Streamlining of FCC rules governing satellites and earth station licensing and operation was published in the Federal Register Thursday and has an effective date of Sept. 19.

SES booked a total of 23,000 hours of capacity on four satellites for coverage of the Rio Olympics, the satellite operator said in a Thursday announcement. That's a “record uptake” compared with satellite coverage of previous Olympic events, SES said. SES satellite coverage is serving 10 broadcasters in the Americas, Europe, Asia and Africa, it said.

Hughes joined Rivada Mercury to offer satellite services as part of the group’s proposal for building a nationwide public safety network, Rivada Mercury said in a Wednesday news release. The group, formed by Rivada, Harris, Nokia, Fujitsu and Black & Veatch, submitted a proposal to FirstNet in May. FirstNet this week confirmed it’s on track to announce the contract winner Nov. 1 (see 1608160050).

The May 31 default judgment and permanent injunction against Create New Technology (CNT) and Hua Yang International Technology (HYIT) wrongly said the defendants have to pay $326.3 million, instead of $55.4 million, plaintiffs Dish Network, China Central TV and TVB Holdings said in a request for a modification filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. The order sets damages at $326.3 million, but the December amended order granting the plaintiffs' motion for default judgment awarded $55.4 million in copyright and trademark damages, and the May order should be amended, Dish and the others said. The May order (in Pacer) also mistakenly left blank the amount of the attorneys' fees awarded, which is $1.4 million, they said. The injunction bans distributing or selling the TVpad set-top box; any transmission, streaming or hosting of the plaintiffs' copyrighted material; and hosting or distributing any infringing TVpad apps. Dish and the other plaintiffs sued CNT and HYIT last year, alleging piracy via that company's TVpad set-top, and are pursuing similar litigation against set-top maker HTV International in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn (see 1608030011).

More than 24,000 healthcare facilities nationwide now can get DirecTV at a reduced rate under an agreement between AT&T and HealthTrust, the telco and pay-TV provider said in a news release Thursday. The deal includes retirement facilities served by the healthcare group purchasing organization, it said.

The FCC spectrum frontiers order setting up rules for shared use of 28 GHz is "good for 5G and for the satellite industry," ViaSat CEO Mark Dankberg said in the company's fiscal Q1 earnings call Wednesday. The July order (see 1607140052) accommodated the grandfathering of teleport gateways for existing satellite systems, including ViaSat's ViaSat-1 and ViaSat-2 and provisioned "for many thousands of new gateways" for ViaSat-3 and others that use the 28 GHz bands, he said. The order acknowledged the need for more study of interference from 5G use of the 28 GHz band, "so I think we believe that there is a framework in place for a good outcome, but there's still a lot of work to be done," he said. Dankberg said ViaSat-2 construction and integration is largely done and the satellite is in the midst of environmental test screening. Chief Financial Officer Shawn Duffy said the company's capital expenditures were up $55 million in the quarter due to spending on ViaSat-2 and related ground segments ahead of the expected launch at year's end, and due to the two ViaSat-3 satellites under construction. Revenue rose 5 percent to $363.1 million in the quarter ended June 30 from the year-ago period, though net income fell 29 percent to $1.9 million, the company said in a news release. It said new contract awards rose 10 percent.

Alaska Gov. Bill Walker (I) is supporting OneWeb's proposed 720-satellite constellation. In a letter to FCC commissioners posted Tuesday in the International Bureau file, Walker said the OneWeb plan "is attractive because it eliminates the need to construct middle mile connections to primary teleports or earthstations," making it "an ideal low-cost solution where the geographic isolation and environmental protection challenges make rural Alaska's middle mile infrastructure cost prohibitive." OneWeb also "would be a game changer" in Alaska's ability to take part in the federal FirstNet program, Walker said. The National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), meanwhile, in a letter posted last month, said no satellite operators should be licensed in the 10.7-11.7 GHz band -- which includes the 10.68-10.7 GHz passive service band used in radio astronomy -- without demos of how they will protect radio astronomy operations there from emissions into the passive band. There are no broad international standards for allowing interference into passive service bands, but NRAO said the ITU Radiocommunication Sector caps the maximum level of data loss in passive service bands at 5 percent from all networks in one system, and it said a 5 percent data loss to radio astronomy from unwanted emissions "would be a terrible precedent." The deadline for comments regarding or petitions to deny the constellation is Monday (see 1607180006).

SiriusXM will require its telemarketing vendors to use manual phone dialing systems that require human intervention to initiate calls to cellphones, separate from the automatic dialing systems used by vendors to call landline phones, under a proposed settlement that could end multiple lawsuits alleging Telephone Consumer Protection Act violations, said court documents filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Newport News, Virginia. SiriusXM and plaintiffs' counsel indicated in June they were close to finalizing a $35 million settlement agreement (see 1606080019). Every settlement class member would get three months of free Select service without having to file a claim, or alternately the ability to file a claim for a pro rata share of the $35 million common fund, said court filings (in Pacer). The per-class-member cash award would likely be $5 to $15, said a memorandum in support of the motion for preliminary approval. Attorney's fees won't exceed 30 percent of the total value of the settlement, according to court documents. The motion for preliminary approval of the settlement said the pact would cover people who received SiriusXM programming on a promotion basis tied to purchase or lease of a vehicle that ended by April 5; received calls on behalf of the company to their mobile numbers between Feb. 15, 2008, and July 5, 2016; and never subscribed or subscribed but after July 5. The motion said SiriusXM didn't oppose it. The settlement would cover litigation against the company in Virginia, California, Illinois and Florida. SiriusXM didn't comment Monday.

Globalstar is talking with the FCC about remaining in compliance with the Administrative Procedure Act if any changes are made to the terrestrial low-power service (TLPS) broadband draft order being circulated. In an ex parte filing Monday in docket 13-213, Globalstar recapped a meeting with FCC Deputy Associate General Counsel William Richardson at which it discussed finalizing the rules in the TLPS proceeding. The company said it asked if the Office of General Counsel wanted input on legal or procedural issues, especially "legal or factual support as to compliance with Administrative Procedure Act requirements." Changes could be afoot for the draft order, as Commissioner Mike O'Rielly last week indicated he was interested in modifications (see 1608050042). The company and FCC didn't comment.

Dish Network raised $2.72 billion in its most recent convertible note offering, the company said in a news release Monday. The company previously said, and reaffirmed Monday, the money is intended "for strategic transactions" that could include wireless and spectrum-related purchases (see 1608030045).