High-throughput satellites, non-geostationary orbit satellite constellations and high-altitude platform stations (HAPS) are starting to offer global broadband connectivity and could play a key part in "a truly ubiquitous and affordable broadband ecosystem," reported ITU's Working Group on Technologies in Space and the Upper-Atmosphere Monday. It said advantages of space and upper-atmosphere platforms include wide area coverage, geography agnosticism, ease of deployment and reliability. The group said policymakers need to ensure sufficient spectrum protection for such platforms and globally harmonize spectrum where possible for satellite and broadband HAPS. It recommended "technology-neutral policy making" by regulators and streamlining of satellite and HAPS licensing, urging governments to ensure ITU and other bodies develop HAPS standards expeditiously.

With the handoff of traffic of Ku-band traffic from AMC-1 to SES-15 looking to be "unusually complicated," SES is asking for FCC International Bureau approval to modify its authority to serve the U.S. market with SES-15 from 129.15 degrees west. In an application Thursday, SES said AMC-1 is being relocated from that orbital slot to 130.9 degrees west before SES-15 arrives, but it wants to provide overlapping services from both orbital locations during AMC-1's drift. It said the traffic transfer complication is because AMC-1 is a traditional wide-beam satellite while SES-15 is a high-throughput satellite with multiple spot beams, so dual illumination of the two when they're collocated isn't technically feasible since the wide area beam and spot beams would cause interference. It also said customers' network configurations are very different on SES-15, and customers need more time to configure and test their networks on it.

Black TV News Channel is continuing to advocate for waiver of the requirement that programming carried on direct broadcast satellite noncommercial reserved channels be commercial-free. In an FCC docket 14-77 filing Friday, BTNC recapped meetings in July and August with Commissioner Mignon Clyburn and an aide to Chairman Ajit Pai to discuss its request -- dating back a decade (see 0710300131) -- for a three-year waiver.

With monetary penalties being uninsurable under Colorado law and Telephone Consumer Protection Act statutory damages being penalties under Colorado law, a U.S. District judge in Denver was right in holding that Dish Network's Ace American Insurance policies don't cover the TCPA litigation brought by the federal government and four states, Ace said in a docket 17-1140 reply brief (in Pacer) Wednesday in the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The TCPA lawsuit also seeks equitable remedies, but those remedies don't qualify as damages under Colorado law or Ace policies, it said. The insurer also said Dish can't invoke coverage that covers insureds in the broadcasting business, which Dish is, or coverage of damages from an "occurrence" of accidental or fortuitous events, since none of the alleged telemarketing conduct fits that bill. Dish didn't comment Thursday. Dish also is in litigation with National Union Fire Insurance Co. over indemnification of it in the combined federal/state TCPA complaint (see 1708220024).

SES will use the IBC 2017 show in Amsterdam to demonstrate the world’s first live Ultra HD transmission of HDR10+ content via satellite, SES said in a Thursday announcement. HDR10+ is the dynamic-metadata-based high dynamic range platform that Fox, Panasonic and Samsung plan to begin licensing as a royalty-free open standard in 2018 (see 1708280018). At IBC, SES also will team with LG Electronics and others to broadcast Ultra HD content at 100 frames per second -- double today's standard in TV broadcasting in Europe -- via satellite at Astra 19.2 degrees east, the company said. The content will feature fast-action scenes and will be received and displayed on an LG OLED TV fitted with prototype high-frame-rate firmware, SES said. The IBC 2017 exhibit floor opens Friday for a five-day run.

Pointing to the need to support Irma recovery operations in the Caribbean and Florida (see 1709140057 for storm coverage), Inmarsat is asking the International Bureau for special temporary authority to operate all terminals licensed under a blanket earth station license to communicate with the Inmarsat 5F2 satellite. The company is licensed to operate the terminals in the 29.5-30 GHz uplink and 19.7-20.2 GHz downlink bands and the STA would let it operate also in the 29.25-29.35 GHz uplink and 19.45-19.55 GHz downlink bands, it said in a bureau application Wednesday.

Sling TV added an antenna bundle deal, it said in a Wednesday blog post. New customers who qualify for an over-the-air antenna, based on their location, can prepay for two months of Sling TV and get a free Winegard indoor antenna valued by Sling at $59, it said. The antenna is available online at several sites for under $30. Or, consumers can prepay for three months of Sling TV for an AirTV player, adapter and Winegard indoor antenna for $70 (a $189 retail value, according to Sling). Customers who don’t live in an area where local channels are available through the service can get Sling + OTA and receive channels such as ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC without an additional Sling TV subscription, it said.

SES's SES-17 satellite will be launched in 2021 on an Ariane 5 rocket, SES said Tuesday. It said SES-17 will provide in-flight connectivity and data services over the Americas and Atlantic region.

Hispasat's Amazonas 5 satellite was launched into orbit Tuesday on an ILS Proton rocket, ILS said. The SSL-built satellite has a high-throughput Ka-band payload and will be used for broadband delivery in Central and South America and Mexico, and a Ku-band payload to be used for TV and other telco applications in Central and South America, it said.

U.K. Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Karen Bradley wants to refer Fox's planned buy of Sky to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) for a full, six-month investigation, she said in a statement Tuesday to Parliament. She cited media plurality and commitment to broadcasting standards issues as the reason. She said since Ofcom concluded "there are non-fanciful [broadcasting standards] concerns" with the deal (see 1708250035), those concerns meet the threshold for a reference on broadcasting standards grounds. She said CMA might want to look at the lack of procedures for broadcast compliance in the U.K. for Fox News, since Fox established such procedures only after Ofcom raised the issue, and look at corporate governance issues and whether Fox will have "a genuine commitment" to broadcasting standards. She said the parties had 10 days to respond to her proposed decision to refer to CMA, after which she will come to a final decision. Fox in a statement said it was disappointed, and cited Ofcom concluding that it and Sky have compliance records consistent with comparable license holders and that Ofcom in August said there weren't sufficient concerns to warrant referring the deal based on broadcast standards consideration. Fox said it's "surprised that after independent regulatory scrutiny and advice, and over four months to examine the case, the Secretary of State is still unable to form an opinion," and it still expects to close on Sky by June 30. Bradley's announcement "is more a political issue" than an actual question of Fox commitment to broadcast standards, Wells Fargo analyst Marci Ryvicker emailed investors: "Ms. Bradley is trying to disentangle herself from shouldering the responsibility of this deal."