SES Americom didn’t make good on a threat to turn off transponder...
SES Americom didn’t make good on a threat to turn off transponders serving the Navajo Nation via integrator OnSat, OnSat said. “The timely intervention of FCC Chairman Kevin Martin led SES to delay the shutdown” threatened for noon Friday,…
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said OnSat CEO David Stephens. OnSat is working around the clock on the problem, a spokesman said. Martin sent a letter Friday urging SES to continue serving the Navajo through OnSat “without interruption.” If SES cuts service, 25 public safety entities in 13 states will lose satellite access, Martin said in a letter to Jim Ducay, SES Americom chief operating officer. SES provides transponder service to OnSat, which provides the gear and runs the Navajo Nation’s communications network. SES’s contract with OnSat expired June 30. SES had said it would shut off OnSat’s transponder July 22, relenting with an Aug. 1 deadline after FCC officials stepped in (CD July 23 p11). It’s unclear how long SES will keep serving OnSat, officials said. The dispute is part of a larger argument involving the Universal Service Administrative Corp. (USAC), which has withheld payments to OnSat and Navajo Nation due to suspected universal-service rule violations. “We are hopeful that the payment irregularities will soon end and there will be no further threats to turn off this critical service on which so many Navajo depend,” Stephens said.