The FCC Connect America Fund Phase II build-out should look at an alternative set of eligibility requirements that allow for different technology platforms, minimize the contribution asked of end users and still provide service capable of such broadband applications as video streaming, ViaSat said in a filing posted Monday in docket 10-90. Those proposed requirements include speeds of 25 Mbps downstream and 3 Mbps upstream, since speed is a far more important factor to quality of service than such issues as latency and jitter, ViaSat said. It also recommended a voice service with a mean opinion score of four, MOS being a better measure than latency of perceived quality, ViaSat said. And those requirements also should add service plans with usage allowances to the FCC's urban rate survey results, packet loss of no more than 0.01 percent and average one-way jitter of at most 30 milliseconds for interactive, real-time applications, ViaSat said. It responded to back-and-forth filings by Adtran and Hughes Network Systems about CAF standards (see 1507280024). While agreeing with Hughes that standards shouldn't be so firm as to preclude any type of technology out of hand, ViaSat agreed with Adtran that Hughes' proposed satellite-specific alternative standards could mean a "second class" broadband. The 100 milliseconds latency requirement in CAF Phase I "effectively 'boxed out' ... satellite broadband providers that use geostationary spacecraft," ViaSat said. Its own set of proposed alternate criteria, meanwhile, would meet CAF objectives better than a 100 millisecond latency requirement because they would ensure high-quality broadband and voice services while also allowing competition among an array of technologies and providers, ViaSat said. If the FCC keeps the 100 millisecond yardstick, it should make it clear that applies only to latency-sensitive traffic, the company said. "Low latency has little bearing on the end-user experience with respect to video streaming, which now accounts for most peak downstream traffic." ViaSat said having one latency benchmark even for nonlatency-sensitive traffic would make network operators "forgo the advantages of higher speeds offered by geostationary satellite technologies with no offsetting benefits in terms of user experience."

LightSquared and Roberson finalized how they will gauge the scope and degree of L-band LTE network interference to GPS, if at all, they said. In a 42-page GPS sensitivity measurement plan to be filed in FCC docket 12-340, the two spell out the key performance indicators to be looked at, as well as signal-to-noise ratios and other GPS receiver data. "Emphasis is on real world expected LTE signal levels," with GPS devices being tested by Roberson for accuracy and sensitivity in the presence of LTE downlink and uplink signals, LightSquared said. The key performance indicators include 2D and 3D position errors, loss of real time kinematics and timing errors. The testing is underway now. In a statement Tuesday, the company said it expects to have results this fall. Being tested are nearly four dozen different GPS devices, ranging from high precision and aviation -- both certified and non-certified -- units to general location and navigation models and some smartphones and tablets. The LTE signals to be used in the key performance indicators testing will be 1526-1536 MHz, 1670-1680 and -- schedule permitting -- 1545-1555 downlinks, and 1627.5-1637.5 and 1646.7-1656.7 uplinks, LightSquared said. It and a variety of GPS makers have been at loggerheads over interference worries stemming from the satellite company's satellite LTE plans (see 1507020056). The GPS Innovation Alliance has criticized the test as redundant to similar efforts in the planning stages at the Department of Transportation, as well as containing questionable methodology (see 1508180019). "After years of indecision and inaction, it is time to move forward," LightSquared said in its statement.

Gogo received its final Federal Aviation Administration supplemental type certificate needed to launch its 2Ku next-generation satellite connectivity service, and plans to begin 70 Mbps commercial service later this year, the company said Monday. The technology is installed on the company's Boeing 737-500 test plane and now has received approval for in-flight testing. The company said seven commercial airlines have signed up for either a trial or fleet deployment of 2Ku in more than 500 commercial aircraft.

Spaceflight seeks FCC International Bureau approval for communications with its Sherpa spacecraft sometime in the first four months of 2016. In its IB application posted Friday, Spaceflight said it intends to launch Sherpa on a Falcon 9 between Jan. 15 and April 15 into an elliptical orbit of between 450 and 720 kilometers, and Sherpa would then deploy satellites from each of its five ports. The company is seeking special temporary authority for communications between Sherpa and three earth stations during Sherpa's 12-hour operational span so as to monitor the launch and to download status information. The downlink communications would be at 401.5 MHz, while the uplinks would be at 450.2 MHz, Spaceflight said. Sherpa -- a nonpropulsive spacecraft with no solar panels, attitude control, propulsion or pressure vessels -- is designed to deploy up to three microsatellites and several cubesats and nanosatellites, and then ultimately de-orbits back into the atmosphere roughly 20 years after launch, Spaceflight said.

A surety -- increasing by fixed amounts every year the penal sum of a bond -- would meet FCC goals of an "escalating" bond requirement for satellite operators so that a potential payment increases over time, Robert Duke of the Surety & Fidelity Association of America told International Bureau staff in a meeting detailed in an FCC filing posted Friday in docket 12-267. The agency last year initiated a rulemaking to modify Part 25 rules for earth station and satellite licenses, including revising bond requirements to try to deter spectrum warehousing (see 1411060049).

SES Americom hopes to run its AMC-6 C- and Ku-band satellite 12 more years, through June 30, 2027, filing an application Thursday with the FCC International Bureau requesting a license modification. AMC-6 began operation in 2000 and is licensed to operate through Nov. 20 of this year, SES said. There's sufficient fuel to run AMC-6 through the proposed extended term and to deorbit it, SES said.

Intelsat's C- and Ku-band Intelsat 34 launched successfully Thursday from French Guiana aboard an Ariane 5 rocket, the company said in a news release. SSL-built Intelsat 34 will join Intelsat 11 and 21 in providing video distribution services in Latin America, replacing Intelsat 805 and Galaxy 11, plus broadband services for the aeronautical and maritime markets in the North Atlantic, Intelsat said. Two more Intelsat launches are scheduled for the first quarter of 2016, it said.

Intelsat's efforts to change or eliminate the two-degree spacing rule is both self-serving and unpersuasive, said SES Americom and EchoStar in a filing posted Friday in docket 12-267 in response to Intelsat arguments that ITU coordination would be preferable to the FCC spacing rules (see 1508100064). Numerous other satellite operators, including DirecTV, Iridium and ViaSat, also backed keeping the spacing rule, SES and EchoStar said. Meanwhile, Intelsat's argument that the growth of satellite operators internationally but few satellites licensed by the FCC to operate in previously unoccupied frequencies as indicating the ITU system works better "ignores the most obvious reason for this numerical imbalance -- robust development of the U.S. arc has left relatively few unused locations available for new satellite entry," EchoStar and SES said. That focus on the number of new satellites ignores the two-degree rule's role in ensuring spectrum and orbital resources access while coordination negotiations are underway. "It provides entrants with certainty that they can commence operations at reasonable power levels, rather than being at the mercy of an adjacent operator with ITU priority," the two said. The two-degree spacing rule also gives existing and new operators the right to operate under reasonable default levels and both have mutual incentives to come to agreements on higher levels, EchoStar and SES said. Intelsat's argument that the ITU system would better help U.S. licensees meet demand for small-antenna services has no basis, EchoStar and SES said. "SES, EchoStar and others including Intelsat itself have been able to successfully deploy mobility services and other small-antenna offerings under the existing two-degree spacing framework," the two said. Intelsat didn't comment Friday.

Dish Network subscribers in Wisconsin may receive a bill credit as part of a settlement reached after an investigation into consumer complaints by the state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, said a news release from DATCP. The settlement includes $225,000 in civil forfeitures and assessments and a $4.25 bill credit to thousands of eligible customers, the release said. The settlement requires Dish to make changes to its communications with Wisconsin customers whenever Dish increases prices on satellite television offerings that are subject to an early termination fee, it said. "While we respectfully disagree with the allegations in the complaint filed by the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, we appreciate their constructive feedback regarding our communications with our customers," said a Dish spokesman. "We are pleased to amicably resolve this matter, so that we can continue to focus on providing outstanding customer service and the best value in pay-TV.”

The FCC denial of Dish Network’s $3.3 billion in AWS-3 auction bidding discounts “is clearly an unfavorable development for the company as the resulting significant cash outlays could further weaken the balance sheet and liquidity” and force “negative credit rating actions,” Moody’s said Wednesday in a research note. Much depends on how Dish finances the $3.3 billion obligation and manages its “credit metrics,” Moody’s said. Paying back the $3.3 billion in discounts would leave Dish with “less to work with,” possibly imperiling the company’s mergers and acquisitions activities, Dish CEO Charlie Ergen said on an Aug. 5 earnings call (see 1508050042).