Any Universal Service Fund reform should encourage participation by satellite broadband and other new technologies, the Satellite Industry Assn. told the FCC. The Commission fielded comments Wed. on using reverse auctions to improve USF distribution. Reverse auctions could “reveal various providers’ relative cost” of serving rural areas, SIA said, adding that satellite providers can serve rural communities efficiently and cheaply. To ensure satellite providers can participate effectively in reverse auctions, SIA said, the Commission should: (1) Not award set-asides, credits or other favorable treatments to incumbents. (2) Let satellite providers that provide broadband services on a non- common carrier basis keep that status. (3) Avoid restrictions such as service areas that give certain providers an edge over others. SIA also pushed for targeted USF pilot projects to prove satellite providers’ ability to bring telecom service to remote areas. “Reverse auctions could be used to award contracts to provide service to areas or individuals that currently lack access to any communications services,” SIA said. Pilot projects could focus on specific areas -- some tribal lands, for instance -- historically unserved by traditional telephony, SIA said.

The satellite industry joined wireless companies and others opposing a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) move to expand notice and obstruction requirements designed to keep electromagnetic interference from harming air navigation systems (CD Sept 14 p2). The proposal would affect the 3700- 4200 MHz, 5925-6525 MHz and 14.2-14.4 GHz satellite frequency bands. The rules would “impose substantial new requirements on operations in satellite frequency bands affecting hundreds of thousands of antenna installations,” the Satellite Industry Assn. said in comments for the FAA docket. The FAA rulemaking doesn’t give examples of electromagnetic threat in satellite bands it mentions, where satellite services have operated for decades, SIA said. VSAT operations would suffer most under the proposed rules, SIA said: “In an average month, satellite communication service providers deploy tens of thousands of new satellite terminals and relocate a few thousand more… The FAA’s proposed notification obligation could apply to each and every one of these satellite terminals, resulting in a logistical nightmare for the satellite industry as well as the FAA.” Many other satellite services would be inconvenienced, SIA said. News trucks and recreational vehicles with satellite hook-ups “would have great difficulty operating if they were required to file 60- day advance notice requirements with the FAA before executing any changes,” SIA said. The FAA should leave spectrum regulation to the FCC and NTIA, the satellite group said.

The FCC should change International Bureau policies to make Ka-band satellite licensing easier and more efficient, the Satellite Industry Assn. (SIA) said in comments for the Commission’s biennial regulatory review. Routinely licensed Ka-band earth stations should be okayed for “ALSAT” designation like C- and Ku-band earth stations, SIA said. DirecTV has 9 Ka-band gateway earth station licenses, EchoStar holds 3 and WildBlue holds 4, SIA said: “Each time one of these operators launches a new Ka-band satellite or relocates an existing satellite, it must modify most or all of its gateway licenses to reflect the new fleet configuration.” SIA wants Ka-band satellites added to the FCC’s Permitted Space Station list of foreign satellites cleared for communication to the U.S., it said. DBS licensing also should be simpler, SIA said. DBS feeder-link earth stations should be allowed to communicate with all U.S.-licensed and permitted foreign-licensed DBS satellites, the group said. A designation of “DBSAT” would be akin to the “ALSAT/Permitted List” regime, the group said. Other satellite industry reform requests: (1) Change Ka-band earth station requirements so feeder link earth stations don’t have to provide antenna test pattern data meant for blanket licensing. (2) Allow “notice-only” changes to earth station licenses when there’s no risk of interference. (3) Let earth station applicants fix minor application errors using on-the- record e-mail rather than the FCC formally dismissing the application and making firms reapply. (4) Fix problems with the International Bureau Filing System online interface and enable parties to file pleadings, not just applications, through IBFS.

Global semiconductor sales were up 9.4% to $19.7 billion for May 2006, the Semiconductor Industry Assn. (SIA) said Mon. Sales have been up generally, SIA said, including a 0.7% increase in April from a year earlier. SIA said the driving factor in the increase was growth in mobile phones and other consumer electronics devices. Meanwhile, PC microprocessor sales declined 2% from May 2005, SIA said.

Satellite services and satellite spectrum policy’s importance are growing at NTIA and elsewhere because of rural satellite broadband deployment and emergency communications plans being reworked to include a satellite overlay, an NTIA official said Fri. Speaking at a Washington Space Business Roundtable lunch, NTIA Acting Dir. John Kneuer said he’s “very bullish” about rural broadband deployment and sees it as an “enormous opportunity for satellite.” He also said NTIA is seeing satellite incorporated more and more in emergency planning post-Hurricane Katrina.

Satellite services and satellite spectrum policy’s importance are growing at NTIA and elsewhere because of rural satellite broadband deployment and emergency communications plans being reworked to include a satellite overlay, an NTIA official said Thurs. Speaking at a Washington Space Business Roundtable lunch, NTIA Acting Dir. John Kneuer said he’s “very bullish” about rural broadband deployment and sees it as an “enormous opportunity for satellite.” He also said NTIA is seeing satellite incorporated more and more in emergency planning post-Hurricane Katrina.

The satellite industry hailed language deep in a telecom bill by Sen. Stevens (R-Alaska) that would strengthen the satellite industry’s hand in 2 arenas where it claims unique utility: disaster communication and rural broadband deployment. If the bill’s satellite provisions survive conference, “it’s a big win for the satellite industry,” Satellite Industry Assn. (SIA) Exec. Dir. David Cavossa.

The satellite industry hailed language deep in a telecom bill by Sen. Stevens (R-Alaska) that would strengthen the satellite industry’s hand in rural broadband deployment. If the bill’s satellite provisions survive conference, “it’s a big win for the satellite industry,” Satellite Industry Assn. (SIA) Exec. Dir. David Cavossa. Broadband is wrapped into Universal Service Fund (USF) reform efforts. The bill would set up a broadband account in USF to support deployment in areas the FCC deems unserved. A satellite-specific sub- section would make satellite broadband providers like WildBlue and Hughes Network Systems eligible for support from the broadband account. What’s more, the bill would make customer premise equipment -- satellite broadband dishes and modems -- eligible for USF support. Satellite broadband is touted as an ideal broadband mode for rural communities beyond terrestrial broadband’s reach. But while the hardware can be installed in the middle of nowhere, it’s costly -- sometimes too costly for subscribers -- and gaps in Dept. of Agriculture funding for rural broadband deployment leave out consumer premise equipment. The language in Stevens’ bill would bridge that gap, allowing satellite broadband providers to qualify for federal USF funds. But the Commission still could rule a community unserved by broadband, and eligible for more USF broadband money, if satellite broadband subscriptions in the area are “de minimis.”

Questionable laws and rules bar satellite firms from pursuing market share in dozens of nations, the Satellite Industry Assn. (SIA) said last week. SIA spoke in response to a 2005 Congressional request for a list of nations that sap satellite competition. The FCC is compiling data for a report to Congress on satellite market competition, mandated by a 2005 ORBIT Act amendment. Satellite competitors responded to the query by accusing one another, terrestrial competitors and unnamed foreign nations of anticompetitive behavior -- though EchoStar was blunt enough to take a shot at Canada.

Satellite broadband providers should be “allowed to operate free from unnecessary common carrier obligations,” the Satellite Industry Assn. (SIA) told the FCC last week. Commenting on the Commission’s Broadband NPRM (WC 05-271), the SIA said it “stands with the diverse array of commenters that have urged the Commission to refrain from imposing common carrier obligations on broadband Internet access service providers.” The SIA urged the Commission to preempt state regulation on the issue and “to act affirmatively” to ensure healthy competition. Satellite broadband remains especially valuable to rural residents, SIA said: “Large portions of the U.S. are not now, and may never be, served by either cable or DSL due to the cost of wiring remote areas or technical limitations.” Satellite broadband shouldn’t be hindered by the common carrier obligations proposed in the NPRM, which would “stymie competition and innovation among satellite broadband providers,” SIA argued. The Assn. said it “urges the FCC to observe its historical policy in favor of minimal regulation of satellite services.” In a similar vein, the Satellite Industry Assn. (SIA) told the FCC it welcomes lawmakers’ efforts to reform the USF contribution methodology. But the SIA wants reform to be “competitively neutral” so as to promote broadband deployment to all Americans, including satellite broadband, the Assn. said in a different ex parte to the FCC. The SIA told the FCC it supports a retail numbers-based USF system. Each phone number in retail use, regardless of service technology, should pay the same USF contribution, the SIA said in an ex parte to the FCC. That way, retail service providers can pass the USF obligation to end users on a “competitively neutral” basis, the SIA said. But the Commission shouldn’t impose USF charges on Internet access connections, SIA argued. USF should be collected from broadband VoIP providers using telephone numbers for voice services over the Internet, but not for Internet access connections alone, they said.