical requirements to prevent interference. NTIA said there appeared to be benefits in allowing higher power usage at 3650-3700 MHz for rural markets, but said that approach would likely have limited success in urban markets “due to the lack of supportable competition due to interference given the typical channel width of 20 MHz.” AT&T said it backed the proposed opening of spectrum for use by unlicensed devices, “provided that means are established to prevent harmful interference to AT&T’s C-band satellite earth stations.” AT&T said it operated some satellite earth stations in the “extended C-band” at 3650-3700 MHz. “Unless appropriate measures are employed, operation of unlicensed devices in the extended C-band could directly interfere with these earth stations, which are very sensitive to interference,” AT&T told NTIA in a filing. Because the earth stations are generally in remote locations, AT&T said mitigation measures such as power limits and frequency hopping could be used to allow unlicensed devices in this band while protecting earth stations. In a separate filing last week, the Satellite Industry Assn. (SIA) raised concerns about the fixed satellite services (FSS) in the band and adjacent bands that could be affected by unlicensed devices in this spectrum. SIA Pres. Richard Dalbello said in 2000 the use of these frequencies was grandfathered for certain pre-existing FSS earth stations by way of restricting terrestrial mobile services to base station operations. “Several SIA members are currently authorized to provide FSS services in these frequencies and are particularly concerned with the potential impact on services due to the aggregate power to be radiated by these unlicensed devices, given that the total number of devices is not known,” he said. He stressed the importance of ensuring that out-of-band emissions from such unlicensed devices were low enough to guarantee there won’t be interference into FSS systems operating in adjacent spectrum. SIA asked that NTIA consider the impact on commercial operations while researching the potential impact of unlicensed devices on govt. services in this spectrum “given that commercial operators may currently, or in the future, utilize these frequencies to provide services to the U.S. govt.”
FCC Chmn. Powell will keynote the Satellite Leadership Dinner March 2 in Washington, sponsored by the Satellite Bcstg. & Communications Assn. (SBCA) and Satellite Industry Assn. (SIA), it was learned.
The Satellite Industry Assn. (SIA) urged the FCC to exempt geostationary satellite orbit (GSO) birds from any new disposal orbit requirements. SIA was referring to the Commission’s pending rulemaking on orbital debris, and emphasized that “any new rules should apply prospectively only, to satellites launched after the rules are adopted.” While data had been presented on the potential monetary loss to operators under new rules, SIA said “the record does not demonstrate that retroactive application of any new rules would result in significant benefits.”
Four space organizations announced formation of the National Space & Satellite Alliance (NSSA). The Satellite Industry Assn. (SIA), the National Space Society, the Space Foundation and the Washington Space Business Roundtable are the founding members of the organization, which will “marshal the resources of the space and satellite advocacy community to most effectively advance the exploration and development of space and the utilization of space and satellite systems and technologies.” While the members plan to coordinate Washington operations, programs and activities, an SIA spokesman said none would disappear: “No one is going away, we'll just work close together in the future.” A spokesman for the Satellite Bcstg. & Communications Assn. (SBCA) said his organization didn’t join because its members’ goals are different. He said while SBCA and SIA coordinated on issues, SBCA had been presented with a plan for the alliance that was focused on military, satellite manufacturing and hardware industries, while SBCA members were more interested in entertainment. The SIA spokesman said NSSA planned to approach more organizations in 6 months, after accomplishing some of its goals, including: (1) Building congressional support for space exploration. (2) Working on export control laws that protect national security without burdening industry. (3) Increasing public awareness of the role of satellite systems in homeland security. NSSA, which won’t have a dedicated staff, will be located at 1620 I St. NW and plans to establish a Web site at www.spacealliance.org.