The application fee schedule of the FCC 2019 streamlined small-satellite licensing order (see 1908010011) will be effective 30 days after the order's upcoming Federal Register publication, the International Bureau clarified in a docket 18-86 order Monday.
SiriusXM with 360L, the company’s newest entertainment platform, debuts in 10 model year 2021 Audi vehicles in coming months using Verizon's 4G LTE network, said the company Monday. The offering combines satellite and streaming content. A sports feature is said to make it easier to find a listener’s favorite team at game time. Smart personalization gives content recommendations based on listener’s tastes with individual vehicle profiles available for multiple drivers and passengers, it said.
The FCC Wireless Bureau laid out the process for satellite operators to make an accelerated relocation election in the C-band clearing in a public notice Monday in docket 18-122. The deadline is May 29.
Hiber's planned 24-satellite non-voice, non-geostationary constellation (see 1809110001) received U.S. market access approval, in an FCC International Bureau order in Thursday's Daily Digest.
Satellite operators reject concerns mobile network operators (MNOs) raised about terrestrial operations in the 27.5-28.35 GHz upper microwave flexible use service (UMFUS) band (see 2005050034). Verizon and U.S. Cellular red flags are "a last-minute sandbagging attempt" at getting the FCC to revisit settled out-of-band emission (OOBE) issues in the adjacent 28.35-28.6 GHz band, said SES/O3b, Inmarsat and Hughes/EchoStar in a docket 17-95 posting Thursday. They challenged the call for OOBE limits specific to earth stations in motion (ESIM) to protect UMFUS in the 27.5-28.35 GHz band, saying the millions of licensed fixed terminals communicating with geostationary orbit satellites haven't caused UMFUS problems, so extending those rules to non-geostationary satellites shouldn't, either. They said deployed ESIMs will be a fraction of the fixed blanket-licensed earth stations already authorized for the 28.35-28.6 GHz band, so aggregate interference also isn't a realistic worry. Viasat said the ability of ESIMs to operate on a co-frequency basis with UMFUS systems in the 27.5-28.35 GHz band is extraneous to the draft ESIM order on the May 13 commissioners' agenda (see 2004220048). It said internationally, there's an interference threshold to protect terrestrial fixed and mobile services from co-frequency ESIM operations on a cross-border basis, so terrestrial fixed and mobile operators need to plan co-frequency ESIM operations in the 27.5-28.35 GHz band. Verizon emailed it and other U.S. carriers "have made significant investments to deploy robust 5G services to Americans using the 28 GHz band. Given the stakes in the international race to 5G, it is important that the FCC consider the interference risk that the proposed new ESIM satellite operations would pose to incumbent 5G operations in the adjacent 28 GHz band." CTIA said it argued in conversations with aides to Chairman Ajit Pai and Commissioner Mike O'Rielly co-channel sharing between ESIMs and UMFUS isn't feasible and the spectrum frontiers proceeding was specific about allowing only limited siting of new earth stations in UMFUS bands.
If the executive branch had followed through over the past 16 years on its assertions there needs to be more protection for U.S. GPS and precision navigation and timing capabilities, FCC approval of Ligado's terrestrial L-band use (see 2004200011) "would be a minor issue, if an issue at all," with few GPS users affected, the Resilient Navigation and Timing Foundation blogged. The Ligado dispute should be a wakeup call for the need for better protection of GPS and its users, it said Tuesday.
Norway's Kongsberg Satellite Services wants the FCC to make clear that its proposed regulatory fees for foreign-flagged satellites (see 2004220048) wouldn't be imposed on those accessing a U.S. earth station just for telemetry, tracking and control and data acquisition when that data isn't going to a U.S. customer. That's according to a docket 19-105 posting Wednesday on company talks with the Satellite Division and letters to commissioners and division staff.
The kind of regulatory fee burden the FCC is considering "can be fatal" to small satellite operators and might force early stage ones to either close or move to other licensing jurisdictions, Spire Global said in a docket 19-105 posting Tuesday. A non-geostationary orbit operator with a license and a U.S. market grant like Spire would see its fees go from $154,875 in 2019 to $618,950 in 2020, it said. Spire called "unreasonable and not supported by law" the FCC argument that its past interpretation of its statutory authority to not allow charging regulatory fees on satellites licensed in other jurisdictions is possibly erroneous. An order charging foreign-licensed satellite operators regulatory fees is on the commissioners' May 13 agenda (see 2004220048).
Swarm wants to double its non-voice, non-geostationary satellite system plans from 150 satellites to 300, it said in an FCC International Bureau modification application Monday. The application asked for OK to use additional VHF frequencies. It said the need for more satellites is driven by increasing commercial and government demand for IoT and machine-to-machine mobile satellite service connectivity. The agency authorized the NVNG constellation plans in 2019 (see 1910180003). Separately, Swarm sought to permission add onboard propulsion, which would increase the mass of the satellites, and to operate at a wider range of orbital altitudes. The company said that would allow quicker deployment of services. Swarm also seeks U.S. market access for a planned 450-satellite NVNG constellation (see 2003020002).
The FCC's earth stations in motion order on commissioners' May 13 agenda (see 2004220048) doesn't address the interference risk from ESIMs in the 28.35-28.6 GHz band to terrestrial operations in the adjacent 27.5-28.35 GHz upper microwave flexible use service (UMFUS) band, Verizon and U.S. Cellular told staffers, recounted a docket 17-95 posting Tuesday. They urged a Further NPRM on interference risk. The carriers said the mobility of ESIMs makes predicting interference difficult, and adding non-geostationary ESIMs into the 28 GHz band would "upend" traditional routes of resolving interference between adjacent band fixed satellite service earth stations and UMFUS operations. The companies said an FNPRM should ask about good limits or regulatory steps to protect adjacent band 28 GHz UMFUS operations, and appropriate measures for protection of adjacent band UMFUS operations such as guard band use or out-of-band emission limits. Among those the companies met with were International Bureau Chief Tom Sullivan, aides to Chairman Ajit Pai and the other commissioners, and Wireless Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology staff.