Inmarsat and VT iDirect formed an R&D partnership to develop prototypes and proofs of concept for next-generation satellite communications technologies, the companies said Wednesday. The R&D project team will be based at Inmarsat HQ in London, that company said in a news release. The companies worked together before to develop the Inmarsat Global Xpress program, it said. The team plans to work on integrating satcom and terrestrial networks, boosting waveform performance and reducing the size of satcom terminals while increasing their power, Inmarsat said.

Data services firm Neustar is expanding into TV advertising targeting and measurement, in a deal with Dish Network's ad sales arm, Dish Media Sales, said a news release Tuesday. The companies said the partnership will let marketers use Neustar consumer data for better targeting of Dish's nearly 8 million addressable U.S. TV households.

Any FCC spectrum frontiers order should let ViaSat finish its ViaSat-2 and ViaSat-3 ground networks as planned and on a protected basis and the agency should protect ViaSat-2 and ViaSat-3 satellites from aggregate mobile wireless interference, ViaSat CEO Mark Dankberg told Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel in a phone conversation, said an ex parte filing Monday in docket 14-177. ViaSat said Dankberg said "continued and meaningful access to the 28 GHz band" is needed for residential, connected car and in-flight broadband connectivity, and pushed for a "reasonable ability" for deployment of 28 GHz and 37/39 GHz gateway-type earth stations and for deployment of satellite broadband user terminals on a secondary, non-interference basis. A separate ex parte filing in the docket Monday said the company's outside counsel discussed aggregate interference issues with Commissioner Mike O'Rielly aide Erin McGrath.

Draft FCC proposed limits on satellite earth stations operating in the 28 GHz band under its spectrum frontiers NPRM could have unintended consequences, SES officials including Petra Vorwig, senior legal and regulatory counsel, told staffers for Commissioners Ajit Pai and Mignon Clyburn, said an ex parte filing posted Wednesday in docket 14-177. It said the NPRM -- which would propose to limit the satellite industry to one earth station per county -- would let the location be set by the first applicant in the county and would ban earth stations where the 200-meter surrounding radius overlaps with 0.1 percent of the county's population. Such an approach might mean more earth stations heading to higher-population areas, where it's easier to map out that 0.1 percent threshold, SES said, saying the 200-meter radius is too small to accommodate more than one earth station. The company also voiced concerns that grandfathering only 28 GHz earth stations licensed before July 14 would put its investments in its SES-15 satellite -- scheduled for a Q2 launch -- "at significant risk," and grandfathering status should be extended to earth stations applied for before July 14, or at least to earth stations with applications accepted for filing by then.

The ranks of those voicing concerns about Globalstar plans for its broadband terrestrial low-power service and possible interference to Bluetooth and Wi-Fi signals in the 2.4 GHz band include Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime, said an ex parte filing posted Wednesday in FCC docket 13-213 on a phone call with Commissioner Mike O'Rielly. Nintendo said it "depends heavily" on those unlicensed technologies for its game systems and thus is worried about TLPS deployments' effects on their use. Letting other entities aside from Globalstar operate in Wi-Fi channel 14 could further exacerbate the problem, Nintendo said, urging instead "comprehensive, transparent real-world testing" instead of approval of the draft order before the FCC. Globalstar didn't comment. Two commissioners voted against a draft that would allow Globalstar to phase in TLPS, while Chairman Tom Wheeler voted yes and other members hadn't acted (see 1606240056).

Siting preconditions on fixed satellite service earth stations should mean no further FSS/upper microwave flexible (UMFU) use coordination should be required, O3b said in an FCC filing posted Tuesday in docket 14-177. Siting criteria also should ensure a station can go wherever criteria are met, and that once built it can operate without facing subsequent risks of modification or shutdown, the satellite company said, saying allowing at least one FSS earth station site per county is necessary "although several sites would be more reasonable and likely to facilitate deployment of broadband to unserved and underserved areas." O3b said deployment of earth stations only to areas that don't cover more than 10 percent of the population of a census tract, "while extremely constraining, would permit a limited number of new O3b sites" and would ensure non-geostationary orbit sites would end up in relatively unpopulated areas. O3b also challenged UMFU proposals that satellite operators get spectrum access via auction or negotiation, saying that "simply makes UMFU licensees gatekeepers to satellite services, especially if FSS is not given co-primary status."

Intelsat will partner with AfricaOnline to provide a managed broadband service for sub-Saharan Africa, Intelsat said in a news release Monday. Intelsat said it will provide satellite services via Intelsat 28, and AfricaOnline -- a subsidiary of African telco Gondwana International Networks -- will provide ground support and network management services.

Italy national public broadcaster RAI and Eutelsat began delivering to Italian viewers Thursday the first of seven planned Euro2016 matches in Ultra HD. UEFA placed 14 cameras at the Vélodrome Stadium in Marseilles, with the images then sent to the International Broadcasting Centre in Paris, where they were forwarded to Eutelsat’s Paris-Rambouillet teleport, they said. A temporary studio set up by RAI at the teleport added live commentary, before the special RAI 4K channel was encrypted and uplinked to Eutelsat’s Hotbird satellites, they said. Supporting partners are DBW Communication and V-Nova.

Dish Network, DirecTV and the Diego Beekman Mutual Housing Association Housing Development Fund agreed to drop their appeals and cross appeals before the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, said a stipulation (in Pacer) filed Wednesday with the 2nd Circuit. The appeals and cross appeals came after a judge for the U.S. District Court Southern District of New York in March granted the DBS companies' motions to dismiss the lawsuit but rejected their request for attorney fees and costs. Diego Beekman, owner of 38 apartment buildings in the Bronx, sued claiming the DBS companies installed satellite dishes without its approval and caused property damage as a result. U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla in her ruling said the landlord failed to allege exclusive possession of the buildings, which would be required to maintain an action for trespass.

The FCC International Bureau created an online directory of all satellites authorized under Part 25 rules or granted access to U.S. markets, the Satellite Division said in a public notice in Friday's Daily Digest. The directory includes orbital location, satellite system name or call sign, operator name, frequencies, licensing administration and launch date. The bureau said creation of the list was a recommendation of the 2014 report on FCC process reform and part of Part 25 rules updates the FCC OK'ed last year (see 1512170036). The bureau said directory corrections and questions can be sent to satinfo@fcc.gov.