Ligado dropped its objection to Aviation Spectrum Resources seeking to have access to Iridium's technical analysis of how Ligado's proposed LTE service might cause interference to the satellite company's receivers (see 1701300066), the company said in a filing Friday in FCC docket 11-109.

SES wants to be able to use the C-band capacity alongside the Ku-band capacity on its AMC-2 satellite, it said in an FCC International Bureau license modification request filed Thursday. The hybrid C/Ku-band satellite, which operates at 84.85 degrees west, currently uses the C-band only for telemetry, tracking and command purposes, SES said, saying it wants to activate its C-band payload to meet customer demand.

Multiple satellite operators are asking the FCC to move the deadline for replies to opposition to the petitions for reconsideration in the spectrum frontiers proceeding. In a joint motion for extension of time Friday in docket 14-177, the companies said moving the deadline from Feb. 10 to Feb. 24 would match the extension previously given for the deadline for filing oppositions and make sure parties have enough time to craft their replies. The 24 filings in response to the petitions for reconsideration “raise complex and technical arguments that will require significant effort to analyze and rebut,” they said. The signers of the joint motion were EchoStar, Inmarsat, OneWeb, SES, Intelsat and Boeing.

Intelsat expects to get an extra 10 years of use out of its Intelsat 903 satellite, it said in an FCC International Bureau filing Tuesday, asking for authorization to relocate the satellite and extend its license term from May 31 of this year to May 31, 2027. Intelsat 903 is operating at 34.5 degrees west, and the company said once it gets bureau approval, it will start drifting it to 31.5 degrees west, with that drift -- expected to start on or about Aug. 23 -- taking 15 days. The drift is to make room for Intelsat 35e, which is expected to replace 903 at that location before 903's departure to 31.5 degrees west, where it will colocate with Intelsat 25, it said.

Dish Network's asset swap with EchoStar (see 1701310064) should make Dish less reliant on EchoStar and make its pay-TV business fully self-sufficient except for leasing of satellite transponders, Moody's analyst Neil Begley wrote investors Wednesday. The deal -- which has Dish picking up assets including spectrum and EchoStar's stake in Sling TV -- also makes Dish "much more attractive" for a merger/acquisition or some other combination, Moody's said.

Broadband service provider Quantis Global will use Intelsat's EpicNG high-throughput satellites and its IntelsatOne Flex services to enhance its broadband services in Europe and northern Africa, Intelsat said in a news release Tuesday. It said Quantis will use capacity from the 33e and 37e satellites, plus Intelsat managed services, to target such customers as nongovernmental organizations, enterprises, embassies, oil and gas, and maritime. Intelsat 33e began operations this week (see 1701300009), and Intelsat 37e is scheduled to begin service in 2018, the company said.

Satellite communications can start serving the mass consumer market due to the coming wave of competitively priced capacity, but first satcom operators must put more emphasis on sales channels, partners and product architecture to reach that market, said Northern Sky Research analyst Lluc Palerm-Serra in an NSR blog post Tuesday. NSR said satcom must build a strong retail presence for satellite Internet: "The 'build it and they will come' approach does not work, and the market requires significant effort for demand stimulation." The research firm said some satcom operators are creating their own demand aggregation points of Wi-Fi hot spots in unconnected underserved locations, and those aggregation points will be big drivers of consumer broadband demand for satellite services.

Iridium contracted with SpaceX for an eighth Falcon 9 launch of five of its Next constellation satellites, with the launch to happen by early 2018, Iridium said in a news release Tuesday. The Next satellites will rideshare with two satellites of the NASA/GFZ Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow-On mission, it said: That's a cost-saving means of getting some of the ground spare satellites of its Next constellation in orbit and allows the company to complete the operational constellation quicker than it would have with seven launches. Iridium said it already contracted with SpaceX for seven dedicated Next launches involving 70 Iridium satellites in low-earth orbit over the next 13 months.

Dish Network will pick up some EchoStar assets, including its 10 percent of Sling TV and wireless spectrum licenses covering four markets in the 28 GHz band, in exchange for Dish's 80 percent economic interest in Hughes Retail Group held in the form of a tracking stock, Dish said in a news release Tuesday. Dish said it also will take over EchoStar Technologies' hardware and software development group, its managed fiber backhaul network serving all U.S. designated market areas, its national and regional uplink business, over-the-top development group and some real estate properties. Dish said it will still market EchoStar satellite broadband under the brand dishNET to rural customers. It said the deal is expected to close in Q1. The deal vertically integrates "all the elements that define our customer experience -- one team will deliver the full DISH and Sling TV experience end to end," Dish President Erik Carlson said. "Not only do we gain full control of product development roadmap for DBS and Sling TV but we also anticipate achieving operational efficiencies." In a note to investors Tuesday, Wells Fargo analyst Marci Ryvicker said the motivation for the swap is unclear, "but our gut tells us Charlie [Ergen, Dish and EchoStar chairman,] is cleaning these two companies up for a reason … perhaps this could be related to something transformative post the broadcast incentive auction."

Intelsat's Intelsat 33e satellite, the second in its EpicNG high-throughput constellation, started operation as of Sunday after completing its in-orbit testing, the company said in a news release Monday. Intelsat 33e was launched in August and operates from 60 degrees east, providing C-, Ka- and Ku-band broadband service to Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, the Mediterranean and Indian Ocean regions, it said. Three other EpicNG satellites -- Intelsat 32e, Intelsat 35e and Intelsat 37e -- are scheduled for launch this year, with Horizons 3e rounding out the constellation with its launch in 2018, it said.