The ranks of those voicing concerns about Globalstar plans for its broadband terrestrial low-power service and possible interference to Bluetooth and Wi-Fi signals in the 2.4 GHz band include Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime, said an ex parte filing posted Wednesday in FCC docket 13-213 on a phone call with Commissioner Mike O'Rielly. Nintendo said it "depends heavily" on those unlicensed technologies for its game systems and thus is worried about TLPS deployments' effects on their use. Letting other entities aside from Globalstar operate in Wi-Fi channel 14 could further exacerbate the problem, Nintendo said, urging instead "comprehensive, transparent real-world testing" instead of approval of the draft order before the FCC. Globalstar didn't comment. Two commissioners voted against a draft that would allow Globalstar to phase in TLPS, while Chairman Tom Wheeler voted yes and other members hadn't acted (see 1606240056).

Siting preconditions on fixed satellite service earth stations should mean no further FSS/upper microwave flexible (UMFU) use coordination should be required, O3b said in an FCC filing posted Tuesday in docket 14-177. Siting criteria also should ensure a station can go wherever criteria are met, and that once built it can operate without facing subsequent risks of modification or shutdown, the satellite company said, saying allowing at least one FSS earth station site per county is necessary "although several sites would be more reasonable and likely to facilitate deployment of broadband to unserved and underserved areas." O3b said deployment of earth stations only to areas that don't cover more than 10 percent of the population of a census tract, "while extremely constraining, would permit a limited number of new O3b sites" and would ensure non-geostationary orbit sites would end up in relatively unpopulated areas. O3b also challenged UMFU proposals that satellite operators get spectrum access via auction or negotiation, saying that "simply makes UMFU licensees gatekeepers to satellite services, especially if FSS is not given co-primary status."

Intelsat will partner with AfricaOnline to provide a managed broadband service for sub-Saharan Africa, Intelsat said in a news release Monday. Intelsat said it will provide satellite services via Intelsat 28, and AfricaOnline -- a subsidiary of African telco Gondwana International Networks -- will provide ground support and network management services.

Italy national public broadcaster RAI and Eutelsat began delivering to Italian viewers Thursday the first of seven planned Euro2016 matches in Ultra HD. UEFA placed 14 cameras at the Vélodrome Stadium in Marseilles, with the images then sent to the International Broadcasting Centre in Paris, where they were forwarded to Eutelsat’s Paris-Rambouillet teleport, they said. A temporary studio set up by RAI at the teleport added live commentary, before the special RAI 4K channel was encrypted and uplinked to Eutelsat’s Hotbird satellites, they said. Supporting partners are DBW Communication and V-Nova.

Dish Network, DirecTV and the Diego Beekman Mutual Housing Association Housing Development Fund agreed to drop their appeals and cross appeals before the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, said a stipulation (in Pacer) filed Wednesday with the 2nd Circuit. The appeals and cross appeals came after a judge for the U.S. District Court Southern District of New York in March granted the DBS companies' motions to dismiss the lawsuit but rejected their request for attorney fees and costs. Diego Beekman, owner of 38 apartment buildings in the Bronx, sued claiming the DBS companies installed satellite dishes without its approval and caused property damage as a result. U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla in her ruling said the landlord failed to allege exclusive possession of the buildings, which would be required to maintain an action for trespass.

The FCC International Bureau created an online directory of all satellites authorized under Part 25 rules or granted access to U.S. markets, the Satellite Division said in a public notice in Friday's Daily Digest. The directory includes orbital location, satellite system name or call sign, operator name, frequencies, licensing administration and launch date. The bureau said creation of the list was a recommendation of the 2014 report on FCC process reform and part of Part 25 rules updates the FCC OK'ed last year (see 1512170036). The bureau said directory corrections and questions can be sent to satinfo@fcc.gov.

Dish Network's Sling TV reconfigured its basic packages into single-stream Sling Orange and multi-stream Sling Blue and added NBC content to its lineup, it said in a news release Thursday. The $20 per month Orange package now includes BBC America, while its Blue service launched in April at $25/month has added BBC America, Bravo, NBC, NBC Sports Network, Syfy and USA. Sling said it expects to add regional sports networks to Sling Blue and content from NBC affiliates on a market-by-market basis. Sling added Fox earlier this year (see 1604130042).

Pointing to Ligado and GPS company NovAtel's reaching a coexistence agreement (see 1606280067), Leica Geosystems -- which previously told the FCC it had concerns about Ligado's LTE plans possibly interfering with its global navigation satellite systems use -- said in a filing posted Wednesday in docket 11-109 that it now supports the modification applications sought by Ligado.

GPS company NovAtel, which had voiced concerns about interference from Ligado's planned LTE network (see 1605200064), now is backing the satellite spectrum company. In a joint filing Tuesday in docket 11-109, the two companies said they had reached a coexistence agreement that involves future coordination before any network deployment "and for equipment refinements as needed." NovAtel also said it supported Ligado's proposed license modifications.

None of the four major wireless carriers have a balance sheet strong enough to buy all or most of Dish Network's spectrum holdings, while other possible buyers -- including Charter Communications or Comcast -- seem unlikely, emailed MoffettNathanson analyst Craig Moffett to investors Tuesday as the firm downgraded its Dish rating to "sell." The "prospects for Dish monetizing its spectrum, by sale, by lease or even by acquisition are much more limited than the spectrum-as-commodity framework would suggest," Moffett wrote. Neither Sprint nor T-Mobile needs mid-band spectrum as much as they need low-band spectrum, he said, saying Comcast could afford such a deal, but its strategy seems to be aimed more at using its Verizon mobile virtual network operator partnership and perhaps participation in the current incentive auction. Google, Apple or Amazon could afford a Dish deal, Moffett said, but if they had spectrum wants they likely would have registered for the incentive auction. He also was skeptical of Dish using the spectrum for building its own network, since even one that only satisfies FCC ownership requirements would necessitate billions in capital expenditures. Dish didn't comment Tuesday. Dish stock closed the day at $50.33, up 1.47 percent.