Complete Canadian Coverage Could Cancel Competition, US NGSOs Say

Requiring all non-geostationary satellite operators in Canada to provide complete coverage of the country as a condition for market access would mean fewer competing NGSO services available for Canadians. That was the argument raised by U.S. satellite operators in replies posted Friday by Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED) Canada as it looks at a rewrite of NGSO rules (see 1704240026). Boeing said there's broad agreement that ISED shouldn't limit the number of licensed systems, require third-party arbitration of coordination disputes or make foreign NGSOs complete international coordination before being authorized for Canada, but there's broad disagreement on coordination requirements and Canadian coverage and capacity requirements. ISED might want to impose conditions on Canadian-licensed NGSOs on direction and control of the systems, but there's no valid argument for concluding Canadians won't see satellite service without Canadian coverage and capacity reservation requirements, it said. O3b said some proposals, such as requiring foreign-licensed NGSOs coordinate with Canadian-licensed systems before getting access to the Canadian market, could create an imbalanced competitive playing field. It advocated that ISED adopt in-line interference rules similar to the FCC's, with consequences such as spectrum splitting for two operators unable to coordinate as a means of encouraging coordination in good faith. ViaSat said requiring foreign-licensed NGSOs to complete coordination with Canadian satellite operators gives those Canadian operators the incentive and opportunity "to control the timing and pace of market entry by their competitors." ViaSat backed a proposal by a coalition of Canadian satellite operators that coordination be required, but requests for Canadian landing rights not be denied or delayed if a foreign-licensed operator has ITU date priority or is facing delays in reaching a timely coordination arrangement. OneWeb said ISED's proposed milestone requirement, that large NGSO systems have a third of their constellations up by year six after being licensed and fully deployed by year nine, would result in spectrum warehousing and give a milestone extension to already authorized NGSO systems.