Boeing Seeks Rules Waiver in Transfer of Broadband NGSO Application
Though OneWeb Chairman Greg Wyler indirectly owns 11.84 percent of the company, that shouldn't stop his SOM1101 from applying for FCC satellite system authorization, Boeing said in an International Bureau filing Friday seeking a waiver of the agency's Section 25.159(b)…
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rule. Boeing wants to give its 2016 application to operate a non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) broadband satellite constellation to Wyler (see 1712070055). Boeing said Section 25.159(b) prohibits applying for NGSO-like system authorization if that party has an attributable interest in another entity with a pending application for an authorized-but-unbuilt NGSO-like system using the same frequency band. Boeing said Wyler's 100 percent indirect ownership of SOM1101 doesn't implicate the rule since he holds in the aggregate "significantly less" than 33 percent of the equity and debit interests in OneWeb, which is one of the definitions in Section 25.159(b) for attributable interest. Boeing said the agency's Section 1.2110(c)(2) rule -- which defines "controlling interests" as it governs eligibility for competitive bidding credits as a designated entity in spectrum auctions -- isn't implicated because Wyler doesn't have de jure or de facto control of OneWeb. Boeing said without a Section 25.159(b) waiver, development plans for the proposed NGSO system would be unnecessarily hampered, and no other NGSO-like systems would be hurt if a waiver were granted.