NTIA's inclusion of protecting space assets from RF interference in goals as the U.S. seeks to create a long-term national spectrum strategy (see 1812210035) reflects economic importance of GPS, GPS Innovation Alliance Executive Director David Grossman blogged Monday. NTIA said protecting GPS signals from the increased spectrum use that will come with 5G deployment requires either keeping high-powered signals away from GPS or following the 1 dB noise floor standard for interference measurement.
Having pleaded guilty in 2015 to an antitrust charge and agreed to a $550 million fine (see 1507060031), JPMorgan Chase now is asking the FCC for OK to again have a stake in Ligado. In a docket 15-126 filing Thursday, the investment bank said its stake in Ligado has been held in proxy as part of the FCC's approval of Ligado -- then LightSquared -- emerging from bankruptcy (see 1603170039), but the agency should decide the firm has the qualifications to hold interest in the company and let the proxy agreement expire. It said the foreign currency exchange spot market misconduct that was subject of its antitrust charge was unrelated to Ligado and there has been "significant remedial action" since then. Wiley Rein's Richard Wiley, a former FCC chair, signed the filing.
Space-based mapping company Hawkeye 360 hopes to put up a 60- to 80-microsatellite non-geostationary low earth orbit constellation, with the first batch of three going up in Q4, said an FCC International Bureau application posted Thursday. It said it expects to launch between 165 and 220 satellites over the 15 years of the requested license term, orbiting at a nominal altitude of 575 kilometers. It said the satellites would have a design life of three years each, with the constellation being replenished as others reach their end of life. It said the constellation would be targeting such potential applications as emergency response support, spectrum mapping, ionospheric monitoring, maritime domain awareness and spectrum interference and piracy detection.
Dutch satellite component and subsystem maker Bradford Space Group bought California orbital propulsion system developer Deep Space Industries, it said Tuesday. It said DSI will remain in Silicon Valley but rebranded as Bradford Space. It said the deal is Bradford's first move into the U.S. space industry market.
Rather than a departure from FCC precedent, the C-Band Alliance's C-band clearing proposal "follows a long line of established precedent," CBA filed Wednesday in docket 18-122. CBA listed multiple instances of the agency giving flexible rights to licensees in the past, with those licensees then able to use those expanded rights or conduct secondary market transactions to convey those rights. Those instances included 2012 approval of Dish Network's licenses for TerreStar-1 and DBDS G1 during a pending rulemaking to add AWS-4 service rules to the band and 2016 creation of upper microwave flexible use service allocation for licenses in the 28 GHz and 39 GHz band that extended to incumbents. CBA said it emailed the filing to Chairman Ajit Pai, the three regular commissioners and the heads of the Wireless and International Bureaus and the Office of Engineering and Technology head.
SiriusXM signed Scott Greenstein to a new employment agreement on Christmas Eve that extends his run as president-chief content officer through May 2022, said an 8-K Wednesday at the SEC. SiriusXM raised Greenstein’s annual base pay by 7 percent to $1.6 million and gave him the chance to earn yearly bonuses targeted at up to $2.4 million -- 150 percent of his annual base salary -- if he meets set “performance goals,” it said. It also granted Greenstein options to buy 3.2 million SiriusXM shares at $5.51 a share, plus roughly 2 million time-based and performance-based restricted stock units that vest on specified dates between December 2019 and May 2022, it said. Shares closed unchanged Thursday at $5.73.
Pandora CEO Roger Lynch would qualify for $12.7 million in “golden parachute” payments if he’s terminated within 18 months after the SiriusXM/Pandora transaction is completed (see 1809240030), said a SiriusXM proxy statement and prospectus filed Dec. 20 at the SEC. A Pandora shareholder vote on the acquisition is set for Jan. 29 at Pandora’s Oakland headquarters. Shareholders would vote separately on the actual deal proposal and the executive compensation packages, said the proxy. The transaction is expected to close in 2019's first quarter, it said. The FTC cleared SiriusXM/Pandora Friday, ending the transaction’s Hart-Scott-Rodino waiting period, said the companies Monday. The Pandora and SiriusXM boards ratified the deal unanimously, they said. SiriusXM shareholder approval was not required, they said. The Jan. 29 vote brings SiriusXM “one step closer to sealing the deal,” said Macquarie Research Monday. “Next up, a transformation of its digital/mobile presence.” As SiriusXM management “prepares to welcome Pandora, we expect a better articulation of strategy and top/bottom line synergies,” it said.
OneWeb CEO Greg Wyler called it "obviously not true" in a tweet Wednesday denying a published report that Russia is buying a minority stake in the satellite broadband company.
Liberty Global agreed to sell its satellite-TV operations in Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Romania for about $205 million to European media/satellite firm M7 Group, Liberty announced Friday. The businesses operate under the UPC Direct, FreeSAT and Focus Sat brands. Closing, subject to regulatory approval, is expected in 2019's first half. M7 said the businesses have about 800,000 customers.
The FCC reached a $900,000 settlement with Swarm Technologies for unauthorized satellite launch (see 1810040057), the agency announced and it appeared in Friday's Daily Digest. The settlement includes an extended period of FCC oversight and a prelaunch notice requirement to the commission. Swarm launched four small satellites in January, despite denial of the company’s application the previous month over concerns about the ability to track them, the agency said. Enforcement Bureau Chief Rosemary Harold said the agency will “aggressively enforce” requirements on preauthorization. “These important obligations protect other operators against radio interference and collisions, making space a safer place to operate,” she said. Friday, Swarm didn't comment.