Concerns Over Globalstar’s Petition Expected in Effort to Alter Spectrum for Terrestrial Use, MSS Experts Say

There’s going to be opposition to anyone trying to change the spectrum and make it more valuable, said Tim Farrar, a mobile satellite services analyst. “When people have spectrum assets that they want to make more valuable, that’s obviously a controversial issue.” It appears that what Globalstar wants to do is in line with some of the overarching policy direction in wireless by the FCC, said Jeff Silva, a Medley Global Advisors analyst. But sometimes it’s not enough to be in sync with the policy direction of the FCC, he said: “These things have technical issues [and] competitive issues and they tend to surface once there’s either a petition for rulemaking or NPRM, and the commission has to determine whether there’s going to be interference,” he said.

Microsoft “raised concerns about interference that may occur into unlicensed use in the 2.4 GHz band and the 900 MHz band” if the Globalstar and Progeny petitions were adopted, it said in an ex parte filing (http://bit.ly/YkvUHl). The filing recounted a meeting last week with staff from the Wireless Bureau and the Office of Engineering and Technology.

Iridium filed a petition last month to designate the 1616-1618.725 MHz portion of Big low earth orbit (LEO) band for use by MSS systems (CD Feb 13 p14). It also urged the FCC to consolidate its petition with Globalstar’s petition to address a re-examination of the Big LEO band. In its petition, Globalstar requested a rulemaking on terrestrial operations at 1610-1617.775 MHz (http://bit.ly/ZVA9au). Iridium’s petition “is an attempt to essentially take 3 MHz from us,” said Barbee Ponder, Globalstar regulatory affairs vice president. Iridium opposed the FCC moving forward with a rulemaking, which “is nothing more than the fact that we're competitors,” he said. “We don’t believe their petition is going to go very far with the FCC.” Ponder said he plans to meet with the FCC this week. “We feel the ball is in their court and we've answered all of the questions that parties had in the comment cycle.” Iridium didn’t comment.

The two companies “nipping” at each other is to be expected, Silva said. “They both have their own business strategy, but part of that business strategy is trying to keep the other from getting the leg up on it.” That’s why the FCC is there to referee these issues, he said: “There could be a lot of value in trying to keep Globalstar and Iridium viable and finding a way, regulatory-wise, that will allow them to be successful and offer some public interest benefits.” The International Bureau does not comment on a pending proceeding, an FCC official said.

"There’s plenty of reason for anybody to run into the FCC and make all sorts of objections when somebody wants to make a new use of their spectrum,” a satellite attorney said. There are companies and agencies that may use nearby spectrum and “other folks in the wireless industry who may have a stake in the process of the allocation at the FCC,” he said. There also are competitive issues, he said: “You have to deal with companies who may not ever want to see you come to market. ... Any company operating in the wireless market may have concerns about competitors moving forward with their business plans.”

There likely will be conflicts like this in the future, said the attorney, who doesn’t represent Globalstar or Iridium. LightSquared’s conflict with the GPS community, Dish Network’s opposition from Sprint Nextel and Progeny’s opposition from wireless device users are examples, he said. “We'll see where Globalstar goes,” he said. “I'd think at this point the importance of making additional spectrum available for terrestrial broadband is such that maybe the threshold for going in and upsetting an allocation process is a little bit higher,” he said. It’s likely that the FCC “isn’t going to be scared off quite as readily as it has been in the past,” he added.

A delay in Globalstar’s proceeding might jeopardize the value of the spectrum that it wants to use terrestrially, the analysts and lawyer said. “If a resolution were delayed it would make life more difficult for Globalstar in terms of monetizing that spectrum,” Farrar said. “As time goes on it potentially becomes a less valuable resource.” There will be times when spectrum is worth more or less largely depending on what else is on the market, the lawyer said. “If you're holding on to a piece of spectrum and you're trying to get it approved through the FCC process, you're probably better off getting it sooner rather than later,” and more attractive spectrum is going to come on line, he said. But that’s relative, he added.