The Satellite Industry Assn. (SIA), in a letter to Senate Commerce Committee Chmn. McCain (R-Ariz.), disputed Northpoint Technology statements about its treatment by the FCC. SIA disputed Northpoint’s claim that it was at a regulatory disadvantage to satellite providers. In an Oct. letter to McCain, Northpoint said Multichannel Video Distribution & Data Services (MVDDS) should be exempt from spectrum auctions because they would provide a competing service to satellite DBS providers (CD Oct 30 p14). Northpoint is lobbying for amendments that would grant such an auction exception. One such amendment was added to the Senate Commerce Justice State appropriations bill (S-1585). “Northpoint’s assertion contrasts sharply with the position of the Honorable [FCC] Chairman Michael Powell, who indicated in an October 23, 2003, letter to you that the last decade has seen ‘explosive wireless growth, innovation and competition,'” the Nov. 11 letter said. SIA also said that while the FCC hadn’t held an auction for domestic DBS licenses in more than 6 years, the Commission had auctioned satellite licenses in another domestic satellite service, including the Digital Audio Radio Satellite (DARS). The FCC also will auction several DBS orbital positions soon, the letter said. SIA said Northpoint also was wrong when it said the FCC had given Boeing spectrum without auction. The FCC didn’t give Boeing spectrum in the 12.2-12.7 GHz band, as SIA said Northpoint reported, and the spectrum award was analogous to satellite earth stations, which also aren’t auctioned.
The FCC should dismiss proposals from Telesat Canada and Qualcomm concerning C- and Ka-band spectrum use requirements, said the Satellite Industry Assn. (SIA). SIA’s comments were a part of the Commission’s review of spectrum use and licensing for satellite network earth stations and space stations. Telesat proposed to extend an SIA proposal, relaxing antenna gain pattern requirement in the 14-14.5 GHz band (Ku-band), to antennas transmitting in the C- and Ka- band, SIA said. Telesat doesn’t take into account that C- band antennas already operate at reduced power levels, SIA said, effectively reducing interference concerns. Additionally, the proposal doesn’t need to be adopted in the Ka-band because the Commission has already adopted standards there, the organization said: “Moreover, given that the first satellites are expected to be launched only this year and Ka-band licensees have been developing their networks based on the current rules, it is inappropriate to extend proposed new rules to the Ka-band.” Additionally, SIA said Qualcomm’s proposals for more-restrictive standards for interference from VSAT network transmissions should be dismissed because the company hasn’t provided “evidence or analysis to support its proposal to reduce the probability of collisions by an arbitrary factor of 10.”
CTIA, the Telecom Industry Assn. and the Satellite Industry Assn. raised concerns to NTIA Tues. on how some of the FCC’s spectrum reform ideas were being presented to international regulators. The groups said they backed the efforts of the Spectrum Policy Task Force, which delivered a report to the FCC last fall. But they said they were “alarmed” that recent U.S. submissions to the ITU could be misinterpreted as formal FCC policy rather than a staff report.
The Satellite Industry Assn. (SIA) urged the FCC to adopt the -10 dB interference-to-noise (I/N) ratio that it proposed instead of a 0 dB I/N ratio put forward by XtremeSpectrum for ultra-wideband systems. While Xtreme’s ratio came from the ITU’s Radio Regulations, that ratio is only for short-term interference to determine the coordination distance from terrestrial fixed stations, SIA said. It said Xtreme’s technical statement actually supported a ratio of -6 dB and a correction of methodological errors actually brought the number closer to SIA: “Xtreme’s satellite link degradation calculation was erroneous, because it failed to take international interference standards into account… Taken into account, Xtreme’s analysis would yield an I/N ratio between -10 and -20 dB -- the same I/N ratio that the SIA supports.”
The bond requirement for future satellite licensees still is a major concern among satellite manufacturers and operators, based on comments filed with the FCC on its new licensing order. A joint filing by 7 satellite companies says the Commission has “gone too far” in establishing the requirement and asks that it be eliminated. The bond proposal was a part of the Commission’s space station licensing order adopted in April that established new licensing methods (CD April 24 p6). The FCC has questioned whether the original proposal of $7.5 million bond for nongeostationary and $5 million for geostationary should be lowered and whether companies should have the option of establishing an escrow account instead.
The Satellite Industry Assn. (SIA) asked the FCC to extend the deadline for reply comments in an ultrawideband (UWB) rulemaking proceeding asking for comments on revising the UWB rules. SIA proposed extending the deadline by 7 days, ending on Sept. 26. The extra time is needed to respond properly to comments submitted by XtremeSpectrum, SIA said. Xtreme’s comments included new engineering data which SIA intends to analyze for a thorough response, but it will take more than the 10 days allowed in the rules, the organization said.
The FCC should deny Vista Control’s request for a waiver of ultra wideband (UWB) rules governing power levels, the Satellite Industry Assn. (SIA) said. While SIA has supported UWB development, it said, interference to fixed and mobile satellite systems has to be considered. Vista has proposed to operate at 40 dB higher than the standard limit, SIA said: “UWB devices operating in compliance with the rules… pose an interference threat to C-band reception. If Vista’s waiver were granted, Vista’s systems would expose C-band earth stations to power levels 10,000 times that permitted under the UWB rules.” The company hasn’t justified the power increases, has provided only unreliable testing and has limited its interference analysis to GPS services, SIA said, when the C-band is heavily used for FSS services such as program distribution, military broadband communications, commercial weather data, and position location and status for trucking fleets. The Commission should proceed cautiously and avoid jeopardizing the investment in C-band infrastructure, it said.
The telecom industry was disappointed at the collapse of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Conference in Cancun that ended Sun., as “no progress” was made on the services side, including telecom, industry officials said. However, Patricia Paoletta, attorney at Wiley, Rein & Fielding, said the results weren’t surprising as “nobody expected any breakthrough” on the telecom side, with progress on agriculture issues being a “precondition for telecom services [issues] to move” forward.
Executives of member companies of the European Satellite Operators Assn. (ESOA) and the Satellite Industry Assn. (SIA) at a meeting in Paris Mon. discussed the role of satellites in both European and American society. This first meeting of the 2 associations focused on satellite broadband objectives of different countries, they said, including the importance of broadband for rural communities and developing countries. The organizations also discussed obstacles to providing service in other countries, including fees and newly adopted regulatory measures, they said. “We clearly have an interest in working together to further the level of understanding by public bodies of satellite issues and in particular how essential they are for rural communities,” ESOA Secy. Gen. Fulvio Sansone said. The organizations will hold their next meeting in Washington next year.
Satellite operators rushed the FCC in the wee hours of Wed. morning in seeking to be the first new applicants following publication of the space station licensing rules in the Federal Register. The new rules, adopted in April, established a queue for geostationary satellite orbit (GSO) and non-GSO (NGSO) applications (CD April 24 p6). The application freeze that was in effect could be lifted only by publication of the rules in the Federal Register. While the Commission hadn’t revealed when publication would be, FCC International Bureau (IB) Asst. Chief Thomas Sullivan said early applicants knew to look at the Federal Register preview on the Website or the IB Electronic Filing System (IBFS) site.