5G remains a theoretical competitive threat to cable, not an actual one, though additional midband and millimeter wave spectrum and new entrants like Dish Network could change that, cable operators and allies said Tuesday at the SCTE Cable-Tec Expo 2021.
Municipal interests are on one side, telecom interests largely on the other, over a Mediacom petition seeking FCC preemption of a deal between Google Fiber and West Des Moines, Iowa, on constructing a conduit network to provide broadband in unserved parts of town, per comments last week in docket 21-217.
The astronomy universe said countries licensing or doing regulatory assessments of satellite constellations should require constellation operators to coordinate with astronomy interests, and their environmental governance and regulation include the night sky and space. Those were among working group recommendations coming Thursday out of the Dark and Quiet Skies for Science and Society, organized by the U.N. Office for Outer Space Affairs, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) and Spain. A report on the conference is to go to the U.N.'s Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) in February.
While the E band isn't widely used by commercial satellite communications today, satcom operators are urging the FCC to ensure future access and many see it the spectrum becoming contested space between satellite and wireless interests. Dennis Roberson of Roberson and Associates said there "inevitably" will be a fight over satellite vs. terrestrial use as there's always demand for exclusivity.
Intelsat slightly raised its estimated C-band Phase I clearing expenses, while SES, Telesat and Embratel said they are done with Phase I or on the cusp, in FCC docket 18-122 accelerated clearing transition plan updates last week. Intelsat said the $10 million increase, to $1.76 billion, was driven by higher customer migration and compression expenses and telemetry, tracking and control/gateway relocation and ground system grooming plan costs. Its update increases the estimate of cable headends and cable antennas receiving Intelsat customer transmission and thus will need some retuning or repainting in the migration plan. Its estimate was 460 headends and 1,800 antennas; now it's 2,500 total headends and 10,000 antennas. SES said it's transitioned all services out of the 3700-3820 MHz band exclusive to the contiguous U.S. Estimated costs are unchanged. Telesat expects to complete the 3.7-4 GHz clearing in one swoop this week, instead of in two phases. Embratel said the transponder used for C-band services on its Star One C1 satellite is no longer operational and the satellite itself will cease operations by Oct. 9 and be deorbited.
The in-flight connectivity market for business aircraft has largely recovered from the pandemic, said Valour Consultancy co-founder and analyst Craig Foster Thursday in a webinar, saying Gogo and Inmarsat are close to resuming installation rates in line with pre-COVID-19 trends. He said it will take a handful of years before new low earth orbit constellations filter through to smaller aircraft as those constellations' initial focus will be on large-cabin jets. He said small and mid-sized aircraft are technological challenges for LEO satellite services, such as creating electronically steered antennas for smaller aircraft. He said in the nearer term, the business aviation market will focus more on L-band service and air-to-ground systems.
The in-flight connectivity market for business aircraft has largely recovered from the pandemic, said Valour Consultancy co-founder and analyst Craig Foster Thursday in a webinar, saying Gogo and Inmarsat are close to resuming installation rates in line with pre-COVID-19 trends. He said it will take a handful of years before new low earth orbit constellations filter through to smaller aircraft as those constellations' initial focus will be on large-cabin jets. He said small and mid-sized aircraft are technological challenges for LEO satellite services, such as creating electronically steered antennas for smaller aircraft. He said in the nearer term, the business aviation market will focus more on L-band service and air-to-ground systems.
The possibility of the booming number of planned low earth orbit satellites causing interference for other LEO systems or geostationary orbit satellites "will come to a head in the next couple years" and needs to be addressed, said Jennifer Manner, EchoStar senior vice president-regulatory affairs. Speaking Wednesday at a Nebraska College of Law space law conference, she said an open proceeding at the U.K.'s Ofcom about non-geostationary orbit satellite systems interfering with other NGSOs indicates the growing need for regulatory solutions.
RS Access' commissioned study showing viability of 5G coexistence with satellite incumbents in the 12 GHz band (see 2105100028) is based on flawed assumptions and still shows harm to tens of thousands of people, SpaceX said in an FCC docket 20-443 filing Tuesday. It said the RKF Engineering Solutions study “lacks a fundamental understanding of how the 12 GHz band is actually used,” and RKF hasn't offered to make the software that generated its simulations available for use by others more experienced with non-geostationary orbit satellite system operations. It said RS Access “has struggled to find supporters of the submission that do not have direct financial ties” to an MVDDS licensee. RKF "previously responded to nearly all of the inflammatory rhetoric raised in today’s SpaceX letter," said Chief Operating Officer David Marshack in a statement. "There is no new scientific content, only rehashed complaints. RKF has a 20-plus year track record of advising terrestrial, satellite (both GSO and NGSO), and technology companies, as well as government agencies, and we are confident in the work we've conducted on 12GHz coexistence, which is among the most detailed we have submitted in a Commission proceeding." RS Access CEO Noah Campbell said RKF "has produced the only serious engineering work to date [while] SpaceX failed to produce its own study. Instead of doing its own work, SpaceX continues baseless and misleading attacks on others. We stand behind the work performed by RKF and look forward to working with the Commission to unleash 12 GHz."
FCC officials told us 4-0 approval is likely at Thursday's monthly meeting of a draft NPRM on SIM swapping and port-out fraud (see 2109230080). Commissioner Brendan Carr's office said it expressed support for the item when it was on circulation, before being added last week to the September agenda. Commissioner Geoffrey Starks' office told us he's seeking two changes to the order. One is a request for comment about whether the FCC, when looking at authentication standards, should incorporate National Institute of Standards and Technology standards or opt for another set. Another change would be a request for comment about subsequent audits for compliance for any requirements adopted.