Satellite News Truck Industry Cheers Proposed Carrier ID Waiver
Carrier identification compliance standards set to be implemented in September likely would have spelled the end of a number of small-satellite news gathering truck operations, SNG operators tell us as they cheer the draft order on August's commissioners' meeting agenda largely waiving that requirement. However, some in the SNG industry see the proposed permanent waiver as hurting. An FCC mandate prompting manufacturers to spend money creating offerings for customers, with that mandate then getting upended and manufacturers stuck without a market, "doesn't do anybody any good," Accelerated Media Technologies President Tom Jennings said.
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The order would waive carrier ID standard compliance for temporary-fixed earth stations using modulators that can’t meet the standard through a software upgrade. All other temporary-fixed earth stations would still have to meet the standard by the Sept. 3 implementation date. SNG operators had worried that carrier ID standard compliance could cost them substantially (see 1605090028).
While a few hundred dollars per unit isn't too onerous for the goal of addressing potential harmful interference from temporary-fixed earth stations, much bigger expenses of replacing equipment that can't be updated via software would be unduly burdensome, says the draft, adding that no satellite operators opposed such relief. It said the amount of equipment subject to the waiver will keep declining as it reaches the end of its useful life. Coastal Media Group CEO Bob Adler said most modulators made in the past five years are compliant.
The SNG industry already is hurting in large part due to online distribution methods for video, and carrier ID compliance implementation would have meant numerous companies faced with five- or six-figure bills for equipment upgrades, with many almost surely opting to fold instead, said Leland Kessler, Midwest Uplink truck engineer and moderator of an SNG message board. The requirement would have forced Moonlink Satellite not only to replace modulators in its SNG trucks but also would have killed its equipment rental business, owner Jeff Moon said. "I have hundreds of thousands [of dollars worth] of gear I might as well throw in a dumpster." While backing the draft rules, he also said it's unclear how the FCC plans to enforce the compliance requirement for SNG operators that do have modulators that can be updated by software.
SNG operators said one big flaw with the carrier ID implementation as it stands now is that it's aimed at them when very small aperture terminals and teleports are far bigger sources of satellite interference. Kessler said SNG operators treat their satellite dishes "like a loaded gun -- we don't take the safety off until we know what we're pointing at." He said the caveat in the proposed order -- that the FCC may revisit the waiver if continued operation of noncompliant equipment causes continual satellite operator complaints about difficulty identifying the sources of information -- should motivate SNG operators to continue to avoid causing interference.
Freelance SNG truck operators are often the biggest offenders, and obviating some from carrier ID implementation "doesn't help anybody," Jennings said. He said requiring satellite video uplinks to carry some sort of automatic transmitter identification system identifier has long been an requirement, but was largely overlooked or ignored when there was excess capacity on satellites.