Globalstar, having abandoned an effort to merge with FiberLight (see 1808010014), doesn't anticipate pursuing another transaction with FiberLight holding company Thermo Acquisitions. The satellite company still hopes to lease or otherwise monetize its 2.4 GHz band spectrum to handle its financial shortfall, said CEO Jay Monroe, also Thermo controlling shareholder, in a Q2 call Thursday evening. He said Globalstar and Thermo mutually called off the deal, including because of the expected cost of litigation to defend it, uncertainty about closing such as timing, stock price volatility and expectations the deal would be "a prolonged distraction" to management. He said Globalstar has been having talks with cable, wireless and telecom companies since 2013 as it tries to monetize its spectrum, and the FiberLight deal was envisioned in 2017 as a backup route to covering its capital needs in case no deal with a third party occurred. He said Globalstar ended its Thermo talks in September and at the same time had formal discussions with senior officers of 20 major cable and telecom companies, but no one expressed interest in a deal or in licensing the spectrum or in its other bands. Discussions about a Globalstar/Thermo deal rekindled this year, he said. He said lack of outside interest in the spectrum wasn't due to the company asking too high a price because it never received an offer, and instead the spectrum might be overshadowed by industry focus on the 3.5 GHz band, 5G "and this, that and the other thing." He said what happens in the 3.7-4.2 GHz band "will inform" what the company does with its C-band spectrum in the 7 GHz block. The company said it's facing roughly a $50 million gap every six months for the next two years due to debt financing obligations. Monroe said getting international regulatory approvals for terrestrial use of its 2483.5-2500 MHz band spectrum, like the FCC granted in 2016 (see 1612230060), is taking longer than expected. He said it's focused on approvals in 27 countries and hopes to get at least some OKs within the next few months.

Two Aerospace cubesats, AeroCube-7B and -7C, carrying its optical communications and sensor demonstration laser communication equipment, achieved data transmissions of 100 Mbps, Aerospace said Thursday. It said the laser communications demonstration is the first step toward using such technology in small platforms like cubesats instead of employing radiofrequency communications. It said the lasers were hard-mounted, and an altitude control system was used to point the satellite at the receiver. It said the satellites were launched Nov. 12 as secondary payloads on an International Space Station resupply mission.

Intelsat has 30 days, starting Aug. 10, to drift Intelsat 805 from 169 degrees east to 169.1 degrees east, from where it will provide fixed satellite service to the Pacific Rim and Western U.S., under FCC International Bureau approval Wednesday of the company's special temporary authority request.

More than 1,200 C-band earth stations have been registered with the FCC since the agency instituted its freeze on new ones and its registration process, and close to 100 are being registered weekly, Comsearch said Thursday. The deadline for registration of receive-only earth stations in the 3.7-4.2 GHz band is Oct. 17 (see 1806220004). Some experts estimated as many as 30,000 such earth stations are in the U.S. (see 1806260027).

Globalstar's $1.65 billion deal with FiberLight (see 1804250039) is off. In an SEC filing Wednesday, Globalstar said the decision to terminate came after unanimous recommendation of its board's special committee and the stockholders' representative. The company didn't comment Wednesday.

PGA of America and SiriusXM announced a five-year rights extension to their broadcasting agreement and will launch a weekly talk show, PGA of America Radio, Aug. 8. SiriusXM will continue to deliver live audio broadcasts of PGA of America events, including the PGA Championship and the 2020 Ryder Cup, they said. The channel is available on SiriusXM radios, on smartphones and tablets via the SiriusXM mobile app and on streaming devices, they said.

Telesat signed an agreement with Thales Alenia Space and SSL parent Maxar Technologies for system design work for the satellite operator's planned low earth orbit communications constellation. Telesat said Monday that in coming months, the two companies will complete preliminary design and do technical reviews leading to a proposal for manufacture and launch of the satellites and deployment of the ground system infrastructure. It anticipates choosing a prime contractor by mid-2019.

Centrally locating data from Defense Department programs involving commercial satellite payloads also hosting military sensors or other equipment could help the agency better assess the data for better decision-making on future host satellite use, GAO said Monday. DOD has used three commercially hosted payloads since 2009, with three more planned or underway through 2022, GAO said. It recommended the defense secretary require that programs using hosted payloads provide cost, technical data and lessons learned to a central office, and that it consider whether the Hosted Payload Office is that proper centralized location.

Boeing dropped plans to hand off two non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) satellite constellation applications pending before the FCC to SOM1101. An FCC staffer said there was skepticism at the International Bureau and it wouldn't be surprising if in conversations between the bureau and companies, it became apparent a grant of the applications would be tough. Boeing and SOM1101 filed an IB notice of withdrawal last week. The agency, Boeing and SOM1101 owner Greg Wyler didn't comment Tuesday. Other satellite operators opposed the handover ask, arguing Wyler had a controlling interest in OneWeb (see 1802130019). A satellite lawyer with a client interested in the proceeding said the two might have thrown in the towel when it looked like the ask wasn't going anywhere. The lawyer said the big question is what Boeing does with the pending NGSO applications. The lawyer said the satellite community's response to another Boeing request to transfer the applications to a different third party might depend on who it was and what issues that proposed recipient raises. But if Boeing does come in with another third party, it would look as if its original applications were speculation and the company is now shopping them around, and that's something the FCC doesn't want to encourage, the lawyer said. O3b argued the applications are speculation and should be denied (see 1807230005).

The blackout of Univision content on Dish Network and its Sling over-the-top product (see 1807030044) entered its second month Monday. Both sides indicated they are far apart on a new deal, as the direct broadcast satellite provider began offering some customers credits. Univision representatives "returned to their corporate offices last week at which time we offered several paths forward to show Dish how serious we are about resolving this dispute amicably," a spokesman for the broadcaster emailed us. "Dish responded with an offer that was essentially the same as the one they previously offered back in June. We remain open and willing to negotiate with Dish at any time and ready to return to their offices this week should they choose to be constructive." With "renewal talks in an apparent deadlock," Dish will issue $5 monthly credits for August customer bills to DishLatino and Sling Latino package subscribers, the DBS provider said earlier Monday. "We assume Univision's decision is permanent: Univision executives are seeking a massive rate increase despite reports showing the programmer lost more than 50 percent of its prime-time viewership in the last seven years," said Dish CEO Erik Carlson. "While we've been available, responsive and have made a best effort to negotiate, Univision appears to be forcing an impasse." The FCC still isn't commenting on the dispute.