Satellite Operators Push High-Band Tweaks; Boeing Joins ViaSat on Deployment Spacing

OneWeb, SES and Telesat Canada suggested modifications to its proposed Earth station siting tiers in the two bands, with the latest versions striking what it called "a fair and spectrally efficient balance" between fixed satellite services (FSS) and upper microwave flexible use systems. They said the proposed modifications also could be a model for sharing in the 47 and 50 GHz bands and obviate a need for a cap of only three FSS earth stations per county or partial economic area. Meanwhile, Boeing is siding with ViaSat in a disagreement over protection distances for V-band satellite earth station deployments. In a separate docket 14-177 filing Friday, Boeing said both ViaSat (see here) and ITU analyses (see here) were appropriate, but some of the assumptions in the ITU study submitted by Inmarsat and SES/O3b "were unnecessarily conservative." It said separation distances "less than half" of the 1,100 meters specified in the ITU paper would be enough to protect earth stations while allowing coexistence with upper microwave flexible use systems. It said separation distances could be even narrower with use of earth station shielding. Boeing urged the FCC to drop its limit on three earth stations per partial economic area in the 37.5-40 GHz band.