SES, Inmarsat Partially Back AT&T/EchoStar Spectrum Sharing Proposal
SES Americom and Inmarsat Mobile Networks are partially on board with the joint AT&T/EchoStar proposal (see 1604070059) for sharing satellite spectrum with 5G. In a filing Wednesday in docket 14-177, the two said their support of the sharing proposal is…
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conditional on rules ensuring individually licensed earth stations "have genuine access to the bands" via fair coordination and a safe harbor process that allows deployment of additional fixed satellite service (FSS) earth stations on a co-primary basis. That means there needs to be definitions of where upper microwave flexible use (UMFU) licensees can deploy their networks that look beyond just protecting satellite receivers and take into account existing FSS earth stations, plus "an intermediate area" where UMFU and earth station spectrum access is based on coordination and "safe harbor areas" where satellite operators can put earth stations freely, they said. SES/Inmarsat also said the AT&T/EchoStar proposal on when in its development a terrestrial system gets considered in the coordination process is "too open ended" and only terrestrial operations existing at the start of coordination should be considered. SES/Inmarsat also said the FCC, when looking at interference protection for satellites receiving in the 28 GHz band, should consider possible limits on UMFU deployment and means for UMFU licensees to coordinate among themselves to keep down aggregate emissions. The FCC should also look at rules for monitoring such satellite interference and ensuring aggregate interference never exceeds limits, they said. In an ex parte filing posted Tuesday in the docket, ViaSat recounted a meeting between its Senior Director-Regulatory Affairs Daryl Hunter and Chairman Tom Wheeler's staffers, Diane Cornell and Edward Smith, at which the satellite company discussed its own FSS/5G sharing proposal. The ViaSat proposal would have individually licensed earth stations deployed on a co-primary basis with 5G and blanket-licensed earth stations deployed on a secondary basis with 5G, while primary allocation for satellite downlinks would remain in the 37.5-40 GHz band. It was expected that the AT&T/EchoStar proposal would be followed by rival sharing proposals (see 1604140020).