Satellite Largely Unaffected by Net Neutrality Rules
The FCC’s new net neutrality rules are largely a non-issue for many satellite companies, said industry executives. Although some of the same issues affect satellite networks as impact terrestrial services, including limited spectrum and network management, most satellite companies don’t expect to discriminate among content based on its source, they said. While satellite broadband companies had some initial concerns over universal service fund implications of a Title II net neutrality push, which never came, they're largely unaffected as well (CD Dec 17 p5).
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The FCC order makes clear “that reasonable network management practices may differacross platforms.” The agency even uses satellite services as a example, saying “practices needed to manage congestion on a fixed satellite network may be inappropriate for a fiber-to-the-home network.” Otherwise, the order doesn’t make much mention of satellite-specific situations.
Companies that don’t sell services directly to the end-user are mostly unaffected by the FCC’s latest effort. One executive said discussions within a provider’s management over the potential issues created by the net neutrality rules concluded there was nothing worth getting involved in. Another executive said satellite was glad the FCC didn’t go the reclassification of broadband as governed by Title II route, and, under the current approach, they “don’t really have a dog in this fight.”
Major operators like SES World Skies and Intelsat largely provide spectrum and transponder use and generally don’t manage terrestrial networks, executives said. But Inmarsat, which sells its satellite services wholesale, does have a stake in the issue, said Diane Cornell, Inmarsat vice president of government affairs. “Spectrum-based services have certain capacity constraints, and satellite, as a technology, shares many of the same concerns as terrestrial wireless operators,” she said. “Higher bandwidth uses can quickly [impair] the experience of other users, and we need to have the flexibility to manage our networks to address capacity constraints that are characteristic of spectrum-based offerings,” she said.
LightSquared, another mobile satellite services company, previously said it would provide an open Internet for customers that lease LightSquared’s 2 GHz band spectrum. LightSquared is in the process of ramping up terrestrial broadband services alongside its satellite offerings. LightSquared declined to comment.