NGSO Interference Protections Need FNPRM: Satcom Operators

As the FCC considers how to define protection criteria for non-geostationary orbit systems and the level of protection for earlier-round systems, the agency should at minimum preserve the processing round regime and balance targeted protections for operating systems with opportunities for new entrants, satellite operators said Wednesday in docket 21-456. Recapping a meeting with an aide to Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, they said since there's disagreement about how to protect earlier-round systems from later entrants, they urged issuing a Further Notice as a route to "drive toward a consensus view." Meeting with the FCC were SpaceX OneWeb, Kepler and SES/O3b. Separately SpaceX said any Further NPRM should seek comment on ways to encourage spectral efficiency among NGSO systems in a single processing round. It also suggested that, in the commission's pending NGSO spectrum sharing NPRM, the FCC should require that later-round NGSO systems use information acquired through coordination when demonstrating compliance with an interference protection regime. If earlier-round systems don't provide that information, only then should later-round operators resort to information found in public applications, it said.