Rather than a departure from FCC precedent, the C-Band Alliance's C-band clearing proposal "follows a long line of established precedent," CBA filed Wednesday in docket 18-122. CBA listed multiple instances of the agency giving flexible rights to licensees in the past, with those licensees then able to use those expanded rights or conduct secondary market transactions to convey those rights. Those instances included 2012 approval of Dish Network's licenses for TerreStar-1 and DBDS G1 during a pending rulemaking to add AWS-4 service rules to the band and 2016 creation of upper microwave flexible use service allocation for licenses in the 28 GHz and 39 GHz band that extended to incumbents. CBA said it emailed the filing to Chairman Ajit Pai, the three regular commissioners and the heads of the Wireless and International Bureaus and the Office of Engineering and Technology head.
SiriusXM signed Scott Greenstein to a new employment agreement on Christmas Eve that extends his run as president-chief content officer through May 2022, said an 8-K Wednesday at the SEC. SiriusXM raised Greenstein’s annual base pay by 7 percent to $1.6 million and gave him the chance to earn yearly bonuses targeted at up to $2.4 million -- 150 percent of his annual base salary -- if he meets set “performance goals,” it said. It also granted Greenstein options to buy 3.2 million SiriusXM shares at $5.51 a share, plus roughly 2 million time-based and performance-based restricted stock units that vest on specified dates between December 2019 and May 2022, it said. Shares closed unchanged Thursday at $5.73.
Pandora CEO Roger Lynch would qualify for $12.7 million in “golden parachute” payments if he’s terminated within 18 months after the SiriusXM/Pandora transaction is completed (see 1809240030), said a SiriusXM proxy statement and prospectus filed Dec. 20 at the SEC. A Pandora shareholder vote on the acquisition is set for Jan. 29 at Pandora’s Oakland headquarters. Shareholders would vote separately on the actual deal proposal and the executive compensation packages, said the proxy. The transaction is expected to close in 2019's first quarter, it said. The FTC cleared SiriusXM/Pandora Friday, ending the transaction’s Hart-Scott-Rodino waiting period, said the companies Monday. The Pandora and SiriusXM boards ratified the deal unanimously, they said. SiriusXM shareholder approval was not required, they said. The Jan. 29 vote brings SiriusXM “one step closer to sealing the deal,” said Macquarie Research Monday. “Next up, a transformation of its digital/mobile presence.” As SiriusXM management “prepares to welcome Pandora, we expect a better articulation of strategy and top/bottom line synergies,” it said.
OneWeb CEO Greg Wyler called it "obviously not true" in a tweet Wednesday denying a published report that Russia is buying a minority stake in the satellite broadband company.
Liberty Global agreed to sell its satellite-TV operations in Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Romania for about $205 million to European media/satellite firm M7 Group, Liberty announced Friday. The businesses operate under the UPC Direct, FreeSAT and Focus Sat brands. Closing, subject to regulatory approval, is expected in 2019's first half. M7 said the businesses have about 800,000 customers.
The FCC reached a $900,000 settlement with Swarm Technologies for unauthorized satellite launch (see 1810040057), the agency announced and it appeared in Friday's Daily Digest. The settlement includes an extended period of FCC oversight and a prelaunch notice requirement to the commission. Swarm launched four small satellites in January, despite denial of the company’s application the previous month over concerns about the ability to track them, the agency said. Enforcement Bureau Chief Rosemary Harold said the agency will “aggressively enforce” requirements on preauthorization. “These important obligations protect other operators against radio interference and collisions, making space a safer place to operate,” she said. Friday, Swarm didn't comment.
SpaceX canceled Thursday's launch of a GPS satellite due to weather conditions, it said. The GPS III-SV01 spacecraft launch was rescheduled for Saturday.
Viasat slammed Hughes Network Systems' opposition to Viasat's petition to reconsider parts of an FCC Connect America Fund performance metrics order. Hughes argued the "petition should be denied because the Performance Metrics Order 'was in full force and effect' when it was adopted 'and parties were obligated to rely on it,'" Viasat said, posted Wednesday in docket 10-90. "This argument is absurd on its face. Nothing in the Commission’s rules prevents reconsideration of orders that are 'in full force and effect.' Indeed, if that were the standard, reconsideration would almost never occur." In September, Viasat targeted FCC requirements that satellite broadband providers receiving Phase II support retain third parties to do testing, and that satellite broadband providers do "real-world' latency tests using certain ITU-recommended procedures." Hughes didn't comment Wednesday. Safeguard "the bedrock principle that the standards applicable to auction participants must be clear before an auction begins and should not be substantively changed after an auction is over," Hughes asked the FCC Dec. 7. It urged denying Viasat's petition and granting Hughes' petition to clarify that a test for demonstrating compliance with a voice-quality requirement for high-latency bidders doesn't apply to CAF support distributed through a New York state broadband program, where Hughes won support.
SiriusXM asked FCC staff to OK the company's emergency alert system request (see 1811070047). The company says not all the satellite-radio provider's channels can carry such alerts "in a way that would trigger a downstream broadcaster’s own EAS alert," and EAS participants could monitor only the two SiriusXM free preview channels. It said the record appears complete after the Federal Emergency Management Agency OK'd (see page 3) use of SiriusXM satellites as alternative EAS monitoring sources for only those two channels, Sirius network Channel 184 and XM Radio network Channel 1, and the commission's comment cycle ended. A lawyer for the company reported in a filing posted Wednesday in docket 15-94 that he and others met Public Safety Bureau Deputy Chief Nicole McGinnis and Policy and Licensing Division Deputy Chief Greg Cooke.
SES Americom and O3b said FCC staff shouldn't OK OneWeb-proposed changes to its broadband satellite system because they are “speculative and would undermine” the agency’s application processing round framework. Anti-warehousing provisions bar two unbuilt systems in the same band, said the companies. “OneWeb has provided no public interest rationale for the significant expansion of the constellations,” an SES lawyer recounted telling International Bureau officials, including Satellite Division Chief Jose Albuquerque, posted Tuesday in docket 14-177. The two said the plans conflict with “OneWeb indicating that fewer satellites will be required for the first-generation rollout of its Ku/Ka-band system, highlighting the absence of any urgency for the Commission to consider vastly increasing the number of satellites OneWeb is authorized to deploy." The agency may OK such plans even amid opposition (see 1809130002). OneWeb representatives didn't comment.