Some foreign space regulators might soon struggle with a lack of space expertise, according to Scott Pace, George Washington University director-Space Policy Institute. During an FCC Space Bureau open house Thursday covering orbital debris, Pace said a lot of space agencies are born from telecom ministries, yet often there is a "thinness" to their capacity for space issues. That makes the U.S.' leadership role in space increasingly important, Pace said.
SpaceX's request that applications in 2 GHz band be held in abeyance during any 2 GHz rulemaking, as well as the proposed rulemaking itself (see [Re:2402230027]), should be rejected, EchoStar told the FCC Space Bureau this week. SpaceX hasn't offered any basis for stopping action on applications in the 2 GHz band, while such a hold would be "extraordinarily burdensome," EchoStar said. It added that a proceeding allowing SpaceX into the 2 GHz band would mean "annihilation of all current uses of the band through harmful interference." In addition, EchoStar said SpaceX's presence also "would imperil" EchoStar efforts in the band such as direct-to-device services.
Any opening of the 17 GHz band to non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) satellite operations should come with interference protections, DirecTV and EchoStar said. In a meeting with FCC Space Bureau staffers recapped Wednesday in docket 22-273, the geostationary orbit operators urged revised footnotes in the U.S. Table of Frequency Allocations requiring that NGSO fixed satellite service operations in the 17 GHz band not claim interference protections from geostationary orbit (GSO) FSS networks. They also called for requirements that those NGSO operations not cause interference to or claim protection from GSO FSS and broadcast satellite service networks. The two pushed for the same equivalent power flux density limits applicable to NGSO FSS downlinks and inter-satellite links in the 17.8-18.6 GHz band being extended to those links in the 17 GHz band.
The Enterprise Wireless Alliance refiled a 2022 petition for rulemaking at the FCC that seeks to modify Part 90 rules to eliminate the assignment of frequencies within the 809-816/854-861 MHz portion of the band to specific pools of eligible entities (see 2210260079). EWA said it resubmitted the petition at the Wireless Bureau's request, and it now includes “proposed rules consistent with the rule changes requested.” Because “all 800 MHz frequencies in this range are subject to identical technical and operational rules, EWA urges that they be classified as General Category and made available to all qualified Subpart S applicants,” says the undocketed filing.
Air Voice Wireless agreed to pay a $150,000 fine and implement enhanced compliance measures to settle an FCC investigation of whether the company failed to provide Lifeline services to all qualifying low-income consumers in keeping with agency rules. “This action will help further the Commission’s goal of providing qualified consumers opportunities and security that essential communications service brings, including being able to connect to jobs, family members, and emergency services,” the Enforcement Bureau said Wednesday.
The FCC Wireless Bureau on Tuesday announced the grant of two long-form applications and issuance of nine licenses to Quick Current purchased in the 2.5 GHz auction. The licenses are in Iowa and Nebraska.
The FCC on Tuesday denied AT&T’s request that the agency not award 2.5 GHz licenses to T-Mobile, and said the licenses will be processed. AT&T challenged the awards in November 2022, noting T-Mobile’s already huge position in the band (see 2211100066). “We find that the grant of T-Mobile’s license application -- subject to its voluntary divestiture commitment in parts of Hawaii that we impose as a condition -- will promote the public interest by facilitating access to and use of the spectrum, particularly in rural areas where this band has been underutilized,” said the opinion and order by the Wireless Bureau and Office of Economics and Analytics: “Accordingly, we deny AT&T’s petition to deny and will process T-Mobile’s application consistent with this Order and the Commission’s rules.” T-Mobile dominated the 2022 auction but required action from Congress before obtaining the licenses following expiration a year ago of the FCC’s auction authority (see 2312200061). T-Mobile recently committed to voluntarily divest, “either by sale or spectrum swap,” licenses it holds in two Hawaii markets, the FCC said.
SpaceX didn't comment Tuesday on FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel's recent explanation that the Wireless Bureau rejected Starlink's application for Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) money in 2022 (see 2208100050) because it didn't meet “program requirements,” including “difficulty meeting the basic uplink and downlink speed standards for the program.” Republicans escalated criticism of the FCC after the commission upheld the Wireline Bureau's decision in December (see 2312130027). All RDOF applicants “were subject to the same rules -- the smallest carriers and largest carriers alike,” Rosenworcel told House Communications Subcommittee member Rep. Gus Bilirakis of Florida and 11 other Republicans in letters released Friday night. The GOP lawmakers pressed the issue in January. The Wireline Bureau's finding about Starlink's speed issues “has since been confirmed by the company’s most recent publicly available performance data,” Rosenworcel said: The bureau found Starlink “showed download speeds from 53-65 Mbps and upload speeds from 7-10 Mbps. As a result, the Commission concluded that Starlink would not be reasonably capable of meeting its performance obligations across the significantly larger customer base and service area it had committed to serving as a result of its winning RDOF bids, which would put even greater pressure on its network.” Starlink’s “proposal would have required every subscriber to purchase a $600 dish to simply start to receive the service,” she said. “No other services supported by the program included such high start-up costs on rural consumers.” The FCC's “review indicated that in more than 6,501 census blocks where Starlink sought support from the RDOF program were not unserved rural households, but actually parking lots, traffic medians, and locations that already have service like the Chicago Loop and Newark International Airport,” Rosenworcel said: “When we requested that Starlink no longer seek funding for these locations, the company refused.”
The FCC Wireless Bureau sought comment Monday on Echodyne’s pursuit of a five-year extension of its waiver of rules allowing ground-based use of its EchoGuard radar, which detects objects on the ground and in the air, using the 24.45–24.65 GHz band (see 2402090064). Comments are due March 27, replies April 11, in docket 17-352. A 2019 waiver expires June 12 (see 1906130051).
Umbra Lab is eyeing Q4 for launch of two earth exploration satellite service microsatellites into low earth orbit. In an FCC Space Bureau application Thursday, Umbra said the pair would have the same RF and orbital characteristics as the eight previously granted licenses. The eighth was launched in November, it said.