Intelsat expects to begin de-orbit maneuvers for its Intelsat 7 satellite by mid-September, it told the FCC International Bureau in a filing Friday. The application seeking special temporary authority starting March 20 to continue operating Intelsat 7 at 18.2 degrees west said that during that 180-day span, it expects to begin de-orbiting the satellite.

AMC-12 is operating slightly outside its assigned station-keeping volume, and SES Americom is asking for a bit of time to correct it. In an FCC International Bureau filing Friday, SES said AMC-12 -- while licensed to operate between 37.4 and 37.5 degrees west -- has been operating between 37.355 and 37.455 degrees west. The problem "seems to be the result of inaccurate range calibration data provided by the satellites' manufacturer related to the spacecraft's signal processing delay," SES said. The correction is to take place Friday through Monday, and SES said until the orbital correction is made, it needs special temporary authority to continue operating slightly outside its assigned station-keeping volume. SES said AMC-12's current location shouldn't cause any interference problems because the closest C-band satellite, Intelsat 903, is at 34.5 degrees west, about 2.9 degrees away.

A recent ruling by the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals further shows Ace American Insurance should be required to defend Dish Network against robocall claims, Dish said in a filing Friday in U.S. District Court in Denver. The insurance company sued Dish in 2013, seeking a determination it isn't obligated to reimburse Dish for defense costs as the DBS provider fights claims by the FTC and California, Illinois, North Carolina and Ohio alleging violations of the telemarketing sales rule because Dish helped dealers use robocalls to deliver prerecorded messages (see 0903260144). Ace argued in its original lawsuit that its Dish coverage didn't apply to the robocalls suit because its policy is for such matters as property damage or bodily injury. Dish, in its filing Friday, said a portion of Ace's argument relied on a U.S. District Court ruling in KF 103-CV v. American Family Mutual Insurance, and a July ruling by 10th Circuit reversed that decision and backs its position that Ace has an obligation to defend it. Ace, in a similar filing in January in the Denver court, said it would discuss the 10th Circuit decision during oral argument on its motion for summary judgment or could file a supplemental briefing if so asked by the court. Ace didn't comment Monday.

Trimble formally signed onto LightSquared's proposal that LightSquared will give up any terrestrial plans for 1545-1555 MHz as part of a means to ending objections to the proposed LightSquared L-band terrestrial broadband service. In a filing posted Thursday in docket 12-340, LightSquared said it and Trimble signed an agreement that mirrors similar agreements inked with Deere and Garmin last year that also had LightSquared ending its 2013 legal claims against them (see 1512180020). "It completes the picture," LightSquared counsel Gerard Waldron of Covington & Burling told us. "We can say we have final settlement agreements with the largest GPS companies, the end of litigation is upon us, these disputes have been solved." Unlike past agreements with Deere and Garmin, Waldron said, the Trimble agreement also has it and LightSquared telling the Transportation Department there's no need for the agency to test upper spectrum compatibility issues as part of the agency's pending GPS/LTE compatibility study, given the technical limits the satellite company has agreed to with the three GPS companies. Under the Trimble agreement, LightSquared said it will seek dismissal with prejudice of its suit against Trimble and the U.S. GPS Industry Council. LightSquared also agreed through January 2020 to keep records of base station activations involving use of 1627.5 MHz and higher and allow Trimble access to those records as a means of supporting resolution of any interference issues. The agreement also said Trimble, like Deere and Garmin, doesn't object to LightSquared's deployment of its terrestrial network under the technical specifications laid out in the agreements -- those specifications including foregoing terrestrial use of the 1545-1555 band. It also said it echoes LightSquared's call for the FCC to put out a public notice seeking comment on the GPS company agreements (see 1512310016). Trimble didn't comment. In a statement, LightSquared said the agreement "not only addresses pending policy issues related to new LightSquared's spectrum but also supports a regulatory path forward." LightSquared declined to comment on the status of its own commissioned study by Roberson and Associates of possible interference between its broadband uplink and downlink signals and neighboring spectrum GPS signals.

Dish Network and EchoStar are asking for FCC International Bureau approval to do in-orbit testing (IOT) of EchoStar 18, due to launch in May. In IB applications Tuesday (see here and here), they said the 60-day IOT will take place while the satellite is at 137.75 degrees west. After IOT, they said, EchoStar 18 will relocate to its assigned nominal orbital location of 110 degrees west.

As Intelsat 16's drift to 58.1 degrees west is underway (see 1601280010), Intelsat is asking for FCC International Bureau approval for the satellite to operate there permanently. In an IB filing Monday, Intelsat said Intelsat 16 would colocate nominally with Intelsat 21, though it would include the 10700-11450 MHz, 12750-13250 MHz and 13750-14000 MHz bands not used by Intelsat 21.

Dish Network's Hopper 3 home DVR system is commercially available to subscribers, the company said in a news release Monday. Dish announced its Hopper 3 at CES last month (see 1601060011) and said it would launch the Netflix app for Hopper 3 and integrate Netflix results into its universal search feature "in the coming weeks.”

Eutelsat's Eutelsat 9B satellite is in geosynchronous transfer orbit following its launch and should be at its permanent home at 9 degrees east by March, Eutelsat said in a news release Saturday. The satellite will take over broadcasting more than 350 TV channels currently done at that position by Eutelsat 9A, and provide expansion capacity for new services and be part of the European Data Relay System, it said. Eutelsat will continue to provide commercial service from a different orbital location, it said.

A federal court won't rule on a class certification motion in a lawsuit against Dish Network until after the Supreme Court rules in a separate, related case before it. U.S. District Judge Lorna Schofield in Manhattan, in an order filed Thursday in Ernst et al. v. Dish and Sterling Infosystems, upheld a Dish motion for a stay. She said the Supreme Court's forthcoming decision in Spokeo v. Robbins will likely clarify issues about who has Article III standing in the case, and similar questions are at play in the Dish suit. The plaintiffs opposed the stay, saying the Dish suit is substantially factually different from the Spokeo suit. But Schofield said "while it is possible that the Supreme Court will decide Spokeo in a way that supports Plaintiff's position or does not impact this case, the [Spokeo] question ... is broad enough to suggest that the decision will shed light on the contours of Article III standing in the [Fair Credit Reporting Act] context." The 2012 suit alleges Dish and background check company Sterling violate the federal FCRA in their use of credit reports to do background checks on prospective employees or subcontractors (see 1512160017). The Spokeo case also deals with FCRA violation claims.

Intelsat last week 16 began its 10-week drift from 76.2 degrees west to 58.1 degrees west. In an FCC International Bureau filing Thursday, Intelsat said the satellite's drift began Jan. 22. The relocation was initially expected to begin in November and has been moved back twice by unspecified delays (see 1512230009).