Tim Warren

ANAHEIM, Calif. - The highly specialized capacity the U.S. government often needs poses a difficult situation for satellite operators and manufacturers, which place more value on generalized capacity, said industry executives during a panel on satellite communications acquisitions. More generalized capacity allows operators to switch among private industry users once a contract is up or business plans change, something far more difficult for satellites made for government use, said Kay Sears, president of Intelsat General, at the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics conference. “Once you start to introduce the anti-jamming or military frequencies, then it becomes a risk to sell,” she said. As a result, different types of acquisition models are necessary to make sure the capacity is always there for military needs, she said. One way to improve the process would be to allow long-term contracts for satellite capacity, she said.

Dish Network resumed talks with the FCC on revising former defaulter rules in preparation for coming spectrum auctions, a possible indicator the direct broadcast satellite provider is gearing up for spectrum bids. Dish asked the Wireless Bureau to refine bidding rules that require bidders with poor federal financial track records to put up significantly more money than those with unblemished record, said an ex parte filing. The commission is planning to auction off AWS-3 and 700 MHz spectrum in 2011 per the National Broadband Plan, though no official auction has been put in place and possible Congressional action allocating the D-block for public safety agencies (CD Aug 9 p3) could make an auction unnecessary.

Direct broadcast satellite providers and broadcasters disagree about the antenna standard that the FCC should use in defining unserved households eligible to receive distant signals, they said in comments to the commission. The agency is following through on parts of the Satellite TV Localism and Extension Act (STELA), and both sides replied Tuesday to a rulemaking notice on the standard (CD July 29 p11) in docket 10-152. The proposed rule would continue to use the outdoor antenna standard, which classifies consumers who can’t receive broadcast signals by outdoor antenna as unserved and so eligible to get distant signals by DBS. STELA doesn’t specify the type of antenna to be used in the predictive model and on-site testing that determine distant signal eligibility. Under the law, the commission must act by Nov. 23 to implement the act.

Consolidation in the wholesale satellite capacity market has made it less competitive than other satellite markets, said Spacenet, in comments to the FCC. The company was responding to the International Bureau’s public notice requesting information for the annual satellite competition report. The wholesale market is “dominated” by Intelsat and SES World Skies, which “now control some 83 percent of the data network services transponders serving the U.S.,” said Spacenet, which buys wholesale capacity from operators. New entrants to the market are unlikely since Intelsat and SES World Skies already control or have rights to 2/3 of the 31 orbital slots able to provide service to the U.S., they said. The agency shouldn’t treat all satellite capacity as “fungible” since a change in satellite providers is a difficult process, requiring major adjustments to terminals and earth stations, Spacenet said.

Hughes Network Systems, WildBlue, EchoStar and Spacenet won some of at least $100 million in federal stimulus money that the Rural Utilities Service is giving to satellite projects to expand broadband’s reach. The funding came in the second round of the Broadband Initiatives Program (CD August 19 p1). Satellite projects may get additional money, said a RUS spokesman. Many winners learned of the awards Wednesday, but many of them said they're still waiting for details, including which of their applications was approved by RUS, executives said. The stimulus money can cover upfront equipment and installation charges and must reduce service fees to $50 a month or less.

LightSquared paid Inmarsat $337.5 million to begin the process of consolidating terrestrial L-band spectrum that LightSquared plans to use for its 4G network, the companies said Wednesday. The process for opening up the spectrum for use by LightSquared has been in place since 2007, when the company was known as SkyTerra. LightSquared has paid an initial $81.25 million to Inmarsat.

The FCC should clarify important points when implementing the Satellite TV Extension and Localism Act of 2010 (STELA) to avoid unintended consequences during retransmission consent negotiations, said DirecTV and Dish Network. The comments were in response to a rulemaking proposing to allow direct broadcast satellite providers to transmit the HD signals of significantly viewed stations (SVS) only if they also transmit the local station network affiliate in HD, if available. DirecTV said the language changes in the law could be construed to require satellite-TV providers during retransmission disputes to lower the resolution of other broadcasts.

Google will work as the sales representative for several channels offered by DirecTV, the companies said Wednesday. The partnership is a step forward for Google’s effort to gain recognition as an ad seller in traditional media in preparation for a possible flattening out of Internet ad sales, media industry analysts said.

TerreStar is considering filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the company said in its Q2 10-Q filing with the SEC. The firm has struggled to find financial stability in recent years despite a launched satellite and large investments from major companies such as Harbinger Capital Partners and EchoStar. Continued operations, including the release of a new phone with AT&T scheduled for September, may depend on support from those companies, said satellite industry executives. How the filing may affect possible incentive auctions for the 2 GHz band is unclear, because the FCC just opened its proceeding on how best to encourage mobile broadband investment in the MSS bands (CD July 16 p1), said executives.

Inmarsat will buy three Ka-band satellites from Boeing as part of a $1.2 billion investment to develop a global network in the band, the companies said Friday. The new satellites are a major change from Inmarsat’s legacy as an L-band provider and is seen as an effort to take back mobile satellite market share lost in recent years to fixed satellite services operators in the Ku-band, such as Intelsat and SES, said industry executives. The FCC and other countries’ regulators are expected to take on new proceedings to define rules for mobile satellite services in the band, which is largely used by fixed satellite services, said an executive.