Dish Network will air the forthcoming SEC Network on channel 404. Current subscribers to the America’s Top 120+ package or higher will receive the SEC Network and Longhorn Network at no additional cost, Dish said Monday in a news release (http://bit.ly/XXGBmw). The network will launch Thursday, Dish said.
Gogo again told the FCC that the public interest would be best served by dividing the proposed 500 MHz air-to-ground (ATG) mobile broadband service into four 125 MHz licenses. A single 125 MHz license could provide more than 16 times the peak capacity of Gogo’s current ATG network and more than 110 times the capacity of conventional Ku-band satellite systems, Gogo said in an ex parte filing posted Wednesday in docket 13-114 (http://bit.ly/1AXMBe8). Coordination or protection requirements for certain federal services in the 14.0 GHz-14.5 GHz band wouldn’t impair the viability of any of the 125 MHz licenses, it said. Gogo also repeated that the commission should exempt ATG services from 911 and E-911 rules, including text-to-911, it said. The filing was about meetings with staff from the offices of Commissioners Mignon Clyburn, Ajit Pai, Mike O'Rielly and Jessica Rosenworcel, and other FCC staff.
The California Assembly passed SB-962, which would require smartphones sold in the state after July 1, 2015, to be pre-equipped with a kill switch that could be activated if the device is lost or stolen. The state Senate had previously also passed the bill, introduced by Democratic state Sen. Mark Leno, but must now vote on it again to concur with amendments added by the Assembly, Leno’s office said (http://bit.ly/1nx06aO). One amendment would allow the continued sale of smartphones introduced before 2015 that can’t “reasonably” be re-engineered. The bill’s passage Thursday in the Assembly means “we are on the verge of implementing regulations that will have tremendous benefits to public safety,” said San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón in a news release. The bill had encountered significant opposition from the wireless industry, but its prospects improved last month after the Assembly’s Utilities and Commerce Committee approved the bill.
Intelsat and Orange Niger signed a multiyear agreement for C-band capacity on Intelsat 903. Capacity will be used to support deployment of cellular backhaul services in Niger, Intelsat said Wednesday in a news release (http://bit.ly/1zU97De). Orange Niger will use its expanded network reach to offer broadband services to corporate enterprises, and mobile telecom services to customers, it said. Orange Niger also plans to move to Intelsat 35e when it enters service, Intelsat said.
Space Systems Loral will build the Intelsat 36 satellite, it said. The satellite will be designed to provide media and content distribution services in Africa and South Asia, SSL said in a Monday news release (http://bit.ly/1zRDY3z). It will be located over the Indian Ocean to provide Ku- and C-band services with African pay-TV provider MultiChoice, “utilizing the Ku-band payload,” it said.
Dish Network and A&E Networks renewed a multiyear contract providing Dish customers with access to the network’s content and programming from its entire portfolio. The agreement includes over-the-top multi-stream rights for live and VOD content, Dish said Tuesday in a news release (http://bit.ly/1v6MP2j). The OTT rights make the content available “to an untapped segment of customers that is seeking a flexible, content-driven, Internet-accessible service,” it said.
Intelsat Q2 sales fell 5.8 percent to $615.7 million from the year-ago quarter on lower transponder services revenue amid a sales decline in capacity sold for government applications and other decreases. Due to “improving cost and cash flow trends,” the company forecast 2014 revenue of as much as $2.5 billion, in Monday’s earnings release (http://bit.ly/1ot22W7). It said the company’s next launch, planned for Q4, is Intelsat 30, which will primarily serve DirecTV Latin America. Eleven satellite programs are in development, and the contracted backlog was $10.3 billion on June 30, Instelsat said. Last quarter’s profit of $56.9 million reversed a year-earlier net loss.
Sirius XM urged the FCC to revise the 2005 emergency alert system (EAS) rules for satellite radio. The scope of the EAS testing required of satellite radio “is inconsistent with the operation of the platform and with the public’s needs,” Sirius XM said last week in an ex parte filing in docket 04-296 (http://bit.ly/1oWhHxV). Weekly testing of Sirius’ emergency alert capabilities is “unnecessary and duplicative,” it said. The FCC can further ensure the proper functioning of emergency alert equipment “through its logging requirements, as it does for DBS, rather than requiring transmissions to listeners,” it said. If weekly testing were necessary, the FCC would require weekly announcements to be carried by all comparable media, “rather than imposing that requirement disproportionately on satellite radio,” it said. Revising the rules will reduce the burdens on Sirius XM and its customers “while imposing obligations commensurate with those required of other communications providers,” Sirius said.
Intelsat requested a 180-day extension to consummate the transfer of control of some of Intelsat’s earth and space station licenses. Intelsat would like until Feb. 2 to complete the transfer, it said in a request Wednesday (http://bit.ly/1s7rqT5). Granting the request will serve the public interest by allowing Intelsat an opportunity to complete the transfer “in a time frame consistent with current business and market considerations,” it said.
The Satellite Industry Association will search for a new president this summer. Its current president, Patricia Cooper, will resign Aug. 15 to work for Intelsat. (See separate report below in this issue.) During the recruitment process, SIA Policy Director Sam Black will be SIA acting president, SIA said Wednesday in a news release (http://bit.ly/1s52XN5).