NTIA Broadband Proposals Raise Satellite Industry Concern

Satellite companies are watching closely the FCC’s proceeding on NTIA suggestions for spectrum suitable for terrestrial broadband deployment, executives said. Several of the bands overlap with spectrum used by the satellite industry or are adjacent to it. The FCC asked for comment on the proposals in a public notice last month (CD March 9 p11) and comments are due April 22 in docket 10-123.

A proposal to reallocate the 3550-3650 MHz band for terrestrial is of particular concern, the executives said. Part of the band overlaps with the extended C-band, used by satellite companies for international service. Terrestrial service could overwhelm C-band satellite receivers, built for the relatively weak signals from satellites.

That spectrum isn’t particularly important to the terrestrial industry and wouldn’t significantly help meet the need for additional spectrum, said John Hane, a lawyer at Pillsbury Winthrop. He’s represented satellite companies, but isn’t working on this issue. “The spectrum has been efficiently used for decades by satellite operators, providing services that cannot be replicated terrestrially,” he said. “The band is lousy for mobile and any terrestrial service would be significantly constrained. Auction proceeds would be immaterial. But disruption to existing users could be substantial.” The band wouldn’t do anything to alleviate the supposed mobile spectrum crisis, Hane said by email. “The only goal it would further is the Administration goal of reallocating 500 MHz. It would be a tick on an arbitrary scorecard but it wouldn’t improve anything for anyone."

Among the band’s limitations is that the spectrum would be barred from terrestrial use as much as 354 miles from the coastline, eliminating use in many population centers, Hane said in an interview. “That’s where a lot of the demand is,” he said. “Sometimes those tradeoffs are worthwhile. I'm not saying there won’t be demand, but the people who deploy will have so much to coordinate that the value is severely diminished.” Hane said he expects the process to take years, considering the number of federal and nonfederal users that would need coordination.

Some of the other bands being considered are also sources of concern, said satellite executives. The 4200-4220 MHz band, for instance, is adjacent to spectrum used by satellite companies, and its use risks out-of-band emission problems, they said. The 1695-1710 MHz, which has also been suggested, may be a concern for mobile satellite service providers, executives said.