Correction: Broadcast lawyer David Oxenford now works for the Wilkinson Barker law firm (CD Nov 2 p3).
The International Bureau gave Dish permission to modify authorization for the EchoStar 10 satellite at 110.2 degrees west. Dish is authorized to operate the R10 and T48 beams in the 12.2-12.7 GHz and 17.3-17.8 GHz bands, the bureau said in a public notice (http://xrl.us/bnxnrd). It also granted special temporary authority of 180 days to EchoStar to continue providing Direct Broadcast Satellite service via EchoStar 6 at 76.95 degrees west using the 17.3-17.8 GHz and 12.2-12.7 GHz bands, it said.
Eutelsat teamed with the Russian Satellite Communication Co. (RSCC) to lease capacity for broadcasting and IP services on two RSCC satellites that will be launched in 2013 and 2015. The contracts for the two 15-year leases are valued at about $380 million, Eutelsat said in a press release (http://xrl.us/bnxm8o). The satellites, Express-AT2 and Express-AMU1, will be launched to provide follow-on and expansion capacity for Eutelsat 36A at the 36 degrees east position, it said. Express-AT2 will “more than double Ku-band capacity for satellite broadcasting at the key video neighborhood serving Russia’s Far East region.” Express-AMU1 will give coverage of part of the Russian Federation in Ku and Ka bands and ensure service continuity for broadcast markets developed by Eutelsat in sub-Saharan Africa, Eutelsat said.
Verizon will save between $250 million and $500 million annually as a result of changes to employees’ health benefits and premiums included in its three-year contract agreements with the Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, it said Friday in an SEC filing. The contracts, which union members approved Oct. 19, cover 43,000 Verizon workers. The carrier said it did not anticipate “significant” savings from the plan changes in Q4, but did believe the savings will begin to be noticeable in 2013. The savings should grow each year until the contracts expire Aug. 1, 2015. Verizon also noted in the filing that its wireline and wireless businesses have been impacted by the effects of Hurricane Sandy, which has resulted in the carrier “directing its resources toward significant remediation efforts to restore communications services to affected customers, which may take some time.” Verizon said it could not estimate the final effects Sandy and restoration efforts would have on its Q4 results, but believed they would be “significant” (http://xrl.us/bnxnon).
SES certified a new SAT>IP converter that allows satellite-delivered programs to be converted into Internet Protocol at the point of reception in the home. SAT>IP is a standard that was developed by SES, British Sky Broadcasting and Denmark-based Craftwork, SES said on its website (http://xrl.us/bnxnvj) in a press release (http://xrl.us/bnxm7p). The converter was developed by Zinwell, “one of the major cable TV and set-top box manufacturers in Taiwan,” it said. Using a wired or wireless in-home Internet distribution system, households can receive the full line-up of satellite TV content on a large range of IP-devices at the same time, it said.
The Enterprise Wireless Alliance urged the FCC in a filing at the commission to allow broad use of the 4.9 GHz band, on a coordinated basis, by companies needing more spectrum for internal communications. Public safety wants the band to remain set aside primarily for its use alone (CD Nov 1 p13). “The Alliance proposes that the 4.9 GHz band be made available for all private internal systems -- those that are used to meet internal communications requirements only and that are not used to provide service to third parties on a for-profit basis,” EWA said (http://xrl.us/bnxmzr). There’s no reason not to allow use of the band by “entities providing air transportation, bus service, trucking and package transport, heavy construction, agricultural [sic], manufacturing of a variety of goods critical to the health, safety, and property of the American public, and similar services,” EWA said. “Each of these types of enterprises maintains facilities at which they could make productive, intensive use of 4.9 GHz spectrum for the same types of activities for which the band is used by public safety entities. They should be afforded primary eligibility in this band."
A shortage of dedicated spectrum “is jeopardizing the energy industry’s ability to continue developing energy resources safely and efficiently,” officials from the American Petroleum Institute and the Energy Telecommunications and Electrical Association said in a meeting with FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai. “September 11th and Hurricane Katrina demonstrated all too clearly the critical need for energy industries to have access to reliable and secure communications over a hardened network during times of emergency to allow response activities essential to protecting safety and restoring service,” the groups said (http://xrl.us/bnxmvr). “To many energy companies, this type of reliability is dependent on sufficient spectrum resources to support it. Unfortunately, over time, the FCC has reallocated large amounts of bandwidth away from the critical infrastructure industry to other services. As a result of these actions, there currently is a shortage of channels available to satisfy many of the energy industry’s critical needs."
Nov. 5 Practising Law Institute “talk like a geek” webcast, 9 a.m. -- http://xrl.us/bnudjr
Verizon is making “substantial progress” in restoring voice and data communication, and has restored backup power to four critical facilities in lower Manhattan and one on Long Island that had incurred severe flood damage and lost commercial power, Verizon said. It’s continuing efforts to restore backup power to “several other” critical switching facilities in lower Manhattan and Queens, it said. Verizon is facing an “increasing challenge” trying to obtain fuel to keep generators delivering backup power to switching facilities in New Jersey and New York, and is working with government officials to try to get more fuel, it said. AT&T said restoration efforts were ongoing, and it would bring charging stations and cell signal generators to locations near New York City food distribution centers. AT&T also made a $250,000 donation to the American Red Cross disaster relief fund, a spokesman said. CenturyLink said the majority of its service territory in New Jersey remains without power, as well as a large portion of its Pennsylvania service territory. Technicians there are continuing to refuel generators to keep phone service operational, a spokeswoman said. CenturyLink also reported “sporadic” phone and broadband outages in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Frontier said it was “seeing progress toward more normalcy” in Pennsylvania, New York and West Virginia. Loss of commercial power remains its “most significant challenge,” with 36 out of 230 central offices in West Virginia running on generator battery power. Several of its central offices in Pennsylvania and New York are running on battery too, and lack of commercial power is slowing restoration of downed poles and cables, it said. Windstream said crews were working to reactivate two switches in New York City that went off Tuesday night; generators had kept the switches at 75 Broad St. operational until a fuel pump in the building’s basement failed due to flooding, the telco said. Windstream expects it will take another three or four days to restore service in the area.
Many Americans living in the areas most affected by Hurricane Sandy face continuing communications problems, based on information released by the FCC late Thursday. The figures show that as of 10 a.m. Thursday, cell site outages were at about 19 percent, compared to 25 percent Tuesday (CD Oct 31 p1). “This figure includes many cases where cell sites that are otherwise operational are effectively inoperable because of outages in other parts of the communications infrastructure, which is highly interdependent,” the FCC said. “With regards to cable services, it appears that outages have declined to approximately 12-14 percent, from initial outages estimates of 25 percent.” Some public safety answering points are still having to reroute calls to other call centers, but 911 calls can be made throughout the area, said Public Safety Bureau Chief David Turetsky. “We have reached out to every affected 911 center and the relevant state authorities, and we are talking to communications providers about what can be done to address this,” he said. Chairman Julius Genachowski said the situation is improving. “Overall, we're seeing both continued improvement in communications networks and also that much work remains to be done to restore service fully,” he said. “The supply of fuel to generators is essential to keep communications service up and running, and we're working with federal, state, and local authorities to speed fuel delivery. This is a priority because our commercial communications networks are essential to emergency response and recovery efforts, as well as to commercial activities and connecting with family.”