The FTC and DirecTV are jointly asking a U.S. District Court judge in San Francisco for more time for discovery in the agency's lawsuit alleging the direct broadcast satellite company wasn't properly communicating early cancellation fees that subscribers face if they sign up and then quit the service before two years (see 1503110042). In a stipulated motion Friday, the two said that while the court has indicated reluctance in making major changes to the case schedule, they proposed moving the close of fact discovery from April 22 to July 22, the close of expert discovery from July 26 to Nov. 10, and the bench trial start from Dec. 5 to Jan. 30. While there has been "considerable" discovery so far, the two said, more time is needed to deal with unexpected discovery issues including disruptions due to DirecTV's purchase by AT&T, FTC staffing issues and "unresolved disagreements and technology problems involving attempts to recover historical version of DirecTV's website." More time also would let them better resolve disputes before resorting to letter briefs, they said.

Inmarsat's Global Xpress mobile broadband service is now commercially available through resellers for enterprise customers, the satellite company said in a news release. It said satellite services company Global RadioData Communication is the first company to have an enterprise Global Xpress terminal go live commercially. It's being used in Africa by a mining organization, Inmarsat said.

Ligado and Inmarsat extended their 2007 spectrum coordination agreement that expired Thursday. The agreement, announced by Inmarsat in a news release Friday, involves 30 MHZ of L-band spectrum. Inmarsat said it and Ligado still are in talks regarding details of the plan, including payments Ligado will make to Inmarsat in exchange for that company's spectrum coordination and management. Inmarsat previously said it made $88.6 million from the former LightSquared in 2015. In a statement, Ligado said it "has taken a step to deepen its long-standing relationship with Inmarsat and solidify its spectrum coordination. This puts the company in a strong position to deploy a network once the necessary government approvals have been obtained. We’ve worked closely with Inmarsat on spectrum coordination over the years, and today’s announcement is another step in that direction.”

SES Americom wants to relocate its AMC-2 satellite and extend its license term. In an FCC International Bureau filing Tuesday, SES said it sought authority to drift AMC-2 from its current 80.85 degrees west to 84.85 degrees west -- where it would supplement the Ku-band services being delivered by EchoStar's AMC-16 satellite at 85 degrees west -- and to extend its license to Dec. 31, 2017. AMC-2's current license expires May 31, and the satellite has enough fuel onboard for the proposed extension and for its subsequent deorbit, SES said, saying current AMC-2 customers will be transferred to other satellites before the relocation.

SES will team with ARTE, the European culture channel, to broadcast the Le Corsaire ballet Saturday live in Ultra HD from the Vienna State Opera, the companies said in a Tuesday announcement. The show will be beamed via the Astra satellite at 19.2 degrees east to Ultra HD screens equipped with H.265 decoders, they said. SES Platform Services will manage the live-encoding and satellite uplink, they said. “Broadcasting in Ultra HD is becoming increasingly relevant for broadcasters,” said SES.

While waiting for FCC approval of its 13 Lemur constellation earth stations (see 1603170009), Spire Global is requesting special temporary authority (STA) for 60 days to start operations at the 13, starting April 8, it said in 13 FCC International Bureau filings Thursday. Spire said since the applications for permanent authority to run the earth stations can't be processed and granted before deployment of the nine Lemur satellites launched March 22, an STA is needed to communicate with the satellites for in-orbit testing and transmission of telemetry, tracking and command signals.

Travelers Property Casualty and Dish Network can file amended claims and counterclaims, but those filings can't include claims or counterclaims against Ace American Insurance or any other third party, said U.S. District Judge Sue Myerscough of Springfield, Illinois, in an order Thursday. Both insurers are seeking determinations they aren't responsible for defense costs as Dish fights claims by the FTC and California, Illinois, North Carolina and Ohio alleging violations of telemarketing sales rules because Dish helped dealers make robocalls and Travelers has tried to amend its complaint to assert a claim against Ace, seeking defense cost contributions from Ace to the extent the two insurers are found to owe Dish defense costs (see 1602120017) while Dish sought to amend its Travelers counterclaim to include third-party claims against Ace. In her order, Myerscough said neither Dish nor Travelers objected to the amendment of the claims and counterclaims against one another, and the changes will relieve them of the burden of maintaining two separate suits: one concerning Travelers' duty to defend Dish and another concerning its duty to indemnify it. She also said she disagreed with Ace's argument that Dish and Travelers "have engaged in inappropriate forum-shopping," but also said she couldn't find good cause to allow the Dish and Travelers third-party claims because the deadline passed more than three years ago. Since Ace and Dish already are litigating their coverage dispute in federal court in Colorado, she said, "Allowing Dish and Travelers to bring issues relating to the Ace policy into this case will only impede the Ace court's resolution of those issues." Dish and Travelers didn't comment.

The Federal Aviation Administration gave a supplemental type certificate for Globalstar's Part 23 light aviation aircraft antenna, saying it meets all FAA quality and safety requirements, Globalstar said in a news release Thursday. The initial issuance was for a Beechcraft Baron, with 700 more aircraft models expected to be added to the approved model list, Globalstar said. The antenna allows voice calls, emailing and Internet access from the cockpit without needing cellular access, it said, saying the antenna will be sold as part of its GSP-1700 mobile satellite phone package and Sat-Fi voice and data package.

Hughes is planning five gateway earth stations to communicate with the Telstar 19 Vantage (T19V) satellite at 63 degrees west, it said in FCC International Bureau filings (see here, here, here, here and here) Tuesday. The gateways will each consist of four 8.1-meter earth station antennas and a 5.6-meter earth station antenna, it said. The satellite is scheduled to go up in Q1 2018, Hughes said, with the earth stations to be used for feeder link services needed for T19V's consumer services to Latin America. The gateway earth station sites will be in Riverside, California; Monee, Illinois; North Platte, Nebraska; Albuquerque, New Mexico; and Spokane, Washington, and operate at 27.85-28.6 and 29.25-30 GHz uplinks and 18.3-18.8 and 19.7-20.2 GHz downlinks, it said.

The FCC International Bureau rejected as defective an AT&T application for a fixed earth station, but it can be re-filed. AT&T's Jan. 4 application indicated the power density at the input of the antenna flange would exceed limits set in FCC rules and thus doesn't meet FCC licensing criteria for authority to communicate with permitted satellites, the bureau said in a letter-decision Tuesday. AT&T didn't comment Wednesday.