Dish Network and EchoStar’s $500 million settlement with TiVo marked a win for all sides involved, Dish CEO and EchoStar Chairman Charlie Ergen said during the DBS company’s earnings call Monday. The settlement includes an initial payment of $300 million to TiVo, with the last $200 million paid out in six equal annual payments between 2012 and 2017, the companies said in a press release Monday. The agreement ends all pending litigation between the companies “with prejudice” and dissolves all injunctions against Dish and EchoStar, the companies said. The settlement effectively ends several expensive years of litigation between the two companies over Dish’s alleged infringement of TiVo’s time-warp patent, which allows DVR recording of one program while watching another.
Two senators took issue with the interference potential of LightSquared’s wireless service with GPS operations. They asked colleagues to join in petitioning the FCC to be more involved in the review process. Sens. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., and Ben Nelson, D-Neb., sent a “dear colleague” letter to the rest of the Senate on Thursday asking for support in pushing the agency to more closely oversee LightSquared’s testing. LightSquared is reviewing the interference potential through an FCC-required working group that includes wireless, GPS and federal interests. That group is supposed to present a final report to the agency by June 15.
Dish Network CEO Charlie Ergen likely is still very interested in purchasing bankrupt S-band licensee TerreStar, according to recent filings and interviews with satellite industry executives. Dish outlined its plans to use DBSD’s mobile satellite service (MSS) assets for a mobile spectrum offering in a FCC license transfer application last week (CD April 12 p7). Dish spent a considerable amount of time on how the combined S-band spectrum of DBSD and TerreStar would effect the status quo. Dish is in the process of purchasing DBSD, which is in bankruptcy, and sister company EchoStar holds most of the first lien debt of TerreStar, also in bankruptcy.
Dish Network plans to use DBSD’s technology and spectrum for mobile broadband services, offered “both on a stand-alone basis and in a consumer-friendly bundle with its multichannel video services,” Dish said in a license transfer application at the FCC International Bureau. FCC approval would allow DBSD’s parent company ICO Global to transfer its satellite, several S-band, Ku-band and Ka-band earth stations and S-band mobile satellite service/ancillary terrestrial component blanket license to Dish, the filing said. DBSD controls 20 MHz of S-band spectrum.
Dish Network plans to use DBSD’s technology and spectrum for mobile broadband services, offered “both on a stand-alone basis and in a consumer-friendly bundle with its multichannel video services,” Dish said in a license transfer application at the FCC International Bureau. FCC approval would allow DBSD’s parent company ICO Global to transfer its satellite, several S-band, Ku-band and Ka-band earth stations and S-band mobile satellite service/ancillary terrestrial component blanket license to Dish, the filing said. DBSD controls 20 MHz of S-band spectrum.
Satellite companies are watching closely the FCC’s proceeding on NTIA suggestions for spectrum suitable for terrestrial broadband deployment, executives said. Several of the bands overlap with spectrum used by the satellite industry or are adjacent to it. The FCC asked for comment on the proposals in a public notice last month (CD March 9 p11) and comments are due April 22 in docket 10-123.
The FCC is changing rules for mobile satellite service (MSS), in an order released late Wednesday. The order was largely uncontroversial and is in line with the proposed rulemaking from last year (CD July 16 p1). The document will add secondary market spectrum leasing rules for terrestrial use in bands allocated for MSS and give terrestrial S-band use co-primary status. The order was developed by the Wireless and International bureaus and Office of Engineering and Technology.
The FCC International Bureau waiver that allows LightSquared to offer terrestrial-only service should have received a full public notice with a 30-day comment period because the requested modification, by the FCC’s own account, isn’t a “minor” one, said the U.S. GPS Industry Council and the Air Transport Association. The trade groups filed joint reply comments to oppositions to applications for review of the waiver (CD March 17 p17). The waiver order itself makes clear that “the modification is not minor” because it would raise interference issues and finds that LightSquared’s mobile satellite service modification request requires a waiver of FCC rules, they said.
The departments of Defense and Transportation “were not sufficiently included” in the FCC’s development of LightSquared’s initial work plan and milestones, the agencies said in a letter to the FCC. Deputy Transportation Secretary John Porcari and Deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn piled on criticism of the commission’s handling of LightSquared’s plans for wireless service, in a March 25 letter to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski. It hasn’t been made public yet. LightSquared and the U.S. GPS Industry Council are leading a working group review of GPS interference issues, as required by the FCC. DOD and DOT said they had several concerns with the International Bureau’s response to questions on the set-up of the working group (CD Feb 17 p8).
A South African company may end up with the ICO Global’s international satellite and spectrum assests under a February agreement between the companies, ICO said in an SEC filing. The deal gives the South African company, Jay & Jayendra, an option to take over ICO’s medium earth orbit assets, the filing says. The agreement doesn’t include the North American satellite and spectrum rights, which are being sold to Dish Network by ICO’s bankrupt subsidiary DBSD. The spectrum rights are probably the most valuable piece of the purchase by Jay & Jayendra, said an analyst. The filing is at http://xrl.us/bitkwa.