Nokia, Air France, Aeromexico and GOL-Linhas Aereas Inteligentes are joining the Seamless Air Alliance, the in-flight connectivity group said Monday. It said one of the next steps is working group collaborations on a set of standards. OneWeb, Airbus, Airtel, Delta and Sprint formed the alliance earlier this year (see 1803050009).
Non-geostationary orbit startup Astranis Space Technologies received more time for tests and demos of its Demosat-2 satellite star tracking and telco capabilities, said FCC Office of Engineering and Technology experimental authority approval Friday. Astranis said the satellite was to be launched Oct. 1, and had received experimental authorization to run through April 2, but ultimately didn't go up until Jan. 12. The new approval is for six months commencing June 15.
The 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals turned down Dish Network's petition for panel rehearing and rehearing en banc of the appellate court's decision on the insurability of punitive or Telephone Consumer Protection Act statutory damages (see 1804090003), said a docket 17-1140 order (in Pacer) Tuesday. Dish didn't comment Thursday.
Ligado -- facing pushback from certified aviation GPS interests about possible interference from its terrestrial low-power broadband service (TLPS) (see 1805160009, 1709260048 and 1708070025) -- is pledging new power limits on its use of the 1526-1536 MHz band to protect those GPS receivers. A docket 11-109 filing Thursday amended its modification applications to set equivalent isotropically radiated power limits on its ancillary terrestrial component base stations and to require that its ATC base stations can't operate in that band near an FAA-established obstacle clearance surface. That should "fully protect" certified aviation GPS receivers, it said, adding those protections are consistent with issues brought up in Transportation Department test results on adjacent-band compatibility to GPS (see 1805160009). The company will take mitigation steps that include upgrading or replacing government devices as a fix to concerns about potential effects on U.S. government devices, "and expects a requirement." It said if the FCC approves its TLPS plans, it will invest as much as $800 million on its satellite and terrestrial network. Competitive Carriers Association President Steve Berry in a statement said the group agrees with Ligado "that mid-band spectrum offers important opportunities for deploying next generation technologies," and the FCC should "make as much spectrum available as possible for commercial use. ... The overwhelming consumer demand for wireless connectivity and next generation technologies including 5G have made it more important than ever for the FCC to look at every opportunity to free up additional spectrum where possible." The National Coordination Office for Space-Based Positioning, Navigation and Timing didn't immediately comment.
Moody's downgraded its ratings outlook on ViaSat from positive to negative, citing lack of clarity about when its earnings decline turns around. Moody's also said Wednesday it expects ViaSat to be "significantly cash flow negative" in FY 2019 as it ramps up spending on two ViaSat-3 satellites while its commercial networks operation still struggles. The company didn't comment.
Allowing O3b to modify its market access grant to provide mobile satellite service (MSS) in the 19.7-20.2 and 29.5-30 GHz bands would "make a mockery" of the FCC's satellite licensing process, Iridium representatives told aides to Chairman Ajit Pai and Commissioners Mike O'Rielly and Jessica Rosenworcel, according to an ex parte filing Tuesday. It said at most, the FCC should give O3b access only to parts of MSS feeder-link bands that include an allocation for non-geostationary fixed satellite service, namely the 19.3-19.4 GHz and 19.6-19.7 GHz bands. It said the FCC's Ka-band plan currently prohibits O3b from providing MSS in the spectrum it wants to use and the agency hasn't looked at what effects MSS operations might have in that spectrum. Thus O3b should petition the FCC for a rulemaking on changes to the Ka-band plan rather than be granted a waiver that would essentially be an "unstudied change in rules." O3b outside counsel didn't comment Wednesday. The O3b draft order is on the June agenda (see 1805160051).
Orbital ATK received an experimental license for a satellite test bed facility in Herndon, Virginia, to be used for integrating and testing commercial communications satellites at 1575.42, 1176.45 and 1800 MHz, the FCC Office of Engineering and Technology said Tuesday.
Iridium and Gogo agreed to make Gogo a manufacturer of Iridium Certus aviation terminals and a provider of the L-band in-flight connectivity service, Iridium said Tuesday. It said Gogo has been an Iridium reseller since 2002. It said initial flight trials for Certus aviation applications will be later this year, with commercial service targeting aviation users to start in mid-2019.
Sports bars and DirecTV subscribers aren't challenging the existence of DirecTV's "Sunday Ticket" but rather the agreements that prevent any competition with it, the appellants said in a docket 17-56119 reply brief (in Pacer) filed Friday in the 9th U.S. District Court of Appeals. The appellants said it's clear the Supreme Court's 1984 NCAA v. Board of Regents of University of Oklahoma ruling that NCAA exclusive contracts with broadcasters had apparently anticompetitive consequences holds sway in this case claiming anticompetitive consequences of DirecTV's agreements with the NFL. The appellants are challenging a U.S. district judge's decision last year throwing out consolidated complaints suing the MVPD and NFL over Sunday Ticket programming (see 1804020003). Outside counsel for DirecTV owner AT&T didn't comment Tuesday.
The first deployments of Dish Network's planned narrowband IoT network should start by year-end, with the core network installed this summer, Chairman Charlie Ergen told Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Brendan Carr in meetings recapped in an FCC docket 17-183 posting Friday. Dish said it plans to take delivery of radios for the network by fall and is identifying and acquiring tower sites. It said the first wave of installations of radios on towers in some markets will be done by year's end, with deployments to continue through 2019. The company said stand-alone 5G standardization work will go in parallel, and during completion of phase one of the IoT network, it will be upgraded and expanded to 5G. Ergen has said phase two would involve integrating 5G connectivity (see 1708030043). Dish said that during Q1, it signed lease agreements with more than a dozen tower companies and has been signing agreements with regional and nationwide vendors for site acquisition, installation and other construction services. The satellite-TV provider urged the FCC to act on a petition for rulemaking by the MVDDS (multichannel video distribution and data service) 5G Coalition seeking use of the 12.2-12.7 GHz band for 5G broadband (see 1604260068). Dish is a member of the coalition.