Test Weather Content Delivery Network is Now Operational, Ligado Says

The satellite dish for Ligado's proposed content delivery network to distribute National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) satellite-delivered data is operational in Reston, Virginia, and the CDN is operating, the company said in an FCC filing Wednesday in RM-11681. The next step is for George Mason University to start comparing NOAA data delivered via CDN with weather data from existing NOAA satellite systems, the satellite company said. It and GMU announced last week they would jointly test the CDN (see 1612150060), about which some weather interests have expressed skepticism (see 1611250033). Also posted Wednesday in the docket was a Ligado letter to NOAA Administrator Kathryn Sullivan and NTIA Administrator Larry Strickling, saying its planned use of the 1675-1680 MHz band doesn't overlap with thousands of terrestrial weather sensors. Ligado also said NOAA never argued the company's proposed protection zones around government-owned earth stations receiving NOAA satellite data "are anything other than entirely satisfactory." And it suggested the FCC issue a Further NPRM about requiring a licensee of the spectrum or NOAA to provide an alternate route to the satellite weather data, such as an alternate CDN. NOAA didn't comment Wednesday.