Matt Daneman

FCC International Bureau and eighth-floor staffers had meetings with satellite operators in recent days on the draft non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) satellite rules on next week's meeting agenda, show filings in docket 16-408. Some experts forecast 5-0 commissioner approval (see 1709110030).

The Ajit Pai FCC's top wireless priorities are making more spectrum available for flexible use in the low, mid- and high bands, policies that identify and eliminate barriers to infrastructure deployment, and policies that extend wireless to unserved and underserved areas, Wireless Bureau Chief Donald Stockdale said at an FCBA event Wednesday. He said barriers are "one of the critical issues" the agency is facing in 5G deployment, with the other chief hurdle being the freeing up of more spectrum for fifth generation.

The FCC proposal to replace avoidance angle rules with a trigger based on system noise temperature in the draft non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) satellites rules order on next week's commissioners' meeting agenda (see 1709110030) is coming under fire from some operators. SpaceX in docket 16-408 filings posted Monday (see here and here) recapped meetings with an aide to Chairman Ajit Pai and with International Bureau staff at which the company said the agency's proposed definition of in-line events "could be workable," though with uplinks it could result in "unintended but detrimental consequences" due to the wide variety of NGSO system architectures being proposed. It said any "one size fits all" approach to in-line events will raise the likelihood of having to resort to band splitting for uplinks. SpaceX said the FCC should add a topic to the Further NPRM, specifically defining in-line uplink event parameters, which would minimize those events and promote spectral efficiency. Also raising red flags about the fixed separation angle issue is Telesat Canada, which in a filing in the docket posted Monday recapped discussions with aides to Pai and to Commissioners Brendan Carr, Mignon Clyburn, Mike O'Rielly and Jessica Rosenworcel (see here, here, here, here and here). It said the agency's proposed separation standard is as unworkable as its current fixed avoidance angle rules. It also said operators can't exchange information on many of the data items needed to make a trigger based on system noise temperature calculations in advance or in real time. Telesat Canada said "the only workable solution" is through ITU coordination. Intelsat said it's concerned geostationary orbit satellites wouldn't be adequately protected from harmful interference due to some NGSO operators seemingly not meeting equivalent power flux density (EPFD) limits required by the ITU. The company said the FCC needs to independently check the data of NGSO constellation applications it's reviewing and ask for corrections to ensure EPFD requirements, or, at least require the NGSO applicants to provide a set of input information for EPFD showing that third parties could verify. In a filing posted Tuesday, Space Norway said it particularly backed the draft order's proposed elimination of the global and domestic coverage requirements.

Localities hope the FCC cable signal performance quality draft order on commissioners' Sept. 26 agenda could resolve issues that have plagued some public, educational and government access channels, communications lawyers said. A 5-0 vote is likely since there doesn't seem to be any particular political opposition or issues, cable industry officials told us.

Northrup Grumman's proposed buy of Orbital ATK likely won't face significant regulatory challenges, space and satellite industry experts told us. The deal likely doesn't have big ramifications for the commercial space sector, largely reflecting consolidation in the defense contractor universe, they said.

The U.S. is seemingly on the path to clarifying its outer space treaty regulatory obligations for emerging, nontraditional space activities, but a host of other obligations the U.S. has under OST are waiting and need more specificity, too, said speakers at a University of Nebraska space law conference Friday. Speakers said the federal government needs to make clear which agency is "the front door" to all the various other agencies with a hand in reviewing such nontraditional space activities.

Interference and implementation milestone issues in the FCC's draft non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) satellite rules order on September's agenda (see 1709070056) could be the subject of lobbying and satellite operator pushback, industry officials told us. But 5-0 approval by the commissioners seems likely since the individual disagreements on technical details are overshadowed by the agency being able to open the door to NGSO services, we were told.

Broadcasters worry this fall's elections process for must-carry or retransmission consent status on cable systems could see pushes to move some stations off the basic tier now that cable is effectively competitive, but experts say that's unlikely. One hangup could be that there's no clear picture whether the effective competition presumption opens the door to such a basic tier change.

With Q3 being one of the most competitive in recent years for video subscribers, Comcast likely will end down 100,000 to 150,000 subs year over year, said Matt Strauss, executive vice president-Xfinity Services, Thursday at a Bank of America conference. He said the competition has come from new over-the-top services and from incumbent distributors increasing marketing spending and being more aggressive with offers. Strauss said hurricanes cost the company some subscribers. He said Comcast is focused on profitable subscribers instead of overall subscriber numbers, but the company could see a return to video subscriber growth. Strauss also said a major industry trend in video is an increase in time-shifting. "The future is aggregation," with Comcast as a distributor aiming at offering an increasing variety of sources on its Xfinity platform, Strauss said. He said Comcast's streaming video product, Instant TV, which was testing in Boston and Chicago, will be rolled out across its footprint later this month and into Q4. Instant TV is a skinny bundle of content and a cloud DVR, with additional programming packages available as add-ons, he said. He said Comcast will try not to cannibalize its existing video subscriber base by targeting its marketing at specifically high speed data-only customers and limiting the number of video streams. Comcast closed Thursday at $38.60, down 6.2 percent. In a note to investors, Wells Fargo analyst Marci Ryvicker said the stock movement is likely due to the Q3 subscriber news.

CBS CEO Les Moonves emphatically denied Thursday the network is in talks to acquire CNN. Rumors of such a deal are "real fake news," he said at an Economic Club luncheon, saying he hasn't talked with executives at CNN or parent Time Warner. A TW spinoff of CNN was speculated as part of AT&T's bid for the cable network (see 1701130018). TW didn't comment. Moonves said a programming talent war is growing with streaming services' original content and with tech companies getting increasingly into the TV space. He said CBS' competitive niche is in programming expertise and its broadcast assets' mass audience. With the growth of skinny programming bundles, CBS's strategy is to always be part of those skinnier bundles alongside its CBS All Access direct-to-consumer streaming service, he said. He also predicted a rebound in NFL ratings this season, chalking up last year's 8 percent ratings decline to more interest in presidential election coverage and anemic Thursday night game matchups. Meanwhile, DOJ may soon OK AT&T/TW, reported the Los Angeles Times earlier that day. DOJ didn't comment.