DBS Operators Question ‘Tweeners,’ Seek FCC Review
The first formal protests against “tweener” satellite authorizations granted to Spectrum 5 and EchoStar landed at the Commission last week, filed by DirecTV and Telesat Canada. The satellite operators -- whose systems sandwich the 86.5 degrees W and 114.5 degrees W “tweener” slots -- called for immediate Commission review and reversal of the International Bureau authorizations. Granted Nov. 29, the authorizations cleared the Bureau 2 weeks before comments in the ongoing “tweener” rulemaking (which would set the rules for such licenses) were due, stirring industry and FCC concern.
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The International Bureau lacked authority to process the authorizations, and “never meaningfully discussed” why it granted them anyway, DirecTV said in its request for Commission review: “One of the most basic requirements of administrative law is that agencies (and their subdivisions) must provide a reasoned explanation for their actions.”
Telesat Canada chimed in with similar remarks, calling EchoStar’s 86.5 degrees W authorization “legally unsupportable.” The Bureau shouldn’t have acted on EchoStar’s application until coordination with existing Region 2 systems was completed, Telesat said. The FCC can’t act on a satellite application known to exceed certain interference triggers until it’s coordinated with affected satellite operators, DirecTV and Telesat said.
The Bureau also “wrongly afforded less interference protection to Canadian DBS satellites authorized to serve the U.S. than it afforded to U.S.-licensed DBS satellites,” Telesat said. Telesat DBS satellites, used by Bell ExpressVu at 82 degrees W and 91 degrees W, serve some 2 million households in Canada -- most of which are within 100 km of the U.S. border, Telesat said. EchoStar’s own analysis showed that its proposed “tweener” craft would disrupt those services and jeopardize billions of dollars of satellite infrastructure, Telesat said.
“The Bureau’s grant appears to be based upon the hypothetical operation of EchoStar’s satellite at unstated power reductions,” Telesat said: “Such a speculative proposal, once granted, even if never implemented, creates a cloud on the services offered on Telesat’s satellite and a threat of interference both to existing customer service and future innovation.”
The Spectrum 5 order is the first-ever grant of market access to a foreign-licensed DBS system operating with less than 9 degrees spacing from existing U.S. operators, DirecTV said. And it’s the first time the Commission has authorized U.S. market access for a foreign-licensed satellite that hasn’t completed coordination with affected U.S. systems, DirecTV said: “This is a significant departure from past Commission practice, as well as a significant expansion of Commission precedent for market entry by foreign systems.”
SES Americom, Spectrum 5 and ManSat separately have endorsed the “tweener” authorizations, pushing instead for FCC procedures to facilitate coordination between new “tweener” entrants and incumbent operators. Spectrum 5 has called for an interference benchmark. SES Americom has said if incumbents and new entrants can’t come to terms, the Commission should permit new systems under certain interference gating criteria. “Tweener” docket reply comments are due in mid-Jan.