OneWeb is backing ViaSat's assertion that non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) processing round applicants should be allowed to amend their applications and petitions in light of last year's milestone rules changes (see 1801180060), it said in an FCC docket 16-408 filing posted Wednesday. OneWeb agreed with ViaSat that the FCC should reconsider its not allowing secondary fixed satellite service use 19.4-19.6 GHz and 29.1-29.25 GHz bands.

Ligado's planned terrestrial low-power service provides "ample" GPS protection, CEO Doug Smith told Commissioners Brendan Carr and Jessica Rosenworcel in meetings Tuesday, said an FCC docket 11-109 filing posted Wednesday. Ligado said it cut transmit power in all of its bands to levels low enough to protect certified aviation devices and allow most other GPS devices to operate unimpeded. It said if some underperforming high-precision GPS devices need more protection, they can be filtered to coexist with Ligado or replaced. The company said its base station emissions into the global navigation satellite system band are much lower than base station emissions from other band users and well below regulatory requirements.

The National Space Council will bring to the president an array of recommendations, including that NTIA and the FCC work with the Commerce Department on spectrum protection policies that also facilitate commercial space activities. Among recommendations the NSC adopted at its Wednesday meeting at the Kennedy Space Center were a series from the Commerce Department, including relocating the Office of Space Commerce and all commercial remote sensing regulatory functions from NOAA, so they report directly to the Commerce secretary. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told the NSC a head of the Office of Space Commerce will be chosen soon. He also said Commerce is giving NTIA more funding for space-focused activities. Ross said Commerce is recommending it and the commercial space industry work on regulations for a mission authorization framework for all Newspace commercial activities, with those regulatory framework recommendations to be made by July 1. He said Commerce, the State Department and DOD jointly need to simplify the commercial remote sensing licensing regime. The current permitting process, which can run as long as five years, "is unacceptable and must change," Ross said. Vice President Mike Pence said recommendations for streamlined export controls affecting commercial space activities should be ready by year's end, and recommendations for a streamlined launch authorization process by March 1, 2019. Satellite Industry Association President Tom Stroup told the NSC satellite operators need regulators to allocate sufficient spectrum for satellite use and to support satellite spectrum needs at the 2019 World Radiocommunication Conference. In prepared remarks, he also urged regulatory streamlining and faster turnaround in regulatory approvals, plus "common sense" rules for space safety and orbital debris.

Intelsat wants an extra five-plus years of life for its Galaxy 12 satellite. In an FCC International Bureau filing Thursday, Intelsat asked for a license term extension through Dec. 31, 2023. It said the license term for the satellite is due to expire May 4, but its service end of life is estimated to be March 2019, assuming no inclined orbit operations, or three to four years beyond that in inclined orbit operation.

HawkEye 360 this week received an Office of Engineering and Technology experimental license for launch of a trio of non-geostationary orbit test microsatellites. It said in its application the tests are aimed at validating its wireless signal detection, mapping and analysis capabilities. It said after successful completion of its testing, it plans to apply for FCC International Bureau approval for a constellation of up to 18 microsatellites and authority to operate two or more fixed earth stations for launch of an earth exploration satellite data service.

The SES/Intelsat/Intel C-band plan could free up spectrum for terrestrial use within 18 to 36 months of an FCC order, SES and Intelsat told an aide to Commissioner Mike O'Rielly, according to a docket 17-183 ex parte filing posted Thursday. The satellite companies told the agency their C-band consortium plan could free up about 100 MHz of C-band downlink spectrum in the contiguous U.S. (see 1802120043).

A lower court wrongly threw out consolidated complaints from sports bars and individual DirecTV subscribers suing the MVPD and NFL over DirecTV's Sunday Ticket programming (see 1707030002), 11 academia economists told the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in a docket 17-56119 amicus brief (in Pacer) Monday. They said the court's separation of the vertical DirecTV/NFL agreement from the horizontal individual team owner/NFL agreement is artificial and differs from standard industrial organization concepts. They said the rights pooling by individual owners and the subsequent sale of rights to DirecTV results in output far less than what team owners could achieve in other types of broadcast contracts. Signers included Dennis Coates of University of Maryland-Baltimore County, Craig Depken of University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Rodney Fort of University of Michigan, Ira Horowitz and Roger Blair of University of Florida, Leo Kahane of Providence College, Allen Sanderson of University of Chicago and Andrew Zimbalist of Smith College. Counsel for the appellees didn't comment Wednesday.

The European Commission signed off on Northrup Grumman's buy of Orbital ATK, Grumman said Monday. It said FTC approval is pending. The deal announced in September was expected to face few regulatory headwinds (see 1709180041).

The joint SES/Intelsat plan for clearing roughly 100 MHz of the C-band downlink spectrum would create a consortium of C-band satellite operators to make available a specified portion of the downlink spectrum for terrestrial mobile service through secondary market agreements on a market-by-market basis, the companies told a variety of FCC aides and staffers, according to a docket 17-183 ex parte filing posted Monday. The companies said their plan -- building on a joint Intelsat/Intel plan for the C-band (see 1710020047) -- would have the consortium negotiate secondary market agreements (SMAs) with prospective terrestrial mobile service providers that would then apply to the FCC for a coordinated mobile license authorizing the provision of the mobile service in that market area and spectrum block. The consortium would clear incumbent users and contractually relinquish primary protection in the part of the band covered by the SMAs. The companies said the coordinated mobile licenses would have a renewable term length of 10 years. They said the FCC would need to put forth rules adding a co-primary allocation to the table of allocations for terrestrial mobile service in the C-band downlink spectrum, footnoted to allow such SMA use, and remove primary status protection for C-band operators in the areas included in the coordinated mobile license. The meetings were with aides to Chairman Ajit Pai and Commissioners Brendan Carr, Jessica Rosenworcel and Mignon Clyburn, and staffers from the International and Wireless bureaus, Office of Engineering and Technology and Office of Strategic Planning. Satellite experts see SES signing onto the Intelsat/Intel plan raises the likelihood of it getting commissioner support (see 1802090016).

The global potential market for satellite consumer broadband is massive but addressing it comes with challenges like lack of solid retail channels and consumer awareness as well as affordability, Northern Sky Research analyst Lluc Palerm-Serra blogged Wednesday. He said satellite consumer broadband is expected to add more than 11.6 million new subscribers in the next 10 years, most from international markets. He said a number of satellite industry attempts to address emerging markets "have fallen in the ‘build it and they will come’ trap" by not emphasizing retail channels. He said even emerging markets with low average incomes have a number of wealthy households, but tackling the low-income segment -- potentially via Wi-Fi hot spots and aggregation points -- is more challenging without government sponsorships.