Swap of Industry and Government Veterans Seen as Positive for Satellite Issues

Having FCC staff with industry experience helps the agency keep its finger on the pulse of the current issues, said John Janka, a Latham Watkins attorney who represents satellite, wireless and other telecom companies. Having former industry employees "can provide real-time feedback and help the staff respond to the input they get from the industry," he said. "When you have people at the commission who have experience with boards and senior leadership, they can bring a different perspective on whether something can work from a business perspective."

FCC staffers who also have industry experience have proven to be beneficial to satellite companies, said Frank Jazzo, a Fletcher Heald attorney who works on application processing for satellite clients. It’s beneficial to know the industry well, “but there is some benefit to having people who’ve had experience going both directions,” he said. “Better decision-making can occur when you’ve got the real-world business experience at the FCC.”

The FCC has a knowledgeable and professional staff working on satellite issues, said Barbee Ponder, Globalstar general counsel. They maintain a deep institutional knowledge and historical perspective “that is essential to deciding the myriad of complex issues constantly before them,” he said. By having a broad range of professional experiences from both inside and outside the FCC, they understand how important it is to foster investment and innovation “with a regulatory structure that provides companies with the certainty needed to execute their business plans,” he said.

Part 25 Reform

The overhaul of the Part 25 rules that govern satellite and earth station licensing is an undertaking that can be attributed in part to the movement of professionals between the FCC and private industry, some attorneys said.

“You can see the handiwork of some of the people who have been working in the sector now working at the commission in that process,” said Stephen Goodman, a Butzel Long attorney, who used to work on antitrust and regulatory issues for Comsat. It’s a good thing to have that revolving door, “with the caveat that when the FCC is wearing its umpire hat that you don’t have someone in there who may be biased because they worked for one of the teams,” he said.

“Hughes’ experience has shown that it is beneficial for at least some government officials working on an issue to have some private sector experience and for outside regulatory teams to have at least some experience in the public sector,” said Jennifer Manner, vice president-regulatory affairs of EchoStar, which owns the Hughes satellite services provider. They can bring considerations "from both sides to issues such as Part 25 rules,” she said.

The addition of satellite industry veterans to the agency is a positive development, said Patricia Cooper, Intelsat vice president-government affairs and policy. “The technical expertise and knowledge that they will bring to the FCC will be invaluable, particularly as the agency looks to streamline the regulatory process and put in place a framework that will support the critical and innovative role that satellite will continue to play in meeting the broadband connectivity demands of the future.”

Spectrum Effort

The satellite industry expertise at the commission has a significant role in the spectrum repurposing effort, Ponder said. The International Bureau has been supportive in proposing rules that would allow Globalstar to use its spectrum more intensively, which the FCC National Broadband Plan recommended, he said. “It’s that combination of folks with institutional knowledge," he said, "and the private sector experience of knowing what should happen for businesses to encourage them to invest and innovate.”

As a result of the comings and goings at the FCC, the commission “has embraced the importance of coordination among satellite operators, and among satellite operators and terrestrial users, probably in a more robust manner than it did before,” Janka said. “In an environment where increased spectrum sharing is important and the FCC is trying to facilitate more efficient use of the limited spectrum, it’s important that the commission defer a bit to the commercial operators on how to coexist,” he said. “That’s being reflected in the new rules.”

Some attorneys pointed to Cornell’s experience in the satellite and wireless industries. Cornell, who was Inmarsat vice president-government affairs, was one of the driving forces behind the recent re-examination of Part 25 rules, Goodman said. “She has seen quite a bit of both sides of things." That is "a good thing, because the people in the industry know where the grease needs to go, where it’s not working, [and] where it is working,” he said. “She led the charge on process reforms and we’ve seen significant reduction of backlog," Jazzo said. Given Cornell’s experience at the FCC and outside the commission, she brings a unique perspective, “and that has been very helpful,” he said. Her position brings a “double bonus,” said Janka, referring to Cornell’s experience in the satellite and wireless industries. “She has such a broad range of experience in the private industry.”

The revolving door situation is expected to help prioritize other issues in the future, some attorneys said. The CubeSats, which are smaller, low-cost satellites, may be a change to come, Goodman said. “It will be interesting to see how the commission reacts to that.” The commission had no comment.

The next big challenge likely is smart spectrum sharing, Janka said. It’s something that the industry has been "creeping toward slowly," he said. Satellite operators are starting to realize “that there are places, times, and geographic locations where they’re able to use spectrum for limited time periods,” he said.