Matt Daneman

An update to the FCC Electronic Comment Filing System saw some files from the old system that were lacking dates temporarily appearing Wednesday afternoon in ECFS as new files, a spokesman told us Thursday. By noon, the glitch -- which had 2,600 files lacking "date received" information showing up across multiple dockets -- appeared to be resolved.

Most or all major programmers are moving toward their own over-the-top video offerings by decade's end, following HBO Now, CBS All Access and -- as announced this week -- ESPN and Disney streaming services (see 1708080065), experts said.

Having received final FCC regulatory approval for its low-power mobile broadband plans in the 2483.5-2495 MHz band, Globalstar is ending for now plans for an L-band mobile broadband network. In a docket 13-213 filing posted Tuesday, the company said it was withdrawing its 2012 request for a rulemaking on terrestrial wireless operations in the 1610-1617.775 MHz band. The International Bureau on Tuesday approved a modification of Globalstar's satellite authorization to include a terrestrial low-power ancillary terrestrial component (ATC) network using mobile satellite service spectrum. The approval said Globalstar's ATC operations in the S-band are subject to the company's 2008 agreement with NTIA on out-of-band emissions into the 1559-1610 MHz band -- an issue raised by GPS Innovation Alliance (see 1706260022). Globalstar's 2012 petition for rulemaking proposed using 2483.5-2495 MHz for a terrestrial wireless service and a longer-term plan to use of spectrum in the 1.6 GHz/2.4 GHz band for an LTE-based mobile broadband network. Globalstar General Counsel Barbee Ponder told us that having received the authority for its short-term plan -- the FCC in December OK'd terrestrial use of the 2473-2495 MHz band for low-power mobile broadband use (see 1612230060) -- the company "is going to focus on that," particularly on getting international regulatory approvals for its terrestrial broadband plans. Ponder said Globalstar has applications pending in various countries and could get some international approvals this year. FCC bureau approval "marks the end of the FCC regulatory process to obtain terrestrial authority over our S-band spectrum and the beginning of a new range of innovative wireless services," CEO Jay Monroe said: It's working with chipset and infrastructure providers "to put this spectrum to more intensive use."

The FCC might need to launch a processing round for satellite use of the C-band, after an application for a non-geostationary orbit satellite constellation prompted by two previous processing rounds, agency and satellite representatives told us. That New Spectrum Satellite application (see 1707270023), raising new issues, comes as the agency is trying to figure out how to accommodate and deal with later entrants in NGSO processing rounds.

The commercial space universe is still awaiting its own "devil's rope" -- also known as barbed wire, the invention of which allowed the homesteading and settling of the American West -- to drive more space utilization, said Space Foundation Director-Research and Analytics Micah Walter-Range at a foundation event Tuesday. He said NASA technology development and transfer of that tech to the commercial sphere could be a key policy for helping drive the domestic space industry. He said challenges facing the Russian launch industry could extend for some time, with Russia -- which usually dominates the space launch market -- accounting for 17 launches last year, vs. 22 each in China and the U.S. That loss of market share continued into 2017, he said, with Russia facing possibly its smallest number of launches since the early 1960s. But the Russian launch industry took a nose dive after the fall of the Soviet Union and eventually rebounded, Walter-Range said. He said talk of an emerging Chinese commercial launch industry will likely follow similar models some other nations have followed, with government-supplied vehicles and a commercial marketing arm. Meanwhile, the U.S. workforce dedicated to space is seemingly declining -- compared with employment growth in Europe and Japan -- likely due more to the sector becoming increasingly integrated with other industries so counting jobs that are purely space becomes more problematic, Walter-Range said. He said Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, with the $1 billion in company stock he's cashing out annually for Blue Origin operations, gives him the 10th or 12th largest space budget on the planet, depending on how U.S. agency spending is counted. Walter-Range said the 232 satellites launched in 2016 marked the second consecutive year of declines, mostly due not to a particular downturn in the market but nanosatellite constellations causing a statistical blip.

As it looks to harmonize FCC 2016 approval of its broadband terrestrial low-power service plans across jurisdictions worldwide (see 1612230060), Globalstar had talks with regulatory agencies in 15 countries beyond what it announced in May, CEO Jay Monroe said in an earnings call Thursday. He said the company expects to have filed a number of applications internationally for terrestrial use of its 2483.5-2500 MHz band spectrum by year's end. He said it expects FCC approval of its mobile satellite service license modification application "within days," after the comment period ended in July without opposition (see 1705250011). He also said the company is in partnership discussions "with numerous companies" that either have or want their own terrestrial networks, since Globalstar doesn't expect to build its own.

A National Labor Relations Board determination that CNN and Team Video Services (TVS) were joint employers of technicians who then were laid off was faulty because the NLRB standard for making that determination was inconsistent with precedent and didn't explain why precedents don't govern, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit decided (in Pacer) Friday. The ruling by Judges Merrick Garland, Cornelia Pillard and Brett Kavanaugh and written by Garland included a Kavanaugh partial dissent. The majority opinion said the NLRB isn't barred from finding CNN a joint employer or using a different standard for determining joint-employer relationships, but the court can't enforce that. The D.C. Circuit granted CNN's cross-petition for reconsideration on labor law violations that flowed from the joint-employer finding, but it granted the board's application and denied the Time Warner unit's petition for review on violations not dependent on the joint-employer finding. Kavanaugh said NLRB failed on finding CNN a successor employer to TVS. Kavanaugh didn't see substantial evidence that CNN hiring decisions discriminated against former TVS workers. NLRB counsel didn't comment; CNN said it's reviewing the decision.

With FCC cybersecurity and IT the topic of criticism, spending in recent years doesn’t seem outside what would be expected, IT experts told us. The commission's Office of Inspector General told Congress the agency was "not effective" in seven of eight Federal Information Security Modernization Act metrics -- rating it "effective" only in the Security and Privacy training domain. OIG said the information security program "was not in compliance" with FISMA legislation, Office of Management and Budget guidance and National Institute of Standards and Technology special publications.

Conditions that prohibit discrimination against unaffiliated networks could be in the stars for AT&T's proposed $108.7 billion buy of Time Warner, given signals those unaffiliated networks have concerns, deal watchers told us. But a Starz-commissioned study showing New AT&T likely would benefit TW-owned HBO to the detriment of rival premium networks could be a sign DOJ isn't pushing hard for significant behavioral remedies or that AT&T is being recalcitrant, said antitrust lawyer Mark Ostrau of Fenwick & West.

Satellite interests applauded FCC efforts to harmonize and consolidate rules for vehicle-mounted earth stations, earth stations on vessels and earth stations aboard aircraft (ESAA), and to allow operation of earth stations in motion (ESIM) in the Ka-band. Monday was the deadline for initial comments on the rules consolidation NPRM, replies due Aug. 30. Commissioners approved the NPRM in May (see 1705180042). The NPRM wasn't expected to get notable pushback (see 1705090018). ESIM rules should be identical for earth stations at fixed locations, Boeing said in docket 17-95, saying giving ESIMs co-primary status in the 18.3-18.8 GHz, 19.7-20.2 GHz, 28.35-38.6 GHz and 29.25-30 GHz bands would help deployment of broadband services with additional capacity for end users on mobile platforms. Previous waivers allowing mobility-based fixed satellite services in the Ka-band have shown such deployments don't hurt the operating environment, ViaSat said, saying power limits might be needed for Ka-band ESAAs operating in airspace within line-of-sight of a foreign territory where fixed service networks have an allocation. ESIMs in the Ka-band face the same interference issues as other earth stations operating there on a primary basis, so giving ESIMs primary status will cut burdens on ESIM operators without any corresponding increase in harm, Inmarsat said. It pushed for cutting regulatory barriers for U.S.-licensed earth stations aboard aircraft operating in foreign territory. Several operators also backed FCC proposals to eliminate the antenna pointing accuracy and data logging requirements in existing rules. Elefante Group said the FCC should make clear ESAAs include stratospheric platforms, like those it plans to deploy, and that ESIM deployments in the 18.3-18.8 GHz and 19.7-20.2 GHz bands don't inhibit deployment of other services there. The National Academy of Sciences' Committee on Radio Frequencies said any new ESIM uses should preserve the existing scientific use of the 18.6-18.8 GHz band, and an inventory of recent changes in the number and location of fixed earth stations and ESIMs would help in an assessment. It said there should be restriction of ESIM in frequencies adjacent to that band's earth exploration satellite service allocation until there's more technical parameter information available about proposed ESIMs. The Global Mobile Suppliers Association, when looking at possible effects on future services in the adjacent 27.5-28.35 GHz band, said the NPRM doesn't give enough ESIM operational information about possible deployments and asked that prospective ESIM operators submit usage scenario information, as well as channelization and out-of-band-emission information, for analyses based on real operating scenarios.