Wait for AMSS Rules Not of Major Concern for In-Flight Broadband Companies
The wait for rules on aeronautical mobile satellite services (AMSS) hasn’t particularly hurt the in-flight satellite broadband industry, executives said. But the FCC proceeding, which began in 2005, deserves to be wrapped up to give regulatory certainty for such services, they said. The International Bureau is largely finished writing the rules, said an executive.
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The AMSS rules have been expected to resemble rules for vehicle-mounted earth stations (VMES) and earth station on vessel (ESV) in the same band (CD Feb 11 p7). The FCC put out a rulemaking notice to set rules for the Ku-band service in 2005, but it has received sparse attention from industry, with the exception of Boeing, commission filings show. One of Boeing’s main concerns is lack of a primary status for in-flight broadband, the company’s filings show. The ESV and VMES services are given co-primary status, meaning the operators wouldn’t be forced to stop service if they were found to be interfering with another service.
While the AMSS rules haven’t been set in stone, the rules aren’t expected to stray much from the similar proceedings, said Daryl Hunter, ViaSat director of regulatory affairs. “Between the existing ESV rules, new VMES rules, and previous AMSS actions, we have a very good idea about what any new Ku-band AMSS rules would look like,” said Hunter. “We are still in favor of seeing formal rules for Ku-band AMSS released.” The International Bureau didn’t comment.
With the absence of AMSS rules, Boeing, ARINC, ViaSat, Row44 and Panasonic have been licensed by individual FCC action. The in-flight satellite broadband operators have used close coordination to avoid the interference issues, which haven’t really been a problem, said an industry lawyer. “I don’t think it is a big deal at the end of the day.” While “it’s always good to have clearly articulated rules,” there is some concern that such rules would be quickly overtaken by changing technologies, the attorney said. International Bureau Chief Mindel de la Torre recently pointed to the AMSS rules as something the bureau was working on finishing (CD Oct 19 p21).