JPMorgan Chase's character is solid enough for it to own shares of Ligado and the proxy agreement under which its stake had been held can expire, as it had asked (see 1901070040), said the FCC International Bureau in a docket 15-126 order Friday. It said the investment bank's antitrust felony didn't pertain to FCC activities or involve personnel related to those activities and that it has since made efforts to pay restitution and strengthen its internal controls.

Aireon has full control of the Automatic Dependent Surveillance Broadcast (ADS-B) payloads hosted on Iridium's Next satellites, and the real-time aircraft surveillance system should be operational within weeks, Aireon said Thursday. It said it will do payload testing and validation over the next two weeks. It said the ADS-B system will start with operational trials over the North Atlantic with the Canadian and U.K. air navigation service providers. The last of Iridium's Next satellites were activated this week, after their launch in January (see 1902060025).

Every current C-band customer would continue to get service via the band under the C-Band Alliance midband clearing plan, CBA said in an FCC docket 18-122 posting Thursday. It said clearing more than 200 MHz would mean denying C-band service to some current customers. CBA's "grooming plan" shows how SES and Intelsat would provide that service, including using a new satellite at 135 degrees west. Wednesday, CBA disputed Section 309(j)(1) of the Communications Act mandates competitive bidding and argued Section 309(j)(6)(E) gives the agency wide latitude for alternative approaches.

The handheld satellite phone business will continue to slide due to more terrestrial connectivity, alternatives and more versatile devices, with revenue dropping from $405 million annually today to $357 million by 2027, Northern Sky Research analyst Alan Crisp blogged Wednesday. The industry can still have a future by integrating with terrestrial networks and more retail-focused business models, he said.

Comments are due March 25, replies April 22, on the FCC's November NPRM to expand streamlined processing procedures for geostationary fixed satellite service to digital broadcast satellite service (see 1811130075), said Wednesday's Federal Register.

The last of Iridium's original satellite constellation satellites were deactivated Tuesday, simultaneous with its 65th and 66th Next constellation satellites being activated and completing the company's $3 billion replacement of that first-generation constellation, CEO Matt Desch told reporters in Washington Wednesday. "I can't believe we are done," said Chief Financial Officer Tom Fitzpatrick. The final Next launch was in January (see 1901110024). Iridium built 81 Next satellites, with 66 now in operation, nine spares in orbit and another six spares on the ground, Desch said. Since there haven't been any Next failures, that constellation should have a lifespan of at least 15 years, with the company not having to start contemplating replacing Next satellites for at least a decade, Desch said. Fitzpatrick said instead of $435 million annually in capital spending, Iridium anticipates spending $35 million yearly for the next decade on maintenance. Desch said 47 satellites from its original constellation have de-orbited, five others are in the process and the remaining 13 will de-orbit over the next couple of months.

Satellite-TV providers are primed to have the biggest losses from cord cutting, S&P Global Ratings reported. Cable TV companies are projected to lose nearly 2 percent of subscribers in 2019, but overall losses will be cushioned by revenue from broadband service accounts, it said last week. Satellite providers “are particularly vulnerable without the option of internet,” and satellite subscriptions are forecast to slide 6 percent this year, while Dish Network subscriptions could fall as much as 9 percent. Dish didn’t comment. The largest cable companies “are likely to be able to hold their own,” said S&P, but telecom and midsized cable companies will have varying degrees of loss or gain “as consumers disengage from cable.”

Telesat signed agreements with launch company Blue Origin and Alphabet's Loon for work on its planned low earth orbit broadband satellite constellation, it said Thursday (here and here). Telesat said it will modify Loon's software-defined network platform for its satellites' use, and Blue Origin's New Glenn rockets will be used for deployment under the two companies' multi-launch agreement. Telesat said last week it was talking to two separate companies -- Airbus and a consortium of Maxar and Thales Alenia -- about constellation system design.

C-Band Alliance critics are anticompetitive, while T-Mobile says CBA’s C-band clearing plans run contrary to FCC precedent, according to rival docket 18-122 postings Thursday (see here and here). Opposition is motivated by some seeking to delay 5G deployment for competitive reasons, such as the cable industry wanting to keep its broadband monopoly, CBA, Intelsat and SES representatives told Commissioner Mike O'Rielly. SES and Intelsat said they would cover "all reasonable costs" for any C-band transition by their customers or customers' customers, including broadcasters and cable operators. NCTA didn’t comment. The CBA said a combined T-Mobile/Sprint (see 1901310047), with ample mid-band spectrum for 5G, would like to keep others from accessing similar mid-band spectrum. T-Mobile said the FCC hasn't ever given new or expanded rights to incumbent licensees with the intention those rights would be then sold, contrary to what the CBA argued (see 1901020031). The carrier said precedent shows an auction would let market forces determine the value of C-band spectrum.

The commercial space industry is closely watching the FCC-proposed update of rules governing orbital debris (see 1811020003) to ensure the agency "threads the needle" between avoiding undue burdens on industry and addressing a growing concern, said Vector-Launch Washington operations Director Courtney Stadd on a Space Foundation panel Wednesday. He said nations need to be more aggressive about debris. Panelists agreed commercial space has strong momentum, though Made in Space CEO Andrew Rush called the industry “simultaneously strong but really fragile." Allen Herbert, vice president-business development and strategy at commercial space station company NanoRacks, said emerging new players in space such as the United Arab Emirates, Brazil and Africa could help drive more commercial opportunity. "The jury is out" on what kind of collateral effects the federal shutdown had on commercial space, said Stadd. He said the FAA's draft regulatory overhaul of launches will be pushed further out. Rush said the shutdown "pinched" a hiring push at his space manufacturing company, though it's now tentatively resuming. Inmarsat Senior Vice President-Government Strategy and Policy Rebecca Cowen-Hirsch said shutdowns mean an even slower regulatory process, leaving her company to look to other nations for launches. Space Foundation CEO Tom Zelibor said the industry faces challenges of workforce and educational focus and to explain developments and measure them. Stadd said miniaturization of satellites is leading to an "unbelievable change in the economics" of deploying assets and should lead to “unbelievable” new applications. Rush said just as the launch industry has moved from expendable to reusable rockets, the satellite industry is next with reusability via reconfigurable and repairable satellites.