LightSquared continues to push the FCC to move on its request for reallocation for shared commercial use and for auction of 1675-1680 MHz spectrum, currently used by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. In an ex parte filing posted Wednesday in docket 12-340, LightSquared said it met with Commissioner Mignon Clyburn aide Louis Peraertz to discuss LightSquared's use of that band for its proposed broadband network and its relinquishing of any terrestrial use of 1545-1555 MHz. LightSquared repeatedly has asked the FCC to put out a public notice by late spring on its coexistence agreements with GPS companies and license modification applications (see 1601140037). In an ex parte filing also posted Wednesday, Garmin said it also met with the FCC to discuss its settlement agreement with LightSquared.

ViaSat is launching a variety of Internet service plans for businesses under the Exede Business branch it started in 2014, it said in a news release Tuesday. The new offerings have up to 15 Mbps download and 4 Mbps upload speeds, the company said.

Airbus Defense and Space and OneWeb formed a joint venture, OneWeb Satellites, to design and build the 900 low-earth orbit satellites OneWeb needs for its planned global broadband constellation, they said in a news release Tuesday. Brian Holz, OneWeb vice president-satellite, launch and fleet operations, will be CEO of the equally owned joint venture, which will be able to build satellites and equipment marketed by Airbus to other operators of future constellations, the companies said. OneWeb Satellites' design work and the manufacture of the first 10 flight models will take place in Toulouse, France, they said, saying launches by Arianespace and Virgin Galactic are expected to start in 2018.

Honeywell Aerospace's JetWave wireless in-flight connectivity system received Federal Aviation Administration approval for use in Boeing 757s, the company said in a news release Thursday. JetWave connects to Inmarsat's Global Xpress constellation, Honeywell Aerospace said.

SES and global content licensor Vivicast Media will launch a new 4K channel, UHD-1, for distribution through North American cable operators and telcos, the companies said in a Wednesday announcement. UHD-1 will be delivered over the SES-3 satellite, one of three satellites (SES-1, SES-3 and AMC-18) that make up SES's Ultra HD distribution infrastructure at the center “of the orbital arc over North America,” they said. UHD-1 is the fourth “unique” Ultra HD channel on SES's North American Ultra HD platform, after NASA TV UHD, Fashion One 4K and High 4K TV, SES said: "As consumers continue to add Ultra HD TVs into their homes, a robust channel offering is essential to meet their thirst for compelling high quality Ultra HD programming.”

Allo Communications transferred control of a receive-only earth station to Nelnet as part of the education finance planning company's purchase of the Nebraska-based telecom company, Allo said in an FCC International Bureau notification Tuesday. Nelnet is acquiring 92.5 percent of Allo's equity and membership units, and it will become a direct subsidiary of Nelnet, Allo said. Allo said the takeover will give it "additional funding and resources that will help support the expansion of Allo’s fiber optic network in Nebraska."

Safeguarding National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration geostationary operational environmental satellite rebroadcast (GRB) stations from interference would require "relatively small protection zones," LightSquared said in an FCC filing in docket 12-340. LightSquared has been pushing the FCC for reallocation and auction of a slice of NOAA spectrum and for conditions on its spectrum license that would let LightSquared share it for its terrestrial broadband network (see 1512310016). Wednesday's filing updated 2014 LightSquared submissions about NOAA's use of the 1675-1680 MHz band and the compatibility of commercial operations there, which showed the two could coexist by relocating some NOAA radiosondes and establishing defined protection and coordination zones, LightSquared said. But it said that study covered only NOAA's sensor data link in 1673.4-1678.6 MHz and not its GRB link at 1680.6-1692.6. LightSquared also again urged the FCC to issue a public notice on its NOAA spectrum idea (see 1601140037). NOAA didn't comment. In a separate ex parte filing in the docket Wednesday, the company recapped a meeting between CEO Doug Smith and board member Reed Hundt and FCC, NOAA, NTIA and Office of Management and Budget representatives about NOAA sharing 1675-1680 MHz. Some state and local governments and private entities use NOAA signals in or near the spectrum band, LightSquared said, saying it submitted a report to the FCC identifying alternative delivery mechanisms for those non-NOAA entities. LightSquared said the general consensus at the meeting was that the issue needing addressing "is not a matter of technology [but] a matter responsibility, logistics and funding -- issues that could be addressed by the Commission ... through service rules, license conditions and the auction process." An FCC notice-and-comment process would have to identify all use cases, if not necessarily all users, of the band, LightSquared said. In that report, also filed Wednesday, LightSquared said its investigation into non-NOAA users "was limited in scope because the universe of users was unknown." Some of those users include the Data Collection System/Data Collection Platform Report service where NOAA collects weather and environmental data from thousands of sensors around the U.S.; Emergency Managers Weather Information Network, which is used by state and local governments and public safety agencies to receive weather-related NOAA warnings; and geostationary operational environmental satellite variable/GRB, used by some private forecasting services and university research institutions for their forecasting models. Commercial operations wouldn't impinge on DCS/DCPR ability to upload data to NOAA, LightSquared said.

SES wants to begin serving the U.S. market with its Colombian-licensed SES-10 space station. In an FCC International Bureau filing Friday, New Skies Satellites, doing business as SES, asked for IB authorization for the satellite at 67 degrees west, where it will replace the Ku-band capacity now provided by AMC-3 and AMC-4. Along the Ku-band spectrum already used by AMC-3 and AMC-4, SES-10 also has available 10.95-11.2 GHz in the Ku-band, 17.3-17.55 GHz in the appendix 30A band, and 27.85-28.35 GHz uplinks for use outside the U.S. in the Ka-band, SES said.

Deere is asking the FCC International Bureau for modified approval to operate the receive-only L-band mobile earth stations it uses in its StarFire precision farming system. In an IB filing Friday, Deere asked for the same 60-day special temporary authority it first received in November 2014 and has subsequently received multiple times since then to operate the earth stations receiving from Inmarsat satellites operating at 15.5 and 54 degrees west and at 178 degrees east. Deere said it was recently notified by Inmarsat the StarFire L-band downlink signals in North America would transition soon to 1545.9775 and 1545.9875 MHz.

Dish Network is fighting to have a piece of evidence excluded as the company went on trial Tuesday in a federal courtroom in Illinois on robocall claims. In a motion filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Springfield, Dish said an analysis of more than 1 million calls disclosed by the plaintiffs -- produced just days before the trial started Tuesday -- is an effort by the plaintiffs "to prevent Dish from having a fair opportunity to determine whether this ... is as flawed as the previous two [analyses]." Dish is being sued by the FTC and California, Illinois, North Carolina and Ohio over alleged violations of the telemarketing sales rule as Dish helped dealers use robocalls to deliver prerecorded messages (see 0903260144). Calling the analysis "a clear 'trial by ambush' tactic," Dish said in its motion the analysis either shouldn't be allowed to be entered or the trial should be adjourned to give Dish more time to review it. U.S. District Judge Sue Myerscough didn't rule on the motion and the trial began Tuesday, a Justice Department spokeswoman said. The DOJ declined to comment on the Dish motion.