The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is pushing hard for broadcasting’s ‘next-gen’ ATSC 3.0 adoption – which can handle 4K, High Dynamic Range (HDR) immersive audio and other valuable benefits for viewers. But it means considerable investment for broadcasters. ATSC 3.0 was adopted by the FCC as a standard back in 2017, and if transmissions […]

FCC chairman Brendan Carr is not everyone’s favourite legislator, but his latest proposal looks like winning favourable support from the industry. He wants to create a ‘Space Assembly Line’ in order to ‘fast track’ applications and to demolish barriers to entry for the space and satellite sector. However, good as this idea is, he also […]

Mark Jamison, Non-resident Senior Fellow at public policy think tank The American Enterprise Institute, has suggested it is time to disband the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), arguing that it has “run its course”, having become “a convenient political tool”. Writing in the AEIdeas blog, he suggests that current FCC Chairman Brendan Carr now has the […]

US Congress Energy and Commerce Committee Ranking Member Frank Pallone Jr (D-NJ), Communications and Technology Subcommittee Ranking Member Doris Matsui (D-CA), and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Ranking Member Yvette D. Clarke (D-NY) have called on the FCC Inspector General to launch an investigation into what they call Chairman Brendan Carr’s “illegal and unconstitutional censorship campaign”, […]

Lynk Global, a satellite-to-cellular operator which has SES as a major shareholder, has asked the FCC for a 60-day temporary authority to operate feeder links in the S-Band as part of a South African trial of its technology, with an unnamed local mobile operator (probably MTN), aimed at testing direct-to-device (D2D) voice calling. The test […]

FCC Commission Chair Brendan Carr, while speaking at the US Chamber of Commerce Global Aerospace Summit this week, praised the new wave of innovation and growth in the Space sector. “As a result, we now have new constellations of low-earth satellites that make it possible to deliver high-speed internet to remote locations and connect Americans […]

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has been something of a thorn in the side of Charlie Ergen’s EchoStar, and frequently complaining that EchoStar’s use of its wholly-owned 5G cellular spectrum was inadequate. The past month has seen EchoStar agree a $17 billion deal to sell wireless spectrum to Elon Musk’s SpaceX as well as a […]

AST SpaceMobile has received a positive upgrade from Bank of America. The bank has given the would-be broadband-to-consumer satellite operator a share price target of $55 (€46.89). AST is currently trading at about $42. The bank says it has based its target on a Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) analysis and says a DCF valuation is […]

The FCC has issued AST SpaceMobile (AST) and its key US partners AT&T, Verizon and FirstNet its formal public notice that it is minded to grant formal permission for AST’s recognition that it can operate as a full ‘Supplemental Coverage from Space Authorisation (SCSA) system. The FCC invites public comments by October 6th. There isn’t […]

The US’s Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has taken additional actions to accelerate broadcasters’ transition to the next-generation television standard, known as ATSC 3.0, by providing regulatory clarifications that can encourage the expeditious transition to this new standard and the benefits this transition can unlock for TV viewers across the country. This action reflects the Commission’s […]