Satellite C-Band Processing Round Could Be in Cards
The FCC might need to launch a processing round for satellite use of the C-band, after an application for a non-geostationary orbit satellite constellation prompted by two previous processing rounds, agency and satellite representatives told us. That New Spectrum Satellite application (see 1707270023), raising new issues, comes as the agency is trying to figure out how to accommodate and deal with later entrants in NGSO processing rounds.
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Officials said the agency is looking at the NSS filing for acceptability, and it's asking for frequencies that were part of last year's NGSO-like processing round triggered by OneWeb applications (see 1611160010) won't disqualify it. Instead, the commission said it will consider the specifics of the system being proposed and look case-by-case at what conditions will have to be met. If NSS' application is accepted, a C-band processing round is possible, or the company could ask for a specific frequency waiver, officials said. A waiver, however, could raise legal issues, said a satellite lawyer.
There's some uncertainty about how the NSS filing will be treated, because it raises issues the agency has been asking about internally for several years -- what happens when a later applicant wants to use a frequency band that was subject of an earlier processing round, noted an official. In five years, the FCC likely will have a better understanding of how NGSO systems are progressing, but for now, the application puts the regulator in a tougher situation, officials said.
A parts 2 and 25 rules update NPRM (see 1612150066) is looking at the issue of accommodating later entrants, seeking input on balancing competing interests of encouraging new market entry and providing NGSO FSS operators certainty about a minimum amount of spectrum available for their services. It asked if it should specify that avoiding in-line interference applies only to in-line events involving an existing grantee and any licensees and market access holders approved as a result of a processing round -- thus requiring that any applicant after a processing round's close would have to shut down operations during an in-line event. The comment date closed in March, and an official said an order is in the works.
NSS's application said plans include gateway uplinks in the 5.925-6.725 GHz band and downlinks in the 3.7-4.2 GHz band. It wasn't clear whether it can request C-band authority or if it will have to do so in a separate earth station or petition for declaratory ruling application. SpaceX also filed in July in a second OneWeb processing round that was triggered by requests for frequencies outside the first OneWeb round (see 1707270004). David Castiel, managing director of NSS parent Virtual Geo Satellite, said when the agency reopened the window in May, "We felt ready to propose our updated system."
Further late entrant NGSO applicants seem unlikely, given that only so much spectrum is useful for these kinds of systems, said industry and FCC reps. Further satellite interest in C-band is more of an open question, said an industry lawyer.