Given the unresolved questions about Globalstar's planned LTE network, the FCC should launch a further rulemaking on opportunistic public use of Wi-Fi channel 14 in areas where Globalstar doesn't deploy terrestrial low-power services, said Blue Sky Information Services in a filing Tuesday in docket 13-213. In its filing, Blue Sky cited close to 20 questions it said need addressing, including how Globalstar's network operating system would work and be funded, how the company accurately can site its duplex user terminals without GPS receivers, whether the company has seen spectrum re-use benefits under the auxiliary terrestrial component (ATC) regime, and whether the FCC should use build-out deadlines to prevent spectrum warehousing. Blue Sky also said the FCC might want to revisit the original ATC authority rules and gating requirements and how gating rules subsequently were changed. "Perhaps the most prudent path forward would be to fix what was wrong the first time, before creating additional opportunities for failure a second time," Blue Sky said. Globalstar didn't comment.

When SES-15 launches in Q2 2017, it will carry a Federal Aviation Administration Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) payload for more-precise GPS tracking of aircraft, SES said in an FCC International Bureau filing Monday, asking the agency for authority for a new antenna at its Somis, California, teleport to communicate with the WAAS payload. SES said the satellite's WAAS data will go to WAAS-enabled GPS receivers. The company said the Somis earth station will be used as a ground uplink station, transmitting the WAAS signal to the satellite via extended C-band frequencies, with the data relayed to GPS receivers using L-band GPS frequencies.

Intelsat's Intelsat 36 is at the European Spaceport in French Guiana for launch, the satellite's designer and builder, Space Systems Loral (SSL), said in a news release Tuesday. Intelsat 36 will be used for direct-to-home TV service in Africa and TV program distribution services in South Asia, SSL said, saying it's the second satellite it has delivered to Intelsat this year. The satellite should go up sometime later this year, Intelsat said on its website.

Dish Network's blanket prohibition against workers soliciting in work areas during nonwork time "flies in the face of settled precedent" that makes it unlawful for employers to require prior approval to take part in activities protected by the National Labor Relations Act, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) said in a brief (in Pacer) filed Monday with the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The brief is in a pair of consolidated appellate cases, with Dish petitioning the court to review a board order issued in March against it and the NLRB cross-applying for enforcement of that order requiring the company to rehire a worker it fired and to rescind its solicitation policy. In its brief, the NLRB also rejected Dish's argument the agency must apply the special industry rules that cover retail establishments and permit more restrictive solicitation bans, since the Colorado call center at the heart of the complaint is not a retail establishment and there is no common area where employees and customers physically mix. And it said the evidence was clear the terminated worker was let go for soliciting coworkers to join a lawsuit regarding Dish's wage practices, contrary to Dish's claims the discharge was for putting a customer on silent mode. The NLRB dismissed Dish arguments the agency failed to show unlawful motivation, improperly relied on "generalized" animus against the worker and should have relied on Dish's business judgment for the firing. The agency said Dish mischaracterizes its analysis, which focused in part on the close timing between the employee's soliciting workers and his subsequent firing, and it isn't required to show additional animus beyond whatever animus was behind the contested action itself, such as animus against the employee personally. Dish didn't comment Tuesday.

Air Force One and other U.S. senior leader aircraft will have in-flight Internet and connectivity services through ViaSat, the satellite company said in a news release Monday announcing a $33 million U.S. Defense Information Systems Agency award. ViaSat said the contract covers various VIP and special mission aircraft and runs through May, with two six-month option periods beyond that.

Hispasat expects to launch its Hispasat 30W-6 satellite in Q2 or Q3 2017 to replace Hispasat 30W-4, the company said in an FCC International Bureau filing Friday, asking that the satellite be added to the Permitted Space Station List. In its application, Hispasat also asked for a declaratory ruling allowing the use of extended 13.75-14 GHz Ku capacity, 6725-7025/4500-4800 MHz and 13-13.25/11.2-11.45 GHz capacity on 30W-6, and for access to the U.S. market. Hispasat said 30W-6 will operate at 30 degrees west, where 30W-4 is now, and 30W-4 will relocate to another orbital slot or be used as a backup to 30W-6.

EchoStar 18, launched in June, would be a more efficient in-orbit spare if it were at 61.35 degrees west instead of its licensed 109.9 degrees west, Dish Network said in an FCC International Bureau filing Friday. Dish said it initially anticipated the satellite would be an in-orbit spare and eventually replace EchoStar 10, providing service from the 110 degrees west orbital cluster, but the company has since decided using it as an in-orbit spare at 61.35 degrees west "would be an efficient use of its satellite fleet." EchoStar 18 temporarily is at 67.2 degrees west for in-orbit testing, it said.

Inmarsat moved to the next phase of building its European Aviation Network in-flight broadband service, the satellite company said in a news release Thursday. Thales Alenia Space completed on schedule the construction and subsystem tests of the satellite for EAN, Inmarsat said. The satellite will undergo more testing before it’s declared ready for flight in 2017, it said. "Once these tests are complete, the satellite will be prepared for launch by SpaceX at Cape Canaveral in Florida.” The satellite will provide mobile satellite services to aircraft flying over dense European routes, using Inmarsat’s 30 MHz S-band spectrum allocation in the 28 EU member states, Norway and Switzerland, Inmarsat said. That will be integrated with a LTE-based ground network covering about 300 sites, operated by Inmarsat partner Deutsche Telekom, and aircraft will be able to switch automatically between satellite and terrestrial with on-board network communicators, it said.

The FCC International Bureau refreshed its filing system to create Schedule S, which is used for documenting technical details of proposed satellite operations and is an annex to Form 312. The form is a key part of the FCC satellite licensing process. The new web-based filing system is now online; Schedule S goes live Monday, the bureau said in a Thursday public notice. “The new electronic filing system is intended to significantly improve the Schedule S application process and enhance its reliability,” it said. It aligns with rule changes adopted in two Part 25 orders expected to take effect this summer (see 1512170036). Until those changes become effective, applicants can choose to use the existing application filing software, the bureau said. But the new web-based system will be mandatory after the Part 25 second report and order becomes effective, it said.

Chairman-CEO Jay Monroe lobbied for Globalstar's terrestrial low-power service. Monroe "urged that the Commission expeditiously adopt rules in this proceeding to authorize" the TLPS "innovative broadband service," said a filing posted in docket 13-213 Wednesday about Monroe's phone call with an aide to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. "Such rules would serve the public interest by adding 22 megahertz to the nation’s broadband spectrum inventory and alleviating congestion in the 2.4 GHz ISM band. Simply put, consumers will be better off with the expanded capacity made available via TLPS," said the filing from a lawyer for the satellite company. The regulatory future of the product has been hazy. Commissioners Ajit Pai and Jessica Rosenworcel voted against a draft FCC order circulated by Wheeler's office that would allow the service to be phased in, and the two other regular commissioners hadn't decided (see 1607140049).