The FCC addressed some remaining petitions for reconsideration to its first space station licensing reform order, approved by the agency 13 years ago (see 0304240027), which made major changes to satellite licensing procedures. The Satellite Industry Association (SIA) lost on several fronts in the order, approved in a unanimous vote of the commissioners and part of Wednesday's Daily Digest.

The debate over 5G and fixed satellite service sharing of the 28 GHz band increasingly involves power flux density (PFD) and proposed limits on that measure of signal power level at the receiver. "As long as you will be sharing spectrum between satellite and terrestrial systems, this is the issue," Farooq Khan, CEO of 5G technology company Phazr, told us. "The back and forth over precise technical limits on power is entirely normal," satellite industry consultant Tim Farrar told us in an email, pointing to such issues as the Globalstar/Wi-Fi in 5 GHz or the GPS industry's past challenges to Ligado. "I'd expect the FCC to be leaning in favor of terrestrial interests because that is the political priority."

The FCC offered details on rules opening high-frequency bands for 5G, scheduled for a vote at its July 14 meeting. The FCC said in a fact sheet that the order adds a huge amount of spectrum to what's now available for licensed and unlicensed use, a point Chairman Tom Wheeler made in a major policy speech June 20 at the National Press Club (see 1606200044). The agency said it will impose limits on high-frequency spectrum holdings -- imposing restrictions limiting carriers to buying 1250 MHz of spectrum in the bands in the initial auctions and a threshold of 1250 MHz for case-by-case review of secondary market transactions. Satellite interests were at the commission last week to seek changes.

Jockeying by fixed satellite service (FSS) operators and allies to elevate the rights of secondary satellite services are "thinly-veiled attempts to confuse and delay the Commission's deliberative process" for 5G sharing in the 28 GHz band, CTIA said in a filing Friday in docket 14-177. The group said it and its members have worked with the FSS industry and made progress, but the Satellite Industry Association's push for a three-party technical meeting (see 1606020035) when FSS operators haven't been providing information requested by terrestrial wireless operators would only delay the rulemaking process. It also said the record contains sufficient information for an FCC decision. CTIA said the FCC should follow through on plans to adopt new technical and licensing rules for the 28 GHz and 37-40 GHz bands at its July open meeting that include spectrum sharing technical requirements. It said the agency should affirm terrestrial fixed and mobile services have primary status in the 27.5-28.35 GHz bands: "The secondary status of FSS incumbents is a bedrock principle of this proceeding." SIA didn't comment. In an ex parte filing in the docket Friday, EchoStar recapped a meeting between Senior Vice President-Regulatory Affairs Jennifer Manner and Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel about FSS and upper microwave flexible use (UMFU) sharing in the 28 GHz and 37-40 GHz bands. Manner said that under domestic and international tables of allocations, FSS is co-primary and satellite operators in the 28 GHz band have used that as the basis for coordinating their gateway earth stations, making co-primary protection necessary. EchoStar also said 28 GHz sharing can limit future gateway deployments outside urban cores but FSS operators need access to urban infrastructure and flexibility in earth station placement. It said the FCC needs to let FSS do good-faith coordination with UMFU operators to site earth station deployments.

The number of functional satellites in orbit as of the end of 2015, at 1,381, was up 39 percent from 2011, with the average number of satellites launched per year in 2011-2015 up 36 percent over the previous five-year span, the Satellite Industry Association said Thursday in a report. For the year, 202 satellites were launched, roughly the same as 2014, with more than half of those being cubesats, SIA said. Overall satellite industry revenue in 2015 rose 3 percent from 2014, to $208.3 billion, with the U.S. claiming roughly 43 percent of that, SIA said. The biggest piece was in satellite services -- $127.4 billion, up 4 percent, driven largely by satellite-TV services growth, which is seeing particular subscriber growth in emerging markets, SIA said. That was followed by ground equipment -- $58.9 billion, up 1 percent -- and satellite manufacturing -- $16.6 billion, up 4 percent -- it said. The one down area was launches, which at $5.4 billion was down 9 percent, a reversal of the 9 percent growth in 2014, SIA said. The overall 3 percent growth in 2015 was the sixth straight year of single-digit industry growth, after double-digit growth for a number of years in the previous decade, SIA said. It said 33 launch orders were placed in 2015, up from 22 in 2014, and at least 17 low earth orbit-capacity launch vehicles are under development worldwide.

Fixed satellite service and terrestrial wireless camps remain at odds over whether satellite has co-primary terrestrial status, representatives from both sides said in interviews Thursday. They said the dispute is a major stumbling block to any deal between the industries on sharing high-spectrum bands for FSS and 5G. The sides made their case to the FCC in filings this week in docket 14-177. Satellite and terrestrial broadband industry officials said they expect the agency to proceed with its plan (see 1605250063) to vote at July's meeting on a spectrum frontiers NPRM.

Wiley Rein became the Satellite Industry Association's first affiliate member, SIA said in a news release Monday. The trade group launched its affiliate membership category in 2015, aimed at companies and groups previously not eligible for membership.

The Satellite Industry Association urged technological and competitive neutrality in the FCC's planned Connect America Fund reverse auction of broadband-oriented support. SIA "reiterates its support for a CAF framework that does not favor any one technology over others," the group said in a Thursday filing in docket 10-90. "SIA strongly supports the FCC’s longstanding policy of technology neutrality," it said, with a draft CAF Phase II auction order on the tentative agenda for the commission's May 25 meeting (see 1605050036). "Innovations in the satellite industry, including high-throughput satellites, present important potential solutions for the problems that the CAF seeks to address," said SIA, which also backed continued FCC "commitment to the longstanding policy of competitive neutrality." Hughes Network Systems and ViaSat recently made similar arguments (see 1605120029 and 1604150040).

The Satellite Industry Association urged technological and competitive neutrality in the FCC's planned Connect America Fund reverse auction of broadband-oriented support. SIA "reiterates its support for a CAF framework that does not favor any one technology over others," the group said in a Thursday filing in docket 10-90. "SIA strongly supports the FCC’s longstanding policy of technology neutrality," it said, with a draft CAF Phase II auction order on the tentative agenda for the commission's May 25 meeting (see 1605050036). "Innovations in the satellite industry, including high-throughput satellites, present important potential solutions for the problems that the CAF seeks to address," said SIA, which also backed continued FCC "commitment to the longstanding policy of competitive neutrality." Hughes Network Systems and ViaSat recently made similar arguments (see 1605120029 and 1604150040).

Any sharing of the 28 GHz band between satellite and 5G uses needs to include FCC rules protecting satellites from aggregate interference from terrestrial transmitters, several satellite industry representatives told FCC officials in a meeting Monday, according to an ex parte filing Tuesday in docket 14-177. According to a presentation from the filing, "relatively limited numbers" of mobile terrestrial upper microwave flexible use (UMFU) deployments at FCC-proposed power levels "could severely disrupt satellites." The Satellite Industry Association (SIA) said it was working with terrestrial providers on technical parameters to understand how to mitigate that interference. The satellite industry representatives also told FCC officials, including International Bureau Satellite Division Chief Jose Albuquerque, that UMFU/fixed satellite service earth stations need co-primary status in the 37-39 GHz bands, while earth stations should be individually authorized in the 28 GHz band. The FCC also should tackle aggregate interference to satellite systems in its technical rules. The meeting included industry representatives from AT&T Entertainment Group, Boeing, EchoStar, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Iridium, Kymeta, Lockheed Martin, OneWeb, O3b, SIA, SES and ViaSat.