Streaming service Spider TV, being sued by Dish Network for copyright infringement (see 1801190004), told us Sunday it closed its company in the U.S. a "long time ago" and, with its main focus on Europe and the Middle East, it doesn't need the U.S. market.

Ligado's terrestrial broadband service plans are perhaps "the greatest current threat" to the position, navigation and timing universe, PNTAdvisory Board Vice Chairman Bradford Parkinson wrote Tuesday for GPS World. Such terrestrial transmitters "effectively become jammers" for some GPS receivers. He said the board is framing a response to the Ligado proposal. He said the company, meeting with the board in November, offered to reduce power in the 1526-1536 MHz band: That "sounds like a major move in the right direction," but the offer also raised new questions about what that would mean for increased tower density and how permanent those power constraints would be. He said the current proposal "is unacceptable" because of what it would do to many PNT applications, and the new power limit proposal would still violate the 1 dB rise in carrier-to-noise ratio -- the standard for tolerance interference measurement -- for many PNT users. He said if the FCC continues to consider the Ligado proposal, the agency should require it to deploy transmitters for real-world open-sky testing -- at the firm's expense -- to assess harms to PNT accuracy. Parkinson has been critical of the 1526-1536 MHz band plans (see 1706290043). The satellite company didn't comment Wednesday.

The rollout of SiriusXM's 360L platform will start with the 2019 Dodge Ram 1500 pickup, the company said Monday. It said 360L features include content recommendations based on listening preferences, on-demand programming, additional channels that previously were available only online, individual listener profiles and an updated user interface.

Satellite use of the V-band must overcome issues like rain fade and it needs technology development, Northern Sky Research analyst Jose Del Rosario blogged Sunday, also saying interest revolves around spectrum availability and better end-user experience. He said the band won't take over such market segments as enterprise data, broadband access and backhaul but will be a competitive price offering and provide higher bandwidth per unit. Operators employing the V-band will be able to claim "a decent amount" of market share from high-throughput Ku- and Ka-band systems, he said.

The "slow erosion" of exclusive spectrum for satellite means its operators and users "can no longer presume" the FCC and NTIA can guarantee interference-free operation, Aerospace Corp.'s Center for Space Policy and Strategy reported Thursday. CSPS said FCC studies of spectrum sharing or reallocation should, at a minimum, consider the economic benefits of existing satellite-based services, whether spectrum repurposing would have societal benefit, and the technical feasibility and costs of mitigating terrestrial interference. CSPS said such studies should look at the time required to develop, test, manufacture and install technical mitigation.

The sizable royalty rate hike instituted by the Copyright Royalty Board last month (see 1712150022) will take about 18 months to trickle down across SiriusXM's various subscriber packages in the form of higher subscription rates, Chief Financial Officer David Frear said Wednesday during an investor presentation. He said the company is a significant beneficiary of recently passed tax reform. He said SiriusXM currently doesn't pay cash taxes, but the reform delays when it does pay to 2020 and will save the company about $200 million a year in tax payments starting in 2021, which is "absolutely huge." Asked about potential mergers and acquisitions, Frear said SiriusXM organic growth opportunities "are still massive" with the number of vehicles on the road with receivers expected to grow from 100 million today to 185 million over the next eight years. He said connected cars could allow for the company's reallocation of bandwidth for potential video or data delivery.

Panasonic Avionics will transition aircraft from multiple airlines to its new satellite broadband communications network during Q1, the company said Monday. The company also said its ITC Global will use that new broadband network to bring connectivity to energy, maritime and enterprise customers. It said the network uses Panasonic's high-throughput satellite service plus a new satellite modem developed in conjunction with Newtec. It said more than 1,800 aircraft are connected to its high-speed in-flight connectivity service, with that number expected to reach more than 10,000 by 2025.

Satellite TV still generates most satellite capacity revenue and set-top boxes are the key to applications that will make that business segment continue to thrive, Northern Sky Research (NSR) analyst Lluc Palerm-Serra blogged Sunday. NSR said satellite operators need to play a larger role in shaping STB technological requirements. It said new compression standards and modulation schemes can offer capacity and cost savings, but satellite TV "needs to catch up" with over-the-top service convenience. It said the migration to ultra HD "is of prime importance for satcom," as are trends toward multiscreen and virtual reality.

OneWeb plans to bump up the scale of its V-band medium earth orbit (MEO) broadband satellite constellation. In an FCC International Bureau filing Thursday, it asked to amend its petition for U.S. market access (see 1703020036) to increase the number of MEOs from 1,280 to 2,560 and add Ka-, Ku- and E-band frequencies. Citing the FCC's more liberal milestone rules for non-geostationary orbit satellites adopted in September (see 1709260035), OneWeb said it took a new look at what it would have proposed for its MEO and low earth orbit constellations under that new milestone regime. It said it still plans to launch its first satellites in May, and the expanded MEO constellation would let it better target capacity to areas generating the most data traffic in its network. The company also wants to be able to use a variety of Ka-, Ku- and E-band frequencies, including the 17.8-18.1 and 18.1-18.3 GHz bands, which aren't allocated for fixed satellite service use.

Trimble is bringing its concerns about the Galileo global navigation satellite system (GNSS) to the FCC. In a docket 17-16 ex parte filing Friday, Trimble submitted its filing to the European GNSS Agency (GSA) in which it said the proposed free high-accuracy service to be provided as part of Galileo's GNSS service represents "a significant disruption" of the commercial market for providing precise point positioning services. Trimble told GSA it needs to consider whether such a service would be consistent with existing European Union (EU) and member state treaty obligations. It also said provision of free service under government sponsorship raises multilateral trade agreement questions, with the FCC in its 1997 order on allowing non-U.S. licensed satellites to provide service domestically having highlighted the importance of competition. Trimble also said there could be a disruption of U.S./EU reciprocity in GNSS, since the U.S.' 2010 national space policy also seeks promotion of a commercial space industry. Trimble said EU Galileo authorities should start consultations with U.S. GPS authorities under the U.S./EU 2004 agreement on Galileo and GPS use.