Planned satellite mega constellations could face headwinds from regulators around the globe that have increased concerns about such systems, satellite experts said Wednesday during a Global VSAT Forum webinar. OneWeb Government, Regulatory and Engagement Chief Chris McLaughlin said the biggest proposed mega constellations could see regulatory challenges based on their sheer size. "It beggars belief anyone will allow 30,000 satellites," he said. Another limiting factor for mega constellations will be lack of enough rockets to launch all the satellites, he said. Kymeta Product Management Director David Fotheringham said many of the nascent operators pitching big constellations will never come to fruition, but there will still be a huge increase in the number of satellites in orbit. McLaughlin said regulators globally are trying to make more spectrum used by satellite operators available for 5G, making it increasingly important that satellite plays a role in 5G. He said trying to protect the 28 GHz band for satellite use in countries looking to open it to terrestrial mobile has been complicated by the U.K. letting it go for terrestrial use years ago. Fotheringham said satellite operators should make a concerted effort to keep their current spectrum rights. He said satellite communications in the U.S. have already become secondary to 5G in the Ka band. Expect more satellite industry consolidation, speakers said. McLaughlin said increasing interest rates could affect the expansion plans of satellite companies. He said the investment community could increase M&A activity in the satcom universe. He questioned whether the Viasat/Inmarsat deal (see 2111080038) will happen because it could face opposition from the U.K. government loath to lose a satellite operator. A Viasat spokesperson emailed that it, Inmarsat and the U.K. government "have been in discussions as part of the usual process [and] conversations have been constructive and completely cooperative."

Finding ways to make parts of the 3.1-3.45 GHz band available for nonfederal use, as laid out in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (see 2111120050), faces a variety of big hurdles, spectrum sharing experts said Tuesday at the annual Wireless Innovation Forum. NTIA Office of Spectrum Management Executive Director Scott Patrick said relations with the FCC "are in a nice spot right now," with commitments high in the Biden administration that agencies understand the positions of other agencies, and with plans for more concrete actions once NTIA and FCC leaders are confirmed. The two agencies collaborate a "tremendous amount" daily, said FCC Office of Engineering and Technology Deputy Director Ira Keltz, saying the agencies may not always agree but "the working relationship is good."

Ten of the 11 replacement satellites scheduled to be launched in 2022 by Intelsat and SES as part of the C-band clearing could be operational by year's end, the companies' officials told us. Both companies said the pandemic affected some suppliers and their subcontractors, but those suppliers found workarounds and delays haven't been material delays. Intelsat Space Systems Senior Vice President Jean-Luc Froeliger said there were concerns early during the pandemic about contractors being hit by COVID-19, but almost all the components, coming from suppliers around the globe, have been delivered to manufacturers Maxar and Northrop Grumman. He said ultimately the work was delayed maybe a month. The FCC's 2020 C-band clearing order set a Dec. 5, 2023, clearing deadline (see 2003040042).

Many employers in the communications universe don't see the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's COVID-19 vaccination emergency temporary standard (ETS) released earlier this month having a big impact on their workplace policies, as vaccination requirements are already the norm. The ETS would require workplaces of more than 100 people to mandate either vaccinations for their workers or weekly COVID-19 testing. Some companies pointed to September's executive order (EO) requiring federal contractors mandate vaccinations for their workforces and said they would comply.

Saying they're sensitive to the FAA wanting more analysis about possible 5G impacts to radio altimeter performance and air safety, AT&T and Verizon on Wednesday told the FCC they would adopt a series of temporary voluntary power limits and antenna restrictions on C-band deployments near airports. That commitment ends July 6 "unless credible evidence exists that real-world interference would occur if the mitigations were relaxed," they said in a docket 18-122 letter Wednesday. After an FAA air safety warning about 5G use on the C band, AT&T and Verizon earlier this month agreed to a one-month delay to the first phase of deployment to allow an agency probe of altimeter issues (see 2111040042).

Pointing to enterprise traffic increasingly being wireless, Ericsson plans to boost its presence in related cloud-based offerings with buying Vonage for $6.2 billion, announced Monday. Analysts evinced some skepticism about the deal, which Ericsson said should conclude in the first half of 2022.

Radioastronomy isn't yet blind in the Ku band, but it's becoming increasingly inaccessible to radioastronomers due to increased satellite downlink traffic there, said Square Kilometer Array (SKA) Observatory Mission Assurance Head Tim Stevenson Thursday on a Satellite Industry Association webinar. Geostationary Ku-band traffic is transitory and “relatively benign,” but OneWeb and SpaceX low earth orbit (LEO) constellations are vastly noisier, he said. Other bands, like V, will surely face similar problems as LEO satellite traffic there grows, he said. Radioastronomy has some ITU protections, but it also uses bands well outside those protected zones, he said. Rather than counting on ITU or national regulations, the SKA and radioastronomy community "want[s] to work with you," Stevenson said. "We know you need to service customers." SKA Spectrum Manager Federico Di Vruno said the scale of the problem makes some mitigation steps that have been used in the past unworkable. He said the aim is to find a way to lower the power flux density over SKA's radio quiet zones in Australia and South Africa. The two SKA telescopes are to be built by 2028.

While applauding the FCC for requiring covered text provider support of text-to-988 capabilities, mental health and disability communities raised caution flags about the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline having adequate resources come July to handle texting traffic. Commissioners unanimously approved an order Thursday that requires routing of texts sent to 988 to the Lifeline, and setting outer bounds for text message formats to be sent. The final item wasn't released. Also OK'd 4-0 was U.S. market access for French-flagged satellite IoT operator Kineis, as expected (see 2111030008), and a Further NPRM on creating an enhanced competition incentive program aimed at boosting spectrum access by small carriers and tribes (see 2111180071).

Getting action on a terrestrial supplement or alternative to GPS requires more advocacy by the Department of Homeland Security about the danger of going without one, plus pilot programs testing various technologies rather than waiting to settle on one, said George Washington University Space Policy Institute Director Scott Pace Wednesday on a Resilient Navigation and Timing Foundation/Domestic Preparedness Journal webinar. The government doesn't know which tech approach will work but should experiment with different ones and “see who can move quickly,” he said. Pace said technologies ranging from UHF to 5G could be employed in a backup system, but market ability to turn out millions of receivers also has to be considered in deciding which to choose. Speakers criticized a lack of government action. "There's a lot of understanding of what the issues are, a lot of kvetching and hand-wringing," said former Department of Transportation Assistant Secretary Greg Winfree, now director of the Texas A&M Transportation Institute. Pace said lack of progress over the three previous presidential administrations shows a critical U.S. weakness in planning, budgeting and acquisition. “It's not a question of affordability [or] policy needs. We can't execute,” he said. Many speakers also said this week's anti-satellite missile test by Russia (see 2111160063) underlines the need to supplement GPS. The anti-satellite exercise was part technical test and part Moscow saber rattling, said Center for the National Interest Director of Studies George Beebe. He said U.S. reliance on GPS is one of the nation's key strategic weaknesses. Beyond such potential deliberate threats to GPS, it faces unintentional environmental ones such as interference from use of nearby spectrum, Pace said. "We need to be stewards of the entire noise floor," he said. Winfree said any GPS supplement or alternative needs to be shepherded by the federal government rather than left to the private sector. He likened it to the variety of electric car charging technologies and plugs in the market: “We would wind up with a Tower of Babel.”

Wireless interests told the FCC any rules aimed at preventing SIM swap and port-out fraud shouldn't make it too difficult for consumers to change wireless carriers, per docket 21-341 comments that were due Monday. Princeton's Center for Information Technology Policy (CITP), citing a study it did of SIM swap safeguards at the five major wireless carriers, said the companies are guilty of "pervasive insecurity." The Rural Wireless Association (RWA) urged reissue of the customer authentication and data encryption measures that were part of 2016's repealed broadband privacy order. The FCC adopted a SIM-swapping/port-out fraud NPRM 4-0 at September's meeting (see 2109300069).