With the FCC later this week expected to reveal details of moving satellite operators off some of their spectrum to free it up for 5G (see 2002030061), several filings were posted Tuesday. Incumbents in that swath of airwaves, plus carriers and NAB, filed in docket 18-122. So, too, did Cox Communications (see 2002040026).
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
DOJ's contention the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit lacks jurisdiction under the Little Tucker Act to hear a case on Pacer usage fee legality found some receptivity among part of a three-judge Federal Circuit panel hearing oral argument Monday. Judges challenged plaintiff/appellant arguments Pacer fees can't be used to cover the costs of electronic records keeping. Plaintiff/appellant lawyer Deepak Gupta of Gupta Wessler told us a decision likely is months away.
The astronomy community is anticipating big impacts on ground-based observation capabilities from the expected non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) satellite boom. But it doesn't likely have a legal route to challenge FCC OK of SpaceX's StarLink or other mega constellations on environmental grounds, satellite lawyers told us. Litigation has been talked about in space circles since a Jan. 16 Scientific American story raised questions about the legality of the FCC's approvals.
Charter Communications will offer 5G mobile service this quarter, said CEO Tom Rutledge on a Q4 call Friday. It's "likely to participate" in the upcoming citizens band radio service spectrum auction, he said. Asked whether Charter would ever move to its own wireless network instead of relying at least partly on a mobile virtual network operator, Rutledge said it depends on pricing. He said it has no immediate plans to change its Verizon MVNO relationship, and anticipates it existing "for years to come." Rutledge said 10G investments will be done incrementally over time, and won't require an immediate network overhaul, saying Charter surpassed 10G capabilities in lab testing. Q4 revenue of $11.8 billion rose 4.7 percent year over year. It ended 2019 with 24.9 million residential broadband customers, up 5.4 percent, 15.6 million video customers, down 3 percent, and 9.4 million voice customers, down 6.8 percent. It has 1.08 million mobile lines, compared with 134,000. The stock closed up 5 percent to $517.46.
Venture capital investors in commercial space in recent years are waiting to see returns or an opportunity to cash out, Bessemer Venture Partners Vice President Tess Hatch said Wednesday at an FAA-organized commercial space event. She said over the next couple of years, SpaceX, Rocket Lab, Spire, Planet and Orbital are the most-likely space operators to be able to provide that. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao said, along with its work to streamline launch and re-entry requirements to help foster the commercial launch industry, the agency created an Office of Spaceports and is working to integrate launch into the nation's airspace management system. She said commercial space is a White House priority. "The president is fascinated with space," she said. Deloitte analyst Jeff Matthews said private equity has been the lifeblood of space startups, but more nations are looking at investing in nascent space businesses there via government grants. Capella Space CEO Payam Banazedah said one challenge for many startups is they might be relatively niche, while venture capital wants potential high-return opportunities. He said Capella -- which launched its first satellite last year and plans seven more in 2020 -- is focusing on government defense and intelligence customers first, because the commercial market for synthetic-aperture radar imagery is at least five years out. John Gedmark, CEO of geostationary orbit satellite-provided mobile backhaul company Astranis, said the expected non-geostationary orbit mega constellation boom will bring global coverage at low latency, but the economics of those constellations remains a challenge. Gedmark said those NGSOs face the challenge of less-mature regulatory regimes and the uncertainty that comes with that. Banazedah said getting to space is still unreliable and hard, especially for small satellites, and that could kill startups.
Expect this year to bring finalization of 10G standards and the first field tests by cable ISPs of 10G network technology, industry executives said in recent interviews. Modem companies are awaiting those DOCSIS 4.0 standards and those field trials so they know what to build. CableLabs Chief Research and Development Officer Mariam Sorond said the DOCSIS 4.0 specs being created by a consortium of CableLabs members with working groups and vendors should be finalized early this year. It's a process similar to how DOCSIS 3.1 was hammered out.
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.
The C-Band Alliance's "vast and unique knowledge" and operating expertise are why it should be named clearing coordinator overseeing the operational aspects of clearing and transitioning C-band spectrum to 5G, it said in an FCC docket 18-122 posting Friday. Also in the plus column is all the preparation its satellite members have done planning for a transition to 5G from fixed satellite service, it said. Each satellite operator "uniquely understands its own operations, each also understands what must be done to clear a portion of the C-band for 5G use," it said. CBA said it backed the FCC or a third party being "a 'traditional' independent transition facilitator," doing such administrative functions as oversight of fund distribution. In a posting recapping meetings with FCC personnel including General Counsel Tom Johnson, CBA, Intelsat and SES said they discussed agency authority to require C-band auction winners to agree to pay for accelerated clearing as a condition of their participation, and to receive an initial license conveying terrestrial mobile rights. CBA said it met with staffers including Nick Degani, FCC Chairman Ajit Pai senior counsel, about its ability to facilitate a C-band transition and how it should be compensated for that work. It met with staffers including Office of Economics and Analytics acting Chief Giulia McHenry and Wireless Bureau Chief Donald Stockdale about how space and ground clearing of the band need to be done jointly and clearing the first 120 MHz is nearly as much work as clearing the next 180 MHz. The consortium said steps to be done to clear that first tranche in 18 months include reassigning Alaska traffic into the lower 120 MHz, which in turn will involve site visits to remote areas for re-pointing or installing new antennas; finalizing development of a switchable filter for 120 MHz for vessels; migrating services on international satellites that have services landing in the lower 48 states to the lower 300 MHz; deploying antennas and other equipment at receive earth station sites needed to move customers; migrating all video managed platforms above 3.82 GHz; and installing 34,000 filters designed specifically for 5G operations in the first 100 MHz in all antennas located in 46 of the top 50 partial economic areas and surrounding areas.
Likely marquee items for the 2023 World Radiocommunication Conference will include space-to-space satellite links, and big mobile and satellite industry focus on the 6 GHz band, U.S. WRC delegates said at an FCBA event Thursday. Boeing Global Spectrum Management Vice President Audrey Allison said as spectrum use increases, such issues are becoming more contentious.
Video remains a valuable service, but Comcast is "not chasing this segment of the market" and expects increased video subscriber losses this year due to rate hikes and ongoing cord cutting, Chief Financial Officer Michael Cavanagh said on the company's Q4 call Thursday. The company ended 2019 with 20.29 million residential video customers, down 671,000 year over year. It ended the year with 26.4 million residential broadband customers, up 1.3 million, 9.9 million residential voice customers, down 220,000, and with 2 million wireless lines, up 816,000. Cavanaugh anticipates wireless subscriber growth rates to continue this year. CEO Brian Roberts said it was the best year for broadband net additions in 12 years. He said the company ran out of its Flex set-top boxes for its Flex streaming platform (see 1903210038) in its first month. Comcast said revenue was $28.4 billion, flat on a pro forma basis. Comcast bought Sky in Q4 2018.