Flexible Sharing Rules Seen as Big Benefits of NGSO Order
More flexible rules for sharing among non-geostationary orbit satellite constellations were among biggest net results of the FCC NGSO order adopted in September (see 1709260035), said satellite operators and an official at an FCBA event Thursday. Much of the talk involved band segmentation issues. International Bureau Satellite Division Chief Jose Albuquerque acknowledged segmenting spectrum if NGSOs can't come to a coordination agreement is "drastic," but the agency couldn't devise a better alternative.
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In most respects, the FCC approach is like ITU' in requiring coordination, Albuquerque said. Letting latecomers still launch their systems and go into operation when an agreement isn't reached alleviates uncertainty that comes with ITU rules, he said.
The in-line event trigger mechanism in the order is impossible, putting the agency "in a bind," said Goldberg Godles lawyer Henry Goldberg, who represents Telesat Canada, which is skeptical of the coordination trigger approach (see 1709200009). "Impossible is a strong word," replied Albuquerque, conceding technical issues to make that work are "complex." Albuquerque said if operators can't come to coordination agreement, the agency will want to hear specifics and determine who isn't being reasonable.
OneWeb Senior Director-Regulatory Affairs Mariah Shuman said the threat of band segmentation creates "a perverse incentive" for some operators to try to force that option as an anticompetitive tool against rivals. Albuquerque said serious competitors have an incentive not to segment the spectrum.
Operators said the FCC left issues on the table. They include power levels for uplinks and geographic coverage rules, said SpaceX Vice President-Satellite Government Affairs Patricia Cooper, saying orbital safety rules are potentially outdated with satellite capabilities in agility and design safety. ViaSat Associate General Counsel-Regulatory Affairs Chris Murphy said a major issue still to be addressed by the FCC and ITU is protection of geostationary orbit (GSO) satellites. He said the rules ease the path to increased NGSO/GSO hybrid arrangements, but there's concern the FCC and ITU "are rushing into" satellite spectrum sharing issues without first doing the proper engineering and technical work. Albuquerque said there wasn't enough on the record for the agency to decide on earth station radiation limits. He said the agency is afraid to set such limits that end up eliminating plans and designs.
Given the global nature of NGSOs, there's no sense to the FCC making equivalent power-flux density limits before ITU does, Albuquerque said. He said operators instead should be working now on proposing such levels in the Ka- and V-band to ITU.
Most countries don't have processing rounds, like the FCC undertook with NGSO applications a year ago (see 1611160010), but those constellations raise particular issues, Albuquerque said. Going to a first-come system where that operator has all the rights doesn't encourage competition, while requiring that the first-comer accommodate an unknown number of subsequent operators leaves a high level of uncertainty, he said. With a processing round, Albuquerque said, "At least everyone knows the worst case."