Intelsat Continuing Push To End Two-Degree Spacing Rule

Despite FCC efforts to use licensing conditions to plug loopholes in the two-degree spacing policy, the agency needs "a more definitive solution" by eliminating the policy altogether, Intelsat said in an ex parte filing posted Tuesday in docket 12-267. Intelsat has repeatedly pushed in recent months for doing away with the two-degree spacing rule in favor of ITU filing priority as the basis for coordination requirements (see 1508100064). And in a meeting between company representatives and staff from Chairman Tom Wheeler's office and from the International Bureau Intelsat repeated many of those arguments and said the two-degree spacing rule may be inconsistent with U.S. treaty obligations, the filing said. When the agency asked how to safeguard against higher-priority applicants acting unreasonably in coordination minus the two-degree rule, Intelsat said the FCC "could clearly articulate its intent ... that U.S. licensees and market access recipients abide by the ITU policy that all parties to a coordination act reasonably and attempt to accommodate the operations of other operators."