Chris Forrester There’s considerable interest in what various heavyweight suppliers might be doing in terms of Direct-2-Cell satellite telephony. Apple, Google, AST SpaceMobile and others, including SpaceX’s Starlink, are very busy in this area. A filing with the FCC from T-Mobile on January 18th (which is linked with Starlink) explains their intentions, and the practical […]

XGen Network, in partnership with HC2 and EGOT Media, has filed for two new experimental 5G broadcast licences in the US with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). This move is in collaboration with HC2 stations WTXX-LD as well as EGOT Media’s WYJH-LD, to join Milachi Media’s WWOO-LD in Boston for Phase Two Proof of Concept […]

Ligado Networks has been arguing for $40 billion (€36.9bn) of compensation from various US Federal Agencies over claims that the Agencies “roadblocked” Legado’s L-band frequencies and spectrum because the US government wanted the spectrum itself. The case is best described as “complicated” and centres on the FCC’s granting to Ligado in 2020 to create a […]

Back on August 1st 2023, your author somewhat optimistically wrote ‘SES vs Intelsat nears conclusion‘. How wrong that was. The headline was based on a successful appeal won by SES and an instruction made by the appeal court Judge Robert Payne to the lower court to find in SES’s favour. “The judgement of the Bankruptcy […]

SES is suing Intelsat with a claim for a greater share of the FCC’s compensation scheme for the two satellite operators giving up certain C-band frequencies. The long-running arguments over how the FCC’s overall compensation was allocated continue to resonate between SES and Intelsat. Intelsat on November 13th had argued that the SES claim (“typically […]

The FCC has approved the transfer of control of Dish Network and its subsidiaries to EchoStar Corp. The FCC, and the bureaux under its supervision (the Office of Engineering & Technology, the Space Bureau, the Wireless Telecommunications) allowed the transfer of its broadcast and transmission licences. The FCC order includes those terrestrial licences for Dish’s […]

Communication permissions for Elon Musk’s third test flight of the SpaceX Starship has been issued by the FCC. The communications licence covers a period from December 1st to January 6th 2024. The formal communications licence was issued to SpaceX on November 28th, but is not permission to actually launch. Those final permissions will come from […]

A report on satellite operator SES from investment bank Berenberg maintains its ‘BUY’ recommendation, but the report has cut the bank’s share price target from €9.20 to a much more modest €7.20. The SES share price on November 28th was €5.40. The Berenberg report, Rebase done; Now on to returns, says it expects SES too […]

SES might have received the FCC’s $3 billion (€2.76bn) in compensation for handing over its C-band satellite frequencies in October 2023. But the long-running arguments over how the FCC’s overall compensation was allocated continue to resonate between SES and Intelsat. Lawyers for SES filed their argument to Intelsat’s bankruptcy court on September 28th seeking about […]

Two years ago Boeing received a licence from the FCC for a satellite broadband mega-constellation of 147 low Earth orbiting satellites. It has now cancelled its scheme. Boeing’s initial scheme – formally proposed in 2017 – was for a V-band constellation of 132 satellites operating ln Low-Earth Orbit and 15 non-Geostationary orbiting craft to supply […]