[Satellite News 03-14-11] U.S. Federal Communications Commission notice of inquiry issued March 8 contained much more positive language regarding satellite’s role in connecting rural communities compared to the U.S. National Broadband Plan, which disappointed the satellite industry when it was announced last year.
    The document, “Improving Communications for Native Nations, CG Docket No. 11-41,” may provide a glimmer of hope for an expanded satellite presence in the FCC’s broadband connectivity solution, according to White and Case Counsel Maury Mechanick. “[In the notice] the FCC acknowledges and praises satellite’s effectiveness and viability in connecting unserved areas. I read this and wondered if the people who wrote the Native Nations Plan and the National Broadband Plan were on the same planet.”
    Speaking on a SATELLITE 2011 financial panel, Mechanick addressed concerns in the U.S. broadband market caused by the government’s lack of satellite involvement in the National Broadband Plan. “Last year, I was at this conference talking about how difficult it was for satellite to gain respect as a viable solution for the broadband. This year, there is not a whole lot of good news,” said Mechanick. “The FCC continues to marginalize and ignore the role of satellites for national broadband deployment in the National Broadband Plan. It is actually written into the plan that satellite is well-suited and able to deliver the required speeds, followed by a list of lame excuses why it remains to be a small portion of the national infrastructure investment.”
    Satellite industry analysts have long criticized U.S. government for a lack of understanding of satellite’s capabilities to solve the broadband equation, accusing Washington of focusing too much on downlink speeds that satellite is unable to deliver. Mechanick delivered a nearly identical presentation at SATELLITE 2010, when he said that the FCC’s ignorance of satellite’s potential created the perfect storm against the industry. He accurately predicted that the Australian government would provide a much friendlier broadband model for satellite.
    “We need to get people in Washington to think out of the box. In Australia, satellite is a critical element of their overall national broadband plan. They will probably fund a dedicated satellite for this purpose,” Mechanick said at last year’s conference.
    Future FCC regulatory decisions could impact the future of the MSS sector – a situation that Mechanick calls “the MSS mess.”
    “This year is like déjà vu all over again. We hope to realize who will control the rights to the S-band spectrum, as nobody really knows at this point. We also ask ourselves how many companies will be involved in the sector at the end of the year and whether or not a single company, like Harbinger Capital, will be permitted to control S-band and L-band in the United States,” he said.
    Mechanick cited Harbinger’s plans to acquire the bankrupt spectrum holders Terrastar and DBSD in a debate over the MSS industry’s sustainability as a stand-alone business. “My prediction is that MSS satellites will wind up in the hands of the major cellular operators, where the governing metric is competitive advantage. I think this is the best thing that could happen. The cellular industry is making $60 billion a year and when they see ATC spectrum as a small, but worthwhile investment, the spectrum will be incorporated into their cellular infrastructure. It’s a result that would work best for the American people.”