ViaSat's 28 GHz Arguments Gaining Increasing Satellite Industry Support

docket 14-177, Lockheed Martin said it backed the ViaSat's main points. Pointing to its own earlier argument about the spectrum frontiers proceeding not going far enough into the international implications of aggregate interference from upper microwave flexible use (UMFU) service to satellite receivers (see 1606240026), Lockheed Martin said any FCC action "that impinges upon established FSS (fixed satellite service) rights here and abroad [would be] both arbitrary and capricious." Lockheed Martin also said multiple technical and policy matters need to be debated before FCC action on UMFU and satellite operations in the 28 GHz band. And in a separate filing posted Thursday, SES and O3b jointly applauded ViaSat's letter and argument that terrestrial wireless interests "have blatantly and repeatedly mischaracterized [FCC] decisions on which FSS operators have reasonably depended in developing and deploying satellite networks." They said an aggregate interference limit on skyward emissions from mobile terrestrial networks would give UMFU licensees more flexibility than specific operational parameters, but "one approach or the other must be employed" to forestall space station receiver interference. They also called "unnecessary and unwarranted" the CTIA-pushed idea of backdating the grandfathering of existing earth stations to the release of the Spectrum Frontiers NPRM (see 1607060046). In its filing, ViaSat said the agency for decades has given satellite co-primary allocation in the 28 GHz band under the U.S. table of frequency allocations, that it has held licensing priority over mobile wireless in the band for nearly as long, and the proposed mobile wireless plan for 28 GHz "would undermine the settled expectations and legal rights of 28 GHz satellite operators." ViaSat said the spectrum frontiers NPRM could mean roving mobile devices operating near satellite earth stations claiming interference protection from the station and trying to require it to cease operating in the 28 GHz band, while mobile operators wouldn't have any incentive to prevent radiofrequency energy from their base stations or user terminals away from orbital arcs, causing satellite receiver interference. ViaSat said any FCC order should let satellite operators complete deployment of their authorized 28 GHz networks and "reasonably ... deploy" additional 28 GHz networks in the future while guaranteeing network operation is protected from introduction of new mobile wireless services in the band.