Matt Daneman

The idea of dividing 47 GHz and 50 GHz bands into four sub-bands, championed by an array of satellite operators, will face wireless industry opposition, wireless officials told us. The sub-band proposal raises wireless red flags because such band segmentation would make it harder for the FCC to establish the contiguous blocks that would allow terrestrial 5G operations, they said.

Comcast continues to look into offering its Xfinity Mobile service outside its footprint, but the mobile service won't go beyond the footprint anytime soon, CEO Brian Roberts said. The company hasn't found a business model that works beyond the footprint, since its competitive advantage is in bundling mobile with other services, he told analysts during an earnings call Thursday. The company didn't take questions about spectrum or the broadcast incentive auction, in which it spent $1.7 billion for 73 licenses (see 1704130056). In a note to investors, MoffettNathanson analyst Craig Moffett said despite speculation Comcast's relatively slim spectrum buy was a sign it plans to buy a wireless operator, it very likely points to Comcast knowing it needs to get heavily into mobile wireless but not seeing an attractive takeover target in the near future. He also said a Comcast-Charter Communications deal is unlikely given the antitrust hurdles it would face and the risk it raises of prompting further regulation of the broadband marketplace. Asked during the call about the competitive threat of 5G, Comcast Cable CEO Dave Watson said, "It's early," especially given the time it will take 5G to scale, so it doesn't yet pose a significant threat. He also said Comcast is doing fixed and mobile 5G testing. Pointing to NBC being the top-rated prime-time network by a wider margin than it has enjoyed in more than a decade, plus next year's Super Bowl and Winter Olympics, NBCUniversal CEO Stephen Burke said he expects that to translate into notable leverage going into the ad sales upfronts. He said the company already is in discussions with big ad-buying groups. Roberts also said May will bring the launch of Comcast's cloud-based home networking Wi-Fi gateway, xFi.

An array of forthcoming seismic technological changes necessitates that policymakers and tech companies start talking about those applications and the policy questions they raise, NCTA President Michael Powell said Thursday at The Near Future. The joint CableLabs-NCTA event -- NCTA’s replacement for its now-canceled INTX show (see 1703060044) -- didn’t delve into those policy questions, but focused on tech, with hands-on virtual reality displays and an array of presentations. CableLabs CEO Phil McKinney said the intent was to showcase applications that could be realized in the next three to five years, all dependent on high-speed networks -- applications including for entertainment, videoconferencing, retail, manufacturing and healthcare. Powell and McKinney said the connective tissue for much of the highlighted tech will be the 1 GB-speed networks expected to become increasingly common over the next couple of years. Video content increasingly will be immersive and short form, with social interactivity aspects, said Technicolor Senior Vice President-Corporate Development Tim Dodd. He said videogame engines are increasingly being used in digital effects and video, because of their interactive real-time and high-end capabilities. VR has been talked about since the 1990s, but smartphones have “softened us up” to finally making that level of content interactivity go mainstream, said 20th Century Fox Futurist Ted Schilowitz. He said unlike the “box on face” model with clunky headsets, “it’s going to get a lot better,” with wearables coming quickly. He said he's working on VR original content now tied to other content, such as motion pictures.

Government subsidies of satellite-provided broadband services, such as the FCC's Connect America Fund or the U.K.'s Better Broadband subsidies, require ongoing analyses of the comparative costs of different solutions and due diligence in looking at various technology combinations to see what's effective in different situations, said a draft report on broadband satellite by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's Working Party on Communication Infrastructures and Services Policy, provided to Communications Daily. The report catalogs the current state of the satellite industry and looks at subsidy and regulatory considerations in satellite-provided broadband. The report also says the uncertainty that comes with new satellite technologies might create a larger need for market-based subsidy mechanisms like auctions to choose providers and technologies in broadband subsidy plans. Laying out a variety of satellite policy and regulatory changes going on by regulators worldwide, the report also said the expected growth of non-geostationary orbit systems will necessitate further changes in regulations. A satellite industry executive told us the report is to be discussed at the Working Party's May meeting.

Multiple U.S. satellite operators had numerous suggestions for Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED) Canada as the agency considers revisions to non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) licensing rules (see 1703090018). The FCC also is looking at updating its own NGSO fixed satellite service (FSS) rules (see 1612150066).

Half a dozen states have adopted or are close to adopting laws easing the regulatory burdens of 5G deployment, and the hope is that more will follow suit this year, said CTIA Senior Vice President-External and State Affairs Jamie Hastings Thursday at a Multicultural Media, Telecom and Internet Council (MMTC) 5G presentation. Ohio, Kansas, Arizona and Colorado passed such laws in the past 18 months, and bills in Iowa and Virginia are awaiting those governors' signatures, Hastings told us afterward, saying some other states are "in play," though she didn't elaborate.

At least one satellite operator is leaning toward filing a petition for reconsideration of the FCC's Connect America Fund Phase II bid weights decision, we were told. Satellite industry insiders said the overarching issue is the way the weighting system gives particular preference to issues like latency and speeds that result in satellite broadband services being unlikely to participate. Thursday is the deadline for petitions, the FCC confirmed Monday, but didn't comment further.

Dish Network's incentive auction spectrum plans remain hazy. Many saw Dish's 486 licenses for $6.2 billion as being a bigger play than nothing expected. Similar questions surround Comcast's strategy with its $1.7 billion for 73 licenses being smaller than anticipated (see 1704130056). The auction is expected to lead to problems for low-power TV stations and translators (see 1704140062).

Some kind of major space conjunction event, such as a cubesat collision with a far larger satellite, seems almost inevitable, and regulators and policymakers need to be planning for that now, said Mike Gold, chairman of the FAA Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee, at an FCBA event Thursday. However, an overreaction "will be sending jobs and capabilities overseas" to other regulatory regimes, he said.

Satellite operators with non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) constellation applications before the FCC are starting to provide additional technical details to the International Bureau. The bureau in a series of letters in March to some operators requested supplemental constellation information on such issues as mitigation of orbital debris. ViaSat in a letter Tuesday provided more details about its post-mission disposal plans, giving more technical details about its plans to put its satellites into storage orbit at 8,500 kilometers. Boeing's letter elaborated on its plans for keeping apogee, perigee, inclination and argument of perigee values during the satellites' lifetimes, and more details on its intent to comply with application equivalent power flux density limits. The bureau, meanwhile, gave the company a May 10 deadline for providing a variety of supplemental information about its V-band constellation, including its design and operational strategies for mitigating orbital debris and an analysis of collision risk, in a letter Tuesday to Boeing. Karousel's letter Tuesday cited waivers it foresees needing in the 29.1-29.25 GHz and 29.25-29.5 GHz bands for its NGSO constellation since there's no NGSO designation in the bands, and how it will prevent interference with Iridium operations in the 29.1-29.3 GHz bands. The bureau this week also extended LeoSat's deadline to May 15 for it to give more information about the status of the French licensing authority's review of the orbital debris mitigation plans of LeoSat's constellation and an analysis of collision risk during the passive disposal phase. Boeing separately emailed us that its NGSO plans are "in full accordance with FCC requirements and precedent" -- in response to allegations by ViaSat that pending V- and Ka-band constellation applications from Boeing, SpaceX and O3b don't meet FCC requirements (see 1704110028).