Matt Daneman

Multichannel video programming distributors are signing affiliation agreements with subscription VOD services at an increasing clip, with some seeing such arrangements between the erstwhile distribution rivals becoming the norm. After Comcast and Netflix's announcement earlier this month of a deal to integrate SVOD into the X1 platform (see 1607050061), more such deals undoubtedly will be announced in the next year or so, and longer term, there will be MVPDs likely signing up multiple SVODs, Brian Shepherd, president-global broadband, cable and satellite business at CSG, told us. Such arrangements may remain out of the hands of mom-and-pop cable operators because of the technology demands, but they have become increasingly common among mid-sized and big MVPDs, said Leichtman Group President/Principal Analyst Bruce Leichtman.

Charter Communications, facing a pair of programmer legal challenges to its affiliation practices after its buys of Bright House Networks and Time Warner Cable, could see others, cable industry insiders and watchers told us. One cable programmer said there are “rumblings” that other such lawsuits against Charter may be forthcoming.

The FCC spectrum frontiers order ended up giving satellite operators more flexibility in siting future earth stations than they had feared they would receive, though the industry also hoped the agency would apply a heavier regulatory touch to aggregate interference, industry officials tell us. The aggregate interference wording in the 278-page order and Further NPRM voted on Thursday (see 1607140052) "is not action oriented" because it set up a route for gathering information and urges more study and cooperative data gathering, one satellite company lawyer told us.

Numerous groups with an interest in 5G are applauding the FCC for opening up high-frequency bands for 5G in its spectrum frontiers proceeding. Intel said Thursday's 5-0 vote (see 1607140052) is "ensuring that the U.S. remains a world leader in mobile broadband." It said 5G access to the 28 and 37/39 GHz bands and unlicensed use in the 64-71 GHz bands "in an investment-friendly manner will spur development ... in the U.S. and other countries." CEO Brian Krzanich in a statement said, "Consumers and businesses are going to start benefiting from 5G much faster than generally expected and the FCC’s bi-partisan decision ... is crucial to accelerating this phenomenon." Commissioners' "proactive leadership [is] helping pave the way to make 5G networks a reality in the United States," said National Association of Tower Erectors Executive Director Todd Schlekeway. NATE said member companies "have developed and maintained every generation of communications networks and will be on the front lines again in order to help make 5G networks a reality in the future." The Telecommunications Industry Association in a statement said the FCC vote "frees a significant amount of new spectrum for mobile use, and does so without attaching strings or taking a wait-and-see approach. ... Spectrum Frontiers provides both the fuel that will be demanded by next-generation networks, and the predictability that is needed by technology companies." TIA said implementation of the 5G rules must be done "in ways that deliver on the FCC’s promise of a flexible approach, and we must continue to find new and creative ways to address our insatiable demand for more bandwidth." Information Technology Industry Council Vice President-Government Affairs Vince Jesaitis in a blog post Thursday called the spectrum frontiers decision "a historic one, and one that will cement U.S. leadership in 5G connectivity and next generation WiFi technology commonly known as WiGig" by making the U.S. the first country to map out 5G spectrum and identify additional spectrum bands for 5G and other wireless technologies. "This puts the United States well ahead of foreign counterparts by allowing American entrepreneurs and consumers to be the first in the world to have the tools needed to innovate in the new era of the of the internet: the Internet of Things," Jesaitis wrote. "Cars, buildings, infrastructure like highways and bridges, industrial systems, streetlights, and countless other objects will be using wireless connections to transfer data as well. To accommodate the 30 billion devices that will be connected to the internet by 2020, and fully realize the $11.1 trillion boost to the economy that the IoT will bring, we need to build on current wireless technologies by adopting policies like the 5G initiative that will spur investment in next generation wireless technologies." Friday, the White House and agencies unveiled a wireless research effort that includes 5G (see 1607150035).

The Air Force expects to launch a wideband analysis of alternatives (AoA) this fall that could see DOD increasingly turn to commercial communications satellite providers for a much bigger slice of the military’s communications needs. But satcom operators said in interviews that commercial satcom capabilities could be a secondary issue to the challenge in changing military procurement procedures. "The number one issue is cultural," said Myland Pride, Intelsat director-government and regulatory affairs. DOD and other government agencies increasingly recognize commercial capability improvements in satcom and other mission areas, Pride said, but "to switch from how they have done business for many, many years is difficult."

The future of Globalstar's broadband terrestrial low-power broadband system plans remains hazy, with Commissioners Mike O'Rielly and Mignon Clyburn still not having decided on the draft order circulated by Chairman Tom Wheeler. "As soon as I come to a conclusion, we'll see how it goes," O'Rielly said Thursday at the agency's meeting. An FCC official told us Clyburn hasn't voted. Commissioners Ajit Pai and Jessica Rosenworcel had voted no (see 1606030041). Globalstar didn't comment.

MVPDs and allies were dismayed Thursday as Chairman Tom Wheeler said the FCC was wrapping up its look at possible changes to the totality of circumstances test in good-faith retransmission negotiations without making any rules changes. Multichannel video programming distributors had assumed the agency would end up making some meaningful rules changes. They were tentatively expected as soon as August's agenda, one cable industry lawyer told us, saying the decision came as complete surprise.

The Air Force's Joint Space Operations Center (JSpOC) almost certainly will get out of the business of space traffic management, said Benjamin Roberts, assistant director-civil and commercial space at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. With the Federal Aviation Administration almost surely picking up the space traffic cop job, the key issue is how all that will shake out, he said Thursday at Future Space 2016 during a series of talks about the state of space debris management. The new oversight should come with new technologies and capabilities built in and not just a transfer of the status quo from one body to another, Roberts said.

A public notice on OneWeb's planned 720-satellite constellation could be issued as soon as this month, an FCC official told us, with the agency also working on a variety of satellite rulemaking that could follow later this year and in 2017. Satellite Industry Association President Tom Stroup said he had heard similarly from the agency, though nothing in recent weeks.

The debate over 5G and fixed satellite service sharing of the 28 GHz band increasingly involves power flux density (PFD) and proposed limits on that measure of signal power level at the receiver. "As long as you will be sharing spectrum between satellite and terrestrial systems, this is the issue," Farooq Khan, CEO of 5G technology company Phazr, told us. "The back and forth over precise technical limits on power is entirely normal," satellite industry consultant Tim Farrar told us in an email, pointing to such issues as the Globalstar/Wi-Fi in 5 GHz or the GPS industry's past challenges to Ligado. "I'd expect the FCC to be leaning in favor of terrestrial interests because that is the political priority."