Satcom Urging Latency, Hybrid Network RDOF Changes Amid Pushback
The satellite industry is resisting latency requirements in the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund and wants hybrid networks included in performance metrics. Whether it's making any headway isn't clear, satellite interests told us. An FCC official said the satellite industry has to get agency staffers on board with the hybrid networks idea, and so far they don't seem to be.
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Funding under the draft order to be voted on at the Jan. 30 meeting (see 2001090025) would be doled out through a multi-round, reverse, descending clock auction "that favors faster services with lower latency." Low latency services of 100 milliseconds or less would be assigned no points, while high-latency service would get 40. Satellite operators argued the points essentially preclude geostationary orbit (GSO) participation. The agency has to strike a balance between speed and expanding the number of rural Americans receiving service above the 25/3 Mbps baseline as much as possible, said EchoStar Senior Vice President-Regulatory Affairs Jennifer Manner.
The NPRM approved in August (see 1908010060) raised the idea of using hybrid networks. The draft order goes a different route, saying they and low earth orbit satellite constellations are untested in delivering residential service, so modifying latency tier standards to accommodate them would be "premature." The draft leaves the door open to them being considered in Phase II.
Companies have deployed hybrid networks to enterprise customers, said Therese Jones, Satellite Industry Association senior policy director. Since there aren't discrete technical issues in rolling it out, it deserves to be treated as proven technology, she said.
Commissioner Mike O'Rielly, asked about satcom's possible role (see 2001210028), told reporters Tuesday a chief priority is as many unserved or underserved getting coverage before focusing on higher speeds. Otherwise, he told us, "those that have nothing continue to get nothing."
ViaSat CEO Mark Dankberg, meeting with FCC Chairman Ajit Pai and O'Rielly, urged "an open mind" on hybrid technologies meeting RDOF performance requirements, per a docket 19-126 posting. The company said GSO could partner with terrestrial wireline or 5G and low earth orbit networks for hybrid service. It said ViaSat's being part of Connect America Fund Phase II meant a 36 percent increase in locations served by that auction without displacing terrestrial providers, since practically all its bids got no rival terrestrial bidding. It said it was barely able to participate with CAF Phase II bidding because of the latency point system used there, and the RDOF point system is a higher barrier to satellite participation.
The hybrid network idea is getting some terrestrial pushback. Windstream said its test of ViaSat's Business Metered 50 GB service found round-trip “ping” times of 677 to 928 ms, and users heard delays and echoes that affected normal voice conversations. Adtran said satcom industry proposals about allowing hybrid networks contain "significant flaws," with it unclear how service providers are to be able to tell whether a subscriber's traffic is a latency sensitive application. It said the terrestrial portion of proposed hybrid networks raise red flags because if the terrestrial parts are deployed, by definition they're substandard because otherwise the territory couldn't be eligible for RDOF.
ViaSat, in an unrelated posting said USTelecom arguments satcom shouldn't get federal support because it provides national coverage ignores incremental costs of providing price-supported service. The company said satellite providers, like terrestrial ones, need to make infrastructure investments to expand capacity.