Though the license term for Intelsat's Galaxy 16 satellite expires Aug. 14, that's well before the expected December 2028 end of its service life, Intelsat told the FCC International Bureau in an application Wednesday seeking to extend the C- and Ku-band satellite's license term through 2028.

The June 2021 International Telecommunications Satellite Organization meeting during which it would have considered terminating the agreement that gives it Intelsat oversight was canceled due to the pandemic and now is to take place by Q1, Intelsat officials told FCC International Bureau staffers per a docket 20-417 post Thursday. Intelsat asked the FCC to obligate it to still focus on nondiscriminatory access to its system, global connectivity and coverage even after termination of that ITSO agreement (see 2011180061).

Viasat asked the FCC to deny SpaceX's Rural Digital Opportunity Fund Phase I auction long-form application, in a letter posted Wednesday in docket 19-126. SpaceX "has made every effort to duck critical questions" about its ability to satisfy RDOF requirements, Viasat said. SpaceX provisionally won $900 million to serve 23 states (see 2104090039). Viasat questioned SpaceX's financial capabilities and whether it had enough spectrum. SpaceX didn’t comment.

The legions of geostationary orbit gateway earth stations in the upper microwave flexible use band Viasat applied for in recent days are evidence the FCC's lengthier buildout period for GSO earth station deployments adopted last year is allowing stockpiling of earth station sites, SpaceX said in a docket 18-314 filing posted Tuesday. Since July 1, per our search of International Bureau filings, Viasat has submitted 382 earth station applications in the 27.5-28.35 MHz band to connect with its Viasat-3 network. SpaceX said Hughes' critiques of arguments against the extended buildout period now "essentially concedes" that Viasat is engaged in stockpiling earth station sites. Hughes said earlier this month the Viasat applications "prove nothing about the likelihood of warehousing" and that SpaceX hasn't shown evidence the sites are unnecessary. SpaceX is among parties that sought reconsideration of Part 25 satellite rules (see 2105070044). Neither Viasat nor Hughes commented Wednesday.

The C-Band Alliance agreement used deliberately broad language that "clearly encompassed" the public auction approach the FCC opted for in C-band clearing, and the parties' course of performance confirms a shared understanding that the alliance partnership would continue if the FCC went the public auction direction. That per an SES response Friday (in Pacer, docket 20-32299) in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Richmond to Intelsat's motion for summary judgment seeking to have SES' $1.8 billion claim against Intelsat tossed (see 2106170043). It said the record "overwhelmingly demonstrates Intelsat’s enthusiastic and consistent participation" in the Alliance for months after the FCC announced the public auction plan in November 2019. Intelsat, in a response to SES' motion for summary judgment, said (in Pacer) SES ignores the Alliance contract and backtracks from its past statements confirming that if the FCC rejected the Alliance-advocated approach, the Alliance would disband. It said SES claims of breach of fiduciary duty are explicitly disclaimed by the consortium agreement, and New York law, which governs the Intelsat/SES dispute, rejects any such duty between contractual parties working through a complex business transaction.

As part of its agreement with special purpose acquisition company dMY Technology announced earlier this month (see 2107070001), Planet Labs seeks FCC OK for transfer of control of Planet, including its authorizations and pending applications, to dMY, in an International Bureau application Friday.

With a commercial agreement with JSAT coming to a close, Intelsat asked the FCC International Bureau to allow transfer of control of the JCSAT-RA satellite from Intelsat back to JSAT and the satellite's licensing authority to revert from the U.S. to Japan. In a bureau application Friday, Intelsat said at the end of the licensing deal, the C- and Ku-band JSAT-RA will move from its 169 degrees east orbital location.

SES and Intelsat will wrap up all visits to Phase 1 incumbent C-band earth stations by summer's end, and they and other electing eligible satellite operators should be able to certify the completion of the Phase 1 identification and allocation of all associated antennas and feeds this year, SES and Intelsat representatives told staff from the FCC Wireless and International bureaus and Office of General Counsel, per a docket 18-122 ex parte post Monday. They said they started the Phase 2 transition but haven't had the chance to do all the Phase 2 on-site visits to incumbent earth stations. Feeds of those earth stations undoubtedly will need identification and reallocation, meaning "there is simply no way to know the universe of claimed/unclaimed antennas and feeds and the proper allocation of responsibility for all of those antennas and feeds" until summer 2023, they said. They both also backed Verizon's call that the C-band clearinghouse fund claimants prospectively (see 2107120027) because it could expedite the process of providing lump sum electees with money needed to complete the band clearing.

Q2 gross subscriber additions at DirecTV and AT&T’s other pay-TV businesses increased 2% year over year to 492,000, AT&T disclosed to the SEC Friday regarding possible financing for the $7.8 billion spinoff of its U.S. video distribution assets to TPG (see 2102240046). DirecTV churn declined 22% from a year earlier to 1.87%. AT&T reported 15.41 million premium video subscribers, down 13%. While subscribers are still declining rapidly, “the steepest declines may be in the rear-view mirror,” said New Street Research.

There's no big change between the draft order amending FCC International Bureau Filing System rules and the order adopted by FCC commissioners Tuesday, we found. The order requires electronic, instead of paper, filing of applications for international high frequency broadcast stations and dominant carrier quarterly reports and ends a duplicate paper filing requirement for satellite cost-recovery declarations. The FCC said that ends any remaining IB applications and reports being filed on paper.