Intelsat and SES are in the midst of a "detailed and comprehensive" study to assess the effect on existing C-band earth stations of 5G base stations operating in the 3.7-38 GHz band, also looking at various mitigation techniques like filter, shielding and low noise block, they said in docket 17-183 ex parte filings (see here and here) posted Tuesday. They said there's consultation with filter manufacturers to design one that achieves the necessary attenuation in the smallest bandwidth possible. But filtering won't help the fact earth stations will receive 5G out-of-band emissions in band, and trade-off assessments are underway to figure out OOBE requirements. Attendees included Wireless Bureau Chief Don Stockdale, International Bureau Chief Tom Sullivan and Office of Engineering and Technology Chief Julius Knapp.

Comments are due May 23 on coordination requested by the Canadian government for an Ontario earth station in the 3700-4200 MHz and 5925-6425 MHz bands, the FCC International Bureau said in a public notice Monday. It said if no adverse comments are received, the earth station will be considered satisfactorily coordinated with the U.S. and Canada.

Changes in federal oversight of commercial space activities under the American Space Commerce Free Enterprise Act (HR-2809) coming to vote a Tuesday are "about as 'light touch' and industry friendly as you can get," Secure World Foundation Director-Program Planning Brian Weeden said in a series of tweets Saturday. He said the legislation lines up with White House proposals to move most licensing authority to Commerce Department's Office of Space Commerce (OSC), though the FCC would keep spectrum licensing and the FAA would keep launch and re-entry licensing. It also gives OSC new authority to provide "certification to operate" new types of commercial space activities not covered by the current licensing regime, he said. Companies will have to submit space debris mitigation plans, though Commerce's ability to require mitigation steps "is very limited," he said, saying the legislation creates civil penalties of up to $500,000 for a company that doesn't comply with the requirements or operates without a permit or certificate. The bill authorizes but doesn't appropriate "a paltry" $5 million for OSC to carry out the work "which is far more than they currently get but far less than what they likely need," he said.

OneWeb Chairman Greg Wyler's track record developing non-geostationary orbit satellite systems makes his SOM1101 the best option for ensuring that Boeing-proposed NGSO satellite systems get built, launched and provide data services globally, Boeing officials told a staffer to outgoing FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, reported a filing posted Wednesday. Boeing and SOM1101 have been lobbying for FCC approval to transfer two Boeing NGSO applications to SOM1101 (see 1803290002 and 1804100001). O3b, which Wyler founded and which opposes the transfer, disclosed last week it met with staffers of Chairman Ajit Pai and Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel to dispute arguments that Wyler isn't considered affiliated with OneWeb under FCC rules.

The FCC Media Bureau permanently invalidated a 2011 Philadelphia ordinance restricting placement of satellite dishes. A Wednesday declaratory ruling granted a 2012 petition by the Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association. Philadelphia made the law for aesthetics, property values and safety, but the FCC said it’s prohibited by its over-the-air reception devices rule, which protects the ability of antenna users to install and use such devices to give more video choice for consumers. SBCA is “pleased that the FCC found that Philadelphia’s dish-placement restrictions were unreasonable” and would have made TV service more expensive, said President Steve Hill. “We hope that other city governments considering similar restrictions will take heed of the FCC’s decision.” Philadelphia is reviewing its legal options, a spokeswoman said.

Despite what Dish Network says, there's no conflict between a 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision on insurability of punitive or Telephone Consumer Protection Act statutory damages and any other decision interpreting Colorado law on those issues, Ace American Insurance said Monday in a docket 17-1140 response (in Pacer). Dish is asking for rehearing en banc of the ruling that the insurer has no duty to defend or indemnify Dish in a TCPA telemarketing lawsuit (see 1804090003). The MVPD didn't comment Wednesday.

Fixed satellite service (FSS) operators are likely to face declines in contract durations, revenue and margins through at least 2020, until a revenue rebound occurs, blogged Northern Sky Research analyst Gagan Agrawal Sunday. He said the decline in video and non-video FSS contract duration over the past three years mirrors price declines over the same span, with the increase in capacity ensuring those shorter contracts aren't leading to higher pricing. He said the FSS company market cap and share prices "are precariously placed" for the next one to two years and it's unclear whether next-generation high throughput and non-geostationary satellites will boost revenue, but "certainly it is a tough road ahead for the FSS segment."

Iridium on one side and Inmarsat, SES and ViaSat on the other are making their cases against or for earth stations in motion operations (ESIM) in the 29.25-29.3 GHz band with Chairman Ajit Pai's office. Excluding ESIMs from the band won't hurt ESIM services, but allowing it in the band used for non-geostationary orbit uplinks would interfere with those uplinks, Iridium officials told a Pai staffer, according to a docket 17-95 ex parte filing posted Friday. Iridium said there isn't a satisfactory way to manage or mitigate that interference. In a separate ex parte filing in the docket also posted Friday, Inmarsat and the others repeated their assertions that the docket includes ample evidence ESIM operations won't interfere with Iridium's feeder link operations in the band (see 1804040060). The companies also pushed for allowing ESIM operations in the 28.35-28.6 GHz band, telling Pai's office they won't cause unacceptable interference to upper microwave flexible use systems (UMFUS) in the 27.5-28.35 GHz band. They said ESIM operations would be kept in check by the FCC's out-of-band emissions limits under Section 25.202, and a ViaSat analysis showed fears of ESIM interference to UMFUS operations "are unfounded." The Global Mobile Suppliers Association raised concerns about ESIM interference with UMFUS operations in the band (see 1708310004); it didn't comment Monday.

An FCC enforcement advisory on satellite licensing requirements issued Thursday comes as smallsat operators are getting well into preparation for a launch before seeking authorizations necessary, an FCC staffer told us. The advisory from the International Enforcement and Wireless Bureaus and Office of Engineering and Technology said its intent is to remind operators of regulatory requirements and warn them about doing otherwise. The agency said operators denied a license or with an application pending shouldn't give the satellite to a launcher if that commits them to launching. It also said the operator could face not getting authorizations for earth stations outside the U.S. until a U.S. satellite authorization is issued. It said launching without authorization with onboard radio transmitters disabled isn't an option since that could create a hazard to other satellites due to the inability to monitor or control the satellite. The FCC is dealing with an unauthorized constellation launched by satellite IoT connectivity startup Swarm (see 1803200003), but the advisory wasn't in response only to Swarm, the agency staffer said.

The National Space-Based Positioning, Navigation and Timing (PNT) Systems Engineering Forum testing of the effects on GPS receivers of adjacent band operations ignores Ligado's agreement with major GPS manufacturers and improperly disregards cutting-edge government testing over "outdated tests with erroneous criteria and other problems," Ligado said in docket 11-109 filing Friday. It said the PNT Forum's report runs contrary to what major GPS manufacturers believe, and said the Forum report insistence on using 1 dB change in noise floor as an interference protection criteria is fatally flawed. Ligado said the 1 dB metric isn't applicable to adjacent band emissions since it's been applied only to emissions in the same band, and that it's not accurate or reliable since testing has shown a 1 dB change doesn't correlate to actual degraded performance of a GPS device. Using the 1 dB metric shows "basic misunderstanding of spectrum policy and well-established law" by the Forum, Ligado said, saying the Forum is "effectively grant[ing] a form of 'adverse possession' to all GPS devices ... over nearby bands." Ligado said the Forum has no spectrum management expertise or authority. The filing included a letter sent to the National Executive Committee for Space-Based PNT also criticizing the Forum report. The PNT National Coordination Office didn't comment. The Forum report, issued in March, said National Advanced Spectrum and Communications Test Network (see 1702160056) and others did significant testing of Ligado's proposed LTE network and compatibility with Global Navigation Satellite System spectrum, but its own analysis found that testing scope and framework insufficient. It said other test data from such sources as the FCC, Transportation Department and the Forum are sufficient for determining the maximum aggregate power level of transmissions in GPS adjacent bands.