Despite FCC efforts to use licensing conditions to plug loopholes in the two-degree spacing policy, the agency needs "a more definitive solution" by eliminating the policy altogether, Intelsat said in an ex parte filing posted Tuesday in docket 12-267. Intelsat has repeatedly pushed in recent months for doing away with the two-degree spacing rule in favor of ITU filing priority as the basis for coordination requirements (see 1508100064). And in a meeting between company representatives and staff from Chairman Tom Wheeler's office and from the International Bureau Intelsat repeated many of those arguments and said the two-degree spacing rule may be inconsistent with U.S. treaty obligations, the filing said. When the agency asked how to safeguard against higher-priority applicants acting unreasonably in coordination minus the two-degree rule, Intelsat said the FCC "could clearly articulate its intent ... that U.S. licensees and market access recipients abide by the ITU policy that all parties to a coordination act reasonably and attempt to accommodate the operations of other operators."

The Satellite Industry Association (SIA) is calling House passage of the Spurring Private Aerospace Competitiveness and Entrepreneurship Act "an important step to maintaining U.S. innovation and leadership in satellite launch." The bill would extend the commercial space launch indemnification regime -- which offers government indemnification for any damages in excess of the required private launch insurance limits -- through 2025, and the Senate has already passed similar legislation, SIA said Tuesday. “Extending the launch indemnification regime for a further 10 years ensures the continuation of a long-standing provision needed for the global competitiveness of U.S. launch services companies,” SIA President Tom Stroup said in a statement.

LightSquared is continuing its lobbying for FCC approval of license transfer approvals it needs to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy. In an ex parte filing posted Tuesday in docket 15-126, it said it and a representative of JPMorgan Chase met with staff of Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel and made a similar pitch to what the company told representatives of Commissioners Mignon Clyburn and Ajit Pai days before (see 1511130037) -- how allowing the license transfers will let it emerge from bankruptcy and that "prompt ... approval was necessary."

ViaSat unveiled an ethernet 100 Gbps encryption device, debuting at the SC15 supercomputing conference this week in Austin. In a news release Monday, ViaSat said the SEC line of products features multiple bandwidth profiles and low latency.

Honeywell plans to buy Satcom1 in a bid to expand its European presence and its aeronautical satellite services business, it said Monday. Honeywell didn't announce terms and said in a news release Monday it expects to complete the deal by year's end. Satcom1 specializes in on-board communications routing software and airtime and consulting services. It's a distributor of Honeywell's JetWave terminals and Inmarsat's GX Aviation program.

The Transportation Department could make better use of its time and efforts encouraging LightSquared and the major GPS makers to resolve their disagreements on power levels and on steps GPS manufacturers could take to address overload, LightSquared said in an FCC filing posted Thursday in docket 12-340. It included comments LightSquared submitted earlier in the week with the DOT regarding the agency's draft test plan for studying interference between LightSquared's proposed wireless broadband network and GPS devices. LightSquared has been critical of that test plan (see 1510210022). In the latest DOT comments, it said DOT's proposed metric of 1 dB change in noise floor "is misguided because it fails to measure what the expert agency and Congressionally-designated spectrum regulator -- the Federal Communications Commission -- considers when it evaluates 'harmful interference': the ultimate impact of adjacent-band activity on the performance of the device." Arguments that ITU recommendations support such a benchmark are wrong because many recommendations "begin with user-measurable criteria and then derive interference levels," LightSquared said. Some recommendations referring to 1 dB noise floor relate to in-band interference, not adjacent band, and none of them applies the 1 dB specification for adjacent-band signal effects on GPS, it said. No one has shown a strong correlation between device performance and 1 dB desensitization, and even if such correlation existed, LightSquared's proposed testing would show it, it said. LightSquared also rejected GPS Innovation Alliance arguments that the DOT doesn't necessarily need detailed RF front-end information on the devices to be tested, saying it agreed with GPSIA that dwell time should be a component of testing, but it should be at least three minutes.

LightSquared is closer to emerging from Chapter 11 bankruptcy because its FCC International Bureau application for assignment of its licenses is among the items the FCC said is on circulation. In an ex parte filing dated Friday to be posted in docket 15-126, LightSquared said it and a representative of JPMorgan Chase met with representatives of Commissioners Mignon Clyburn and Ajit Pai about its post-bankruptcy plans, including new ownership, and how that license reassignment would let it emerge from bankruptcy. Getting out of Chapter 11 "enables the Commission to strengthen the wireless market with no competitive harms by giving the reorganized company access to new financing that will enhance its ability to maintain existing services and (subject to any required approvals) to offer innovative new services that can help the country transition to next-generation 5G services," LightSquared said, saying it made a pitch for "prompt ... approval." JPMorgan earlier this month agreed to put its interest in post-bankruptcy LightSquared into a proxy, which could clear the path for the FCC to approve the license transfer needed before U.S. Bankruptcy Court approves its final emergence from Chapter 11 reorganization (see 1511090031).

Intelsat's Intelsat 29e, the first of its EpicNG high throughput satellites, is scheduled to launch Jan. 27, it said in a news release Tuesday. The launch will be from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana, aboard an Arianespace Ariane 5 rocket, it said. Intelsat 29e will be located at 310 degrees east, will replace Intelsat 1R and Intelsat 805, and provide broadband services to fixed and mobile network operators, aero and maritime mobility service providers, and to government customers, Intelsat said. The second EpicNG satellite, Intelsat 33e, is expected to go up in Q3, it said.

Inmarsat subsidiary ISAT US wants to add an additional earth station terminal type for linking to its Global Xpress satellite network. In a license modification request filed Friday with the FCC International Bureau, ISAT said it wanted to modify its maritime license allowing operation of Ka-band blanket licensed terminals on maritime vessels to include its Cobham Sea Tel model Sailor 60 GX. The Sailor GX, like other earth terminals already covered by the maritime license, would communicate with the Inmarsat-5 F2 satellite, and would operate in the same frequencies of 19.7-20 GHz and 29.5-30 GHz, ISAT said. In its application, ISAT said it sought authority to use earth stations subject to its maritime license, as well as the new antenna terminal model, within the contiguous U.S. and U.S. territories, and on fixed and mobile offshore platforms.

With so many people in the world seeking broadband access "for information, entertainment and commerce," very few are finding themselves “on the unserved side of the digital device,” EchoStar CEO Michael Dugan said on an earnings call. “We believe over the next 10 to 15 years many of them will require this capability,” Dugan said. “Wireless and fiber infrastructure should be an important part of this transition, so as a company,” EchoStar sees itself as “well-positioned with these technologies,” he said Friday. EchoStar’s “extensive video expertise” recently enabled Dish Network to introduce its Sling TV over-the-top service in the U.S., and “it would be natural for us to leverage this experience and technology platform in other areas of the world,” Dugan said. Monday, Dish, also chaired by Charlie Ergen, reported Q3 results and signaled in the minds of some analysts that it might not participate in the FCC incentive auction (see 1511090015).