FCC Adopts Rules for Satellite ‘Reverse Band’
The FCC will require satellites in the 17/24 GHz BSS band, also known as the reverse band, to operate at least 4 degrees from each other, it said Fri. DBS uses the band to downlink programming, as allocated by the ITU in 2001. The allocation became effective April 1.
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Carriers that want to operate satellites closer must show that they won’t cause interference to others in the band, the Commission said. Applicants seeking a higher power limit than designated must get their neighbors’ certification that they don’t object, the FCC said. The rules are “are designed to be the least intrusive” and the “most effective” to facilitate licensing, it said.
In designing systems, reverse band operators should bear in mind that an antenna’s capacity to reject interference from adjacent satellites depends on antenna size, adherence to antenna performance standards and “pointing accuracy,” said the FCC. It will “not favorably consider complaints” based on “mispointing of their own” antennas, said the Commission.
Operators in the reverse band will come under the same bonding requirements that the FCC has used for other bands. The bond rules require a licensee to post a $3 million bond with the FCC within 30 days of authorization. If a milestone isn’t met, the bond comes due and the authorization becomes null and void. Comr. Adelstein wanted a higher bond, he said, citing the FCC’s “dubious record of bond enforcement… I am unsure that our existing safeguards against speculation are sufficient.” Parties may have only 5 applications pending for the band and can’t sell their places in line, said the FCC.
The FCC rejected a Media Access Project proposal to increase programming obligations in the reverse band. Again, Adelstein disagreed. The FCC should have “taken a harder look at the merits of increasing public interest programming to the maximum of seven percent,” he said.
The rules mark a “constructive step” toward increased satellite industry competition, said Comr. McDowell, adding that the Commission had used “a light regulatory touch.”
Operators granted licenses must serve Alaska and Hawaii, the FCC said. If that service means too many “compromises in satellite design” or an unreasonable economic equation, the applicant must present documentation to receive a waiver of that requirement, the Commission said.
The FCC set emergency alert service obligations. But noting that the FSS Group has a reconsideration petition in the EAS docket, the Commission said it will deal with any associated issues in that setting. License terms are 15 years for nonbroadcast use of the band and 8 years for DBS or other broadcast use of the band, the FCC said.
The band plan enforces no particular channelization scheme. The FCC said it isn’t feasible to try to plan for tracking, telemetry & command (TT&C) operations in part of the band (17.7-17.8 GHz). “We are not convinced that TT&C transmissions will present a significant interference problem to the communications transmissions of adjacent satellite operators,” the Commission said.
The FCC received 22 submissions from DirecTV, Pegasus, EchoStar, and Intelsat seeking to operate in the reverse band. To comply with the new 4 degrees rule, all must be amended, since the applications call for conflicting satellite locations. The FCC International Bureau will ask for such amendments to the 22 applications. Though the FCC took a first-come-first-served approach, if amended the 22 applications will be treated as if they were filed at the same time, it said. The Commission is freezing all other applications.
The FCC rejected a March consensus proposal by DirecTV, EchoStar and Intelsat. A disappointed EchoStar said the FCC band plan “hinders rather than helps get new services, such as high definition TV out to satellite TV customers.”
The FCC completed its reverse band rules after pulling the document from the April meeting agenda (CD April 25 p12). It also proposed rules on space-path and ground-path interference. On these issues, raised in the June notice of proposed rulemaking, comments were too general, the FCC said. Elements in the interference proposal include setting protection and coordination zones, power level limits and criteria for earth station location, said the Commission.
Calling its proposals “the most equitable solutions to the potential interference problems” in the reverse band, the agency nonetheless said it wants comments on whether it should write separate rules for small businesses that want to operate in the band.