LightSquared's final plan for testing L-band LTE network interference to GPS is better than initially proposed, but still could be improved, said the National Public Safety Telecommunications Council in an FCC filing posted Wednesday in docket 12-340. NPSTC met with LightSquared consultant Roberson Aug. 11 to voice concerns about the test methodology, such as the lack of any indication the testing would look at possible impacts to public safety and that the simulated LightSquared test signal levels -- -25 dBm to -30 dBm -- were lower than what would be expected in actual practice. The final test plan submitted in August by LightSquared (see 1508250070) includes a public safety portable radio and public safety mobile data terminal among those being used in the testing, though LightSquared may want to consider adding others, such as ankle bracelet tracking devices used in house arrests and limited releases, plus vehicular tracking devices, NPSTC said. The final test plan also raises the maximum level for the simulated LightSquared LTE signal to -20 dBm, which is an improvement, though any LightSquared operation that gets approved should be conditioned on a maximum power flux density at ground level that's comparable to the level used in testing, NPSTC said. LightSquared's testing plan indicates it may test in the 1545-1555 MHz band for LTE downlink operations, and though use of that spectrum "could cause significant impact on GPS," testing of that spectrum section is necessary if that sub-band does end up being used, NPSTC said. Any time to first fix testing of the devices needs to include signal levels up to -20 dBm or the equivalent level that matches the power flux density at ground level that's expected to be deployed if LightSquared gets FCC approval for its LTE operations, NPSTC said. While the firm plans to test only 10 MHz bandwidth version of LTE, smaller bandwidth variants can point to additional GPS sensitivity to out-of-band emissions and should also be tested if lower bandwidth versions of LTE may come, NPSTC said. In a statement Thursday, LightSquared said it was "critical that the interests of public safety are represented and satisfied, and over the past month [Roberson] and NPSTC have had a cooperative back and forth, which is both reflected in the test plan and ongoing today. The testing process is underway, but also iterative. [Roberson] has incorporated many of the NPSTC elements, and as additional feedback comes in, the test plan will continue to reflect that with the goal to establish how compatibility can be established between wireless broadband and GPS."

LightSquared, Deere and Trimble seemingly are edging closer to settling interference claims, though LightSquared and Garmin remain at loggerheads, according to a transcript of a pretrial conference Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan before Judge Richard Berman. The satellite company "has had several helpful discussions with Deere over the past few weeks with more scheduled for this week," LightSquared counsel Winn Allen of Kirkland & Ellis told Berman, saying Deere "has shown a willingness to work ... on technical and regulatory issues" and that the two companies could come to a settlement agreement "sometime within the next few weeks." While a Deere settlement is not imminent, Deere attorney Kenneth Schacter of Morgan Lewis said the two "have had some constructive discussions ... and we are considering what we've heard." A settlement with Garmin "does not appear likely at this time," and the GPS company hasn't shown enthusiasm for a LightSquared-proposed idea of a mediator, Allen said. Garmin "would be delighted to settle this case" but hasn't seen any technical information from LightSquared that could be the basis of that solution, said Philip Douglas of Jones Day, representing Garmin. "The problem, I suspect, is that Garmin's devices are different from those at issue with Deere and Trimble," with its aeronautical navigation and landing devices presenting "more serious technical problems," Douglas said, adding that the company would rather have guidance from the Federal Aviation Administration than come to a separate agreement on its own with LightSquared, since other aeronautical navigation equipment makers could have issues. Berman scheduled a follow-up status conference for Oct. 8. LightSquared sued the three companies and the U.S. GPS Industry Council in 2013 after they raised concerns that LightSquared's planned ground-and-satellite-based LTE broadband network could interfere with GPS signals in adjacent spectrum space, which lead to the FCC revoking the company’s spectrum license, ultimately forcing it into bankruptcy.

Ericsson and Intelsat will jointly debut a high dynamic range video contribution feed for the IBC show in Amsterdam, the companies said in a news release Wednesday. Using the DVB-SX2 satellite broadcasting standard opens the door to better quality HD contribution feeds with HDR while avoiding bandwidth losses, they said.

French ISP Nordnet will make Gilat Satellite Networks' SkyEdge II-c consumer kits part of its Star package that bundles satellite-based Internet, phone and TV services, Gilat said in a Tuesday news release.

Intelsat and Harmonic are jointly launching HVN Intelsat UHD, a linear Ultra HD demonstration channel for North American TV markets, Intelsat said in a Tuesday news release. Broadcast by Intelsat's Galaxy 13 satellite, the channel is aimed at multichannel video programming distributors interested in preparing and testing their own Ultra HD transmissions. The two companies plan to demonstrate HVN Intelsat UHD channel content later this month at the IBC 2015 Conference in the Netherlands. That test signal will use teleport stream servers at Intelsat's teleport facility in Atlanta and Harmonic's ProMedia Xpress multiscreen decoder and packager for precompression of the UHD video loop. The companies said Harmonic will use its MediaGrid shared storage system, Polaris playout management suite, Spectrum X advanced media server system and Electra X3 advanced media processor for full Ultra HD channel production and transmission later this year.

BridgeSat and Draper Laboratory will cooperate on developing ground stations for BridgeSat's optical connectivity system, BridgeSat said Tuesday. The laser-based optical connectivity system will mean better transfer of large volumes of data from satellites and high-altitude unmanned vehicles, BridgeSat said. It said Draper has developed technology for ground station operations, task automation and data delivery, and the agreement will help in developing BridgeSat's laser communications receivers and data processing centers.

Hughes Network Systems topped 5 million satellite terminals shipped cumulatively, the satellite company said in a Tuesday news release. That gives the company close to a 50 percent market share globally in the very small aperture terminal satellite industry, Hughes said.

Sprint is upping the wireless service ante for DirecTV customers, as the carrier said Thursday it would offer several tiers of plans for DirecTV customers who switch wireless service to Sprint. Previously, Sprint had offered a year of free wireless service -- unlimited talk and text and 2 GB of data per line per month -- for DirecTV customers or for Sprint customers adding a line of service. Now, the company is offering 4 GB and 6 GB monthly plans at $10 and $20 per line, respectively. The offer follows AT&T's completion in July of its acquisition of DirecTV.

HD Plus, the SES-affiliated satellite-TV operator in Germany, plans to launch UHD1, a 24-hour Ultra HD content channel, Friday, said Timo Schneckenburger, managing director-marketing and sales, in Berlin at IFA Thursday. “UHD is the next frontier of television,” Schneckenburger said. “In Germany specifically, we have seen a steadily rising demand for UHD as well.” During daytime hours, all content provided by satellite by SES Astra on UHD1 “will be free for everybody to enjoy,” he said. During prime time, UHD1 “will become a truly exclusive offering for HD Plus customers only,” said Schneckenburger. “UHD1 will be an important catalyst to further drive the conversion from HD to UHD. And as consumer demand for UHD content increases, so will the number of options to broadcast that content.”

The Fashion One TV network began the world’s first global Ultra HD channel, Fashion One 4K, using a SES satellite to deliver the free-to-air channel to North America, South America and Europe, SES said in a Wednesday announcement. Fashion One 4K has a “technical reach” of 100 million homes in North America via SES’s Ultra HD platform on the SES-3 satellite at 103 degrees West and 23 million households in South America on the NSS-806 satellite at 47.5 degrees West, SES said. In Europe, the channel, broadcast under the brand Fashion 4K, reaches more than 116 million households via SES’ prime orbital position at 19.2 degrees East, SES said. Since last year, Fashion One has been upgrading its production format to Ultra HD and now owns “an extensive library” of Ultra HD content with all the content rights, SES said.