NGSO Boom Necessitating New Rules, 'Spectrum Certainty,' Satellite Companies Say

The agency is "just overwhelmed" with some aspects of the NGSO boom, OneWeb CEO Greg Wyler said. An NGSO rules update adopted last month (see 1709260035) gave such systems "a hall pass" on preventing interference with geostationary (GSO) systems, letting operators work it out among themselves -- which Wyler called "generous and unexpected." The agency is trying to handle space debris issues for NGSOs, but that's outside FCC expertise, Wyler said, adding the regulator needs congressional "oversight and support" on the issue. FCC "arms are tied ... because there is no good answer," he said. The commission didn't comment.

Operators repeatedly said lawmakers should emphasize technology-neutral policies in broadband deployment efforts like the Connect America Fund Phase II. There was some satellite industry disagreement with the agency CAF II weights decision early this year (see 1704170035). ViaSat CEO Mark Dankberg said the weighting was not "in a market-reflective way," putting too much emphasis on latency. SpaceX Vice President-Satellite Government Affairs Patricia Cooper also urged incentivizing the use of spectrum-sharing technology and pushing various agencies to coordinate on tackling orbital debris. She said there needs to be streamlining of the FAA's commercial launch license system to let it keep up with the faster clip of launches expected. The FCC also should act on its 2013 NPRM on spectrum for nonfederal space launches (see 1305100042) and look at better access to the Ka- and V-bands by NGSO systems, Cooper said in prepared testimony.

The commission has a strong focus on 5G, "possibly to the detriment" of other technologies like satellite, Dankberg said, pointing to the spectrum frontiers Further NPRM taking high-frequency spectrum allocated to satellite for terrestrial use. Dankberg said 5G can be accommodated via spectrum sharing rather than exclusivity: "It need not be a zero-sum game." Wyler said satellite operators need "spectrum certainty" that regulators won't suddenly look at other uses for bands around which constellation plans already have been made.

Some satellite operators also cited the need for more regulation of constellation orbits. There are defined orbital coordination rules about and substantial cooperation among GSO operators, but the thousands of proposed NGSO satellites are "more complex," Intelsat CEO Stephen Spengler said, adding it can't be left up to industry cooperation, and government intervention is needed. Wyler said OneWeb's push for minimum altitude spacing of 125 kilometers for large-scale constellations and deorbiting within five years (see 1710240022) could be a basis for regulatory action that could set the standard for other nations to follow. "There are plenty of altitudes for people to be in," he said.

Many of the senators' questions involved satellite broadband and rural connectivity issues. Dankberg said ViaSat will have both "virtually unlimited" and usage-capped plans, with the capped ones set "at levels most people would not hit." Cooper said with SpaceX still several years from offering service, it's more focused now on removing capacity constraints. She said two SpaceX test satellites are going up within months, and it plans to start launching its constellation in earnest in 2019, with commercial service in 2020 or 2021. Launch of the entire constellation will take place over five years, she said. Wyler said OneWeb's service would be commercially available starting in Alaska in 2019, with Europe and much of Africa and South America following in 2020. He said user pricing would vary around the world, determined by local ISPs with which the company partners.