Tim Warren

Dish Network’s wireless aspirations are contingent on a quick FCC approval of the company’s S-band applications, said Dish Chairman Charles Ergen during the company’s Q4 earnings call Thursday. A rejection or delay in approving Dish’s applications to use mobile satellite spectrum terrestrially would force the company to revisit its interest in joining the wireless business, he said. Ergen spoke at length about the FCC and its consideration of Dish’s purchase of TerreStar and DBSD and associated waivers of MSS rules.

Dish Network lacks the legal standing to force the FCC to pull back encoding rules for set-top boxes adopted in 2003 as part of plug-and-play device implementation, the FCC and Justice Department said in a filing with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The Dish appeal, filed in 2004, was paused as the agency considered DirecTV’s petition for reconsideration of the plug-and-play order, which the commission denied in 2010. Dish argued in its brief last month that the agency’s application of plug-and-play rules to all multichannel video programming distributors, rather than just cable, goes beyond the congressional intent.

The FCC International Bureau proposed to block LightSquared from beginning terrestrial service (CD Feb 15 p1), severely dampening the company’s prospects and possibly increasing the likelihood of a bankruptcy filing in the near future. While the agency initiated Wednesday a proceeding on the proposals, many consider that process largely perfunctory, said industry observers.

A government review of GPS standards seems to be a likely result of the ongoing feud between LightSquared and the GPS industry, several executives from both sides of the argument said. It’s unclear, though, how the government would proceed, either seeking better protection of GPS services through interference standards or imposing GPS receiver standards. An NTIA report to the FCC advising the agency on how to proceed on LightSquared was released late Tuesday.

The launch of ViaSat-1 gives Viasat a new chance to convince regulators of satellites of their usefulness in bringing broadband to hard-to-reach areas, said Tom Moore, ViaSat senior vice president, in an interview Friday. Satellite companies have increased the push in recent years for increased government recognition of them as broadband providers. The new satellite marks a shift for ViaSat, which has its origins as a satellite system components manufacturer, though the purchase of WildBlue in 2009 has helped with the transition, said Moore. Moore co-founded WildBlue.

The FCC and LightSquared drew the ire of government and industry officials Wednesday during a House Aviation Subcommittee hearing on protecting GPS. Several at the hearing pointed their fingers at LightSquared and the FCC over the issue. Deputy Transportation Secretary John Porcari reiterated his strong concerns about a LightSquared network and its effect on GPS systems. Industry witnesses described the predicament as a failure of regulators, especially the FCC. LightSquared and the FCC didn’t testify.

Questions about Dish Network’s 700 MHz E-block licenses has emerged as a consideration in the FCC’s review of Dish’s takeover of S-band spectrum. AT&T and U.S. Cellular have asked the agency to impose restrictions to “harmonize” the 700 MHz spectrum. The efforts seem to have touched a nerve with Dish, which discussed the issue with FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn and an aide Friday (http://xrl.us/bmq5cy), following an FCC filing last week responding to AT&T. The filings may be more about negotiating leverage than about interference concerns, said industry observers. A Dish subsidiary owns licenses for 6 MHz of 700 MHz spectrum in 170 markets.

ViaSat filed a patent infringement and breach of contract suit against Space Systems/Loral (SS/L) Wednesday over propriety satellite designs. ViaSat alleged Space Systems/Loral used confidential information obtained while building a satellite for ViaSat to make a similar satellite for its direct competitor Hughes Network. Hughes wasn’t named as a party in the suit. SS/L said Friday it was in discussions with ViaSat over settlement but was prepared to go to trial. The ViaSat’s ViaSat-1 satellite, made by SS/L and designed with the patents SS/L is said to have infringed, was launched in October.

A demand to interview high ranking officials including FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski and Agriculture Secretary Thomas Vilsack has soured cooperation between the government and Open Range stakeholders within Open Range’s bankruptcy proceeding, filings show (http://xrl.us/bmqcqt). The Open Range’s Unsecured Creditors Committee has sought to compel the Justice Department to make FCC and USDA officials available, something the DOJ said Friday it won’t do and isn’t required to do. Rural Utilities Service Administrator Jonathan Adelstein, RUS Broadband Division Chief Kenneth Kuchno and other RUS officials have already been interviewed and thousand of government documents have been provided, said the DOJ.

Hosted payloads, where commercial satellites carry other payloads in addition to the primary payload, may not be fully developed, but there are encouraging signs that the practice will become increasingly popular, said satellite industry executives. CEO Matt Desch of Iridium, whose coming 81-satellite IridiumNEXT constellation includes a large chunk of reserved space for hosted payloads, voiced recently some disappointment with how slow adoption has been (CD Jan 20 p6). The variance in opinions may be due in part to the difference between geostationary and low-earth orbit offerings, said an executive.