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Intelsat, Spectrum Five Clash Over Deadline

Intelsat and Spectrum Five clashed over a request for extra time to comment on Intelsat's planned emergence from Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Washington Analysis' Tom Seitz said in a note Friday the FCC is likely to grant Intelsat the license transfers needed as part of its reorganization, but Spectrum Five raised issues that could be troublesome for Intelsat before the ITU. Spectrum Five's motion for a 30-day extension is an attempt at delaying the bankruptcy exit via "specious claims" from a different petition, Intelsat said in docket 21-375. It said the testing Spectrum Five claims it wants could have been done before the deadline. Spectrum Five said Intelsat's Intelsat 30 and 31 satellites operate at 95 degrees west at higher power flux density levels than the ITU permits, and the extension would allow time for further testing to see if the companies' stations can coexist at that orbital slot. Spectrum Five has a pending FCC petition to revoke the satellites' licenses (see 2012010057).