Some kind of international space traffic management (STM) rules regime is urgently needed, with as many as 120,000 satellites potentially in orbit by decade's end, but first, there needs to be better data on what's on orbit, Satellite Industry Association Policy Senior Director Therese Jones said Tuesday in a Wilson Center webinar. There's little transparency regarding DOD data, and there needs to be an open architecture data repository of not just governmental space situational awareness data, but also planned maneuvers of operators, she said. Aerospace Defense Systems Operations Vice President Jamie Morin said that given the "dramatic democratization" of space, with more countries operating there or interested, the U.S. needs to lead -- not unilaterally act -- on setting STM norms.
Matt Daneman
Matt Daneman, Senior Editor, covers pay TV, cable broadband, satellite, and video issues and the Federal Communications Commission for Communications Daily. He joined Warren Communications in 2015 after more than 15 years at the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, where he covered business among other issues. He also was a correspondent for USA Today. You can follow Daneman on Twitter: @mdaneman
Satellite and astronomy interests are in talks expected to lead to best practices and norms for both, aimed at tackling concerns that broadband satellite mega constellations will be a big impediment to astronomical observations (see 1906100015). But we're told those norms and best practices aren't expected soon. Nor are regulations, as national licensing agencies are watching those satellite/astronomy talks closely but want to see standards take shape, experts said.
The House Agriculture Committee has no FCC oversight authority but will use its influence to try to get the agency to reverse itself on its Ligado approval, Chairman Collin Peterson, D-Minn., said in a Keep GPS Working Coalition conference call Thursday. He said stand-alone legislation undoing Ligado authorization is unlikely, given the support that approval has in some circles, but attaching something to a bill would be more probable, with the National Defense Authorization Act being the best bet. Another possibility is a limiting amendment, though that would need Senate support, said committee member G.T. Thompson, R-Pa. While 5G is important, “we need to do it in a way where we don't experience unintended consequences of a significant nature,” Thompson said, adding the FCC “has not responded appropriately.” FCC Chairman Ajit Pai defended the Ligado approval in letters last month to Peterson, Thompson and other House members. "Why the FCC approved this is beyond me," Peterson said. "There is no logical justification for what they are doing." Thompson said the farm economy is “deeply dependent” on L-band services such as GPS for precision ag and faces huge business threats from interference to GPS from Ligado's proposed low-power terrestrial broadband service. Multiple ag industry speakers raised concerns about who would bear the costs if Ligado’s system interferes with farm GPS equipment. But they indicated they aren’t likely individually to sue the FCC. Jim Kukowski, American Soybean Association Conservation and Precision Ag Committee chairman, said he hopes the coalition will put something together. Ligado and the FCC didn't comment.
Commissioner Mike O'Rielly's nearly seven-year FCC career will wrap up by year's end. During the agency's September meeting Wednesday, he said he's folding on others' efforts to get himself renominated. He said he's leaving regardless of how the November presidential election plays out (see 2009300014).
FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly is throwing in the towel on efforts to stay on the commission, saying during Wednesday's commissioner meeting that he didn't want to see any further efforts to prolong his tenure there. He said he expected to leave by year's end. He said his leaving would be irrespective of the outcome of November's presidential election.
Before Wednesday's FCC meeting, commissioners voted to approve the order on caller ID authentication implementation and the order axing the requirement cable TV operators keep records in their online public inspection files about their interests in video programming services, the agency said Tuesday. The approved orders weren't released. People involved in the Stir/Shaken proceeding told us they expect no major changes to the draft order. The proceeding had gotten relatively little lobbying, probably because the Traced Act on robocalls is so detailed in its requirements, so a lot of key decisions are made by the statute already, said Kelley Drye telecom lawyer Steve Augustino. He said the bigger issue will be implementation by individual voice service providers, who will have to work carefully on what they have to change in their networks and in what time frame. Augustino said with the law setting the broad parameters, the FCC might be faced with waiver requests months from now as providers discover issues.
A USTelecom proposal to exempt some small voice service providers from a proposed two-year extension of caller ID authentication requirements is raising ACA Connects concerns. The group said in a docket 17-97 posting Friday that it backs the goal of clamping down on providers that knowingly originate big volumes of illegal robocalls, but there's not enough time to see if the USTelecom proposal could also entangle legitimate voice providers that the FCC plainly is including in the small provider exemption in the draft order. It urged the FCC to get comment on the proposal. USTelecom, in meetings with aides to Chairman Ajit Pai and the commissioners, said the secure telephone identity revisited (Stir) and secure handling of asserted information using tokens (Shaken) implementation draft order on Wednesday's agenda (see 2009090048) proposed the two-year extension exception for small voice service providers that originate a disproportionate amount of traffic relative to their subscriber base. USTelecom recommended the FCC expand its robocall mitigation program requirement to all domestic traffic and on intermediate providers and get more comment on restricting intermediate providers from taking traffic from foreign voice service providers while not disrupting legitimate calls. CTIA urged its own modifications. They included seeking further comment on barring providers from accepting voice traffic from foreign voice service providers that haven't registered or certified and extra time between the filing deadline for robocall mitigation program certifications and the effective date of not accepting traffic from providers that don't appear in the database.
Mandatory separation distances between constellations and dropping some disclosure requirements were among changes satellite operators suggested to the FCC April orbital debris order (see 2004230040). Petitions for reconsideration were filed Friday in docket 18-313. Citing recently proposed satellite constellations that seek orbits that would overlap with other large systems, Amazon's Kuiper sought to require large non-geostationary orbit constellation filings to maintain enough orbital separation, such as a kilometer, from an earlier-filed large NGSO constellation. That would apply to U.S.- and foreign-licensed constellations seeking U.S. market access. Boeing, Echostar/Hughes, Planet Labs, Spire and Telesat said the FCC should withdraw its satellite effective maneuverability information disclosure and operational requirement, replacing maneuverability requirements with objective obligations to be defined by federal agencies with industry input. They sought to remove obligations on big constellations to hit 0.99 probability for post-mission satellite disposal; restrictions on satellite launch deployment devices; and information disclosure requirement for liquids that could remain in droplet form in space. SpaceX asked to reconsider retaining the foreign satellite operator exemption from orbital debris rules, or clarify what information is required to fulfill its transparency requirement for foreign licensees, saying that "the need for all systems operating in the United States to be subject to the strong oversight of the Commission has never been more clear." The agency didn't comment.
E.W. Scripps' plans to divest 23 Ion stations as part of its $2.65 billion purchase of the broadcaster (see 2009240006) likely will obviate FCC and DOJ regulatory concerns, deal watchers told us. It isn't expected to get the public and political outcry faced by Sinclair's aborted Tribune purchase. The Ion purchase from private equity firm Black Diamond is expected to close in Q1, Scripps announced Thursday.
The FCC's Oct. 27 meeting agenda is expected to include an order on unbundled network elements (UNE) based on the USTelecom/Incompas compromises reached on dark fiber transport and loop issues (see 2009150063), industry officials told us. Chairman Ajit Pai applauded the agreements at last week's Incompas show, saying he hoped for FCC support for them (see 2009150069).