FCC
FIRST UP Satcom | Viasat wins $122.5M FCC subsidy • Gilat suppling ground equipment for Yamal-601 • Avanti eyes DoD business with Comsat
FIRST UP Satcom is a weekly SpaceNews newsletter for satellite and telecom professionals.
FCC votes to open C-band for 5G
“We are going to need a bigger boat,” FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said July 12, quoting the 1975 movie Jaws as a metaphor for the challenge of handling 5G needs. “Or in our case, more spectrum.”
Asian satellite operators worried U.S. C-band debate will affect their markets
Satellite operators in Asia say the debate over C-band in the United States is triggering similar discussions in their markets, causing concern that cellular operators could end up in control of the spectrum in other parts of the world.
FCC unveils proposal for C-band reallocation
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission issued a draft proposal June 21 for giving the wireless industry access to C-band spectrum commercial satellite operators use to deliver cable and broadcast network programming.
SES, Intelsat plead for an extension for C-band dish registration
Fleet operators SES and Intelsat asked the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to extend the deadline for their customers to register C-band dishes before the commission decides on the band’s future use.
SES, with FCC’s blessing, says O3b constellation can reach global coverage
SES says its constellation of medium Earth orbit O3b satellites now has the ability to expand from an equatorial system to a global system thanks to new approvals from U.S. telecom regulators.
FCC Approves Audacy license for commercial satellite data-relay constellation
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission granted a spectrum license June 7 to Audacy, the Silicon Valley startup planning to establish a space-based commercial communications relay network.
FCC tells Eutelsat that Intelsat already called dibs on U.S. orbital slot
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission rejected a Eutelsat application for a satellite that would use the same spectrum as one planned by Intelsat.
SpaceX won’t seek U.S. rural broadband subsidies for Starlink constellation
SpaceX says it will not go after any of the $2 billion in rural broadband subsidies the U.S. Federal Communications Commission will begin doling out this summer under its Connect America Fund II program.
FCC commissioner questions regulator’s omission from National Space Council
An FCC commissioner said Tuesday she was astonished the White House did not give the telecom regulatory agency a seat on the National Space Council.
FCC issues warning in wake of Swarm’s unauthorized launch
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission on April 12 released an enforcement advisory warning that organizations will be penalized for launching spacecraft without the appropriate regulatory approvals and advised launch providers they should be ready to remove unauthorized spacecraft from their rockets if necessary.
OneWeb asks FCC to authorize 1,200 more satellites
Citing recent reforms that provide more time to orbit a new satellite constellation, satellite broadband-startup OneWeb asked U.S. telecom regulators to nearly triple the size of its authorized low-Earth-orbit constellation.
Industry worried about regulatory backlash after unauthorized cubesat launch
The launch of several cubesats by an American company without authorization from a federal agency has the rest of the industry worried of a potential regulatory and public relations backlash.
FCC chairman urges approval for SpaceX’s satellite internet constellation
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai wants his agency approve SpaceX’s 15-month-old application to serve the U.S. with its proposed megaconstellation.
SES allies with Intelsat, Intel on revised US C-band proposal
Satellite fleet operator SES has agreed to join Intelsat on an amended proposal to let 5G networks use some of the satellite industry’s coveted C-band spectrum for next-generation cellular systems in the United States.
