Furuno Electric will be marketing Iridium Communications satellite services and products in Japan, including offerings for the Iridium Next satellite constellation, under a deal announced by Iridium Monday. Furuno also will develop part of its satellite communications service portfolio with Iridium.

Globalstar's test proving Wi-Fi interoperability with its terrestrial low-power service (TLPS) "falls far short of what might reasonably be expected in a meaningful test," and the FCC should close the proceeding, the Wi-Fi Alliance said in a filing posted Thursday in docket 13-213. While the satellite company has repeatedly pointed to testing it conducted over the summer as demonstrating that its private Wi-Fi channel in the 2.4 GHz band would relieve overall Wi-Fi congestion (see 1510140072 and 1509110018), the test had numerous flaws, the alliance said. They include only using enterprise-class access points, even though most deployed access points are consumer grade, not enterprise class, so the test is useless at predicting the effect on most Wi-Fi devices, the group said. It said the demonstration report also omits key data regarding such issues as power levels for the access points operating on Wi-Fi channels 1, 6 and 11 and TLPS operations on channel 14; as well as load factors for the Wi-Fi and TLPS channels. Accusing Globalstar of doing more demonstrations rather than "cooperative, fully-transparent testing," the alliance said it "has no one but itself to blame for the broader industry's inability make a meaningful assessment of Globalstar's system." Globalstar didn't comment.

Russound certified installers now have access to SiriusXM for Business, Russound said at a CEDIA news conference in Dallas. The program simplifies the process for commercial venues to play licensed music without a significant expense or “complicated reporting,” Russound said. CEO Charlie Porritt noted that playing music for the public is subject to numerous legal provisions related to copyright law, and that most music purchased through downloads or physical media is licensed only for personal use. “Many business owners find themselves liable for any related violations, even if they are unaware of the requirements,” Porritt said. With a SiriusXM for Business account, business owners have access to all of the content they need for $360 per year, with no further reporting requirements, when they use authorized Russound music streaming products, the company said.

If the current two-degree satellite spacing policy stays, the FCC should at least retain existing power limits because increasing them would only worsen interference, Intelsat said in an ex parte filing posted Wednesday in docket 12-267. The ex parte letter highlighted a meeting between Intelsat and International Bureau representatives. Intelsat has largely spearheaded efforts aimed at eliminating the two-degree spacing rule, arguing it should not apply to new bands (see 1508100064).

EchoStar wants 180 more days to move EchoStar 15 to 61.65 degrees west to use as backup capacity for Dish Network, the satellite company said in an FCC International Bureau filing Wednesday. EchoStar said it has been operating at 45 degrees west to provide broadcast satellite service to Brazil, but received a 30-day special temporary authorization in September to provide backup capacity to Dish. That move to 61.65 degrees west is expected to run through Nov. 16, at which point the satellite company said it expects to operate EchoStar 15 in the short term. If approved, the special temporary authorizations would extend to April 29.

Not even Garmin really believes a 1 dB rise in the carrier-to-noise ratio represents a good measurement of harmful interference, LightSquared said in a filing posted Tuesday in docket 12-340. In a filing last month, the GPS company -- in talking about LightSquared's planned ground-and-satellite-based LTE broadband network and possible interference with GPS signals in adjacent spectrum bands -- had argued even a 1 dB rise in noise floor can affect GPS (see 1509240033). However, LightSquared said, "the 1 dB proposal is a proxy Garmin wants to use for no other reason than Garmin's belief that it is just too hard to show harmful interference any other way." Noise floor actually pales compared with satellite position and atmospheric conditions when talking about causes of GPS errors, and Garmin has not shown any evidence a 1 dB increase in noise floor actually has any effect on GPS device performance, LightSquared said. The ITU has recommended 1 dB increases "for a very limited purpose" -- co-channel interference applicable only to GPS devices using assisted GPS, LightSquared said. In a separate filing Tuesday in 12-340, the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions said it is concerned about GPS interference woes coming from use of adjacent spectrum bands. The group said its Copper/Optical Access Synchronization and Transport Committee would be taking part in the Department of Transportation's GPS Adjacent-Band Compatibility Assessment, and that the results of that DOT study, plus any related technical work, "should be considered before any decision is made to change the use of bands adjacent to GPS signals, to avoid any impact to voice and data services on existing and future networks." The group also said it is "crucial to consider how signals in adjacent bands may impact this sector and recommends that test plans for this complex testing be reviewed by neutral parties." LightSquared has commissioned a test aimed at determining the scope and degree of any L-band LTE network interference to GPS (see 1508250070).

Globalstar and Google are at odds over whether the satellite company's proposed private Wi-Fi channel for broadband terrestrial low-power service (TLPS) in the 2.4 GHz band will benefit the public at all. Given that Globalstar is seeking exclusive Wi-Fi use of channel 14, it seems the public interest would better be served by allowing general unlicensed use of the channel "while still protecting Globalstar's satellite services," Google said in a filing posted Tuesday in docket 13-213. New spectrum-sharing technologies available, such as interference-avoidance techniques, "need to be considered before the Commission could conclude that limiting Channel 14 exclusively to a comparatively miniscule [sic] number of Globalstar users best serves the public interest," Google said. However, Globalstar said in a docket 13-213 filing posted Wednesday in response, that its own recent tests showing TLPS can alleviate Wi-Fi network congestion show its public benefit (see 1509110018). Meanwhile, Google "is advancing its self-interest by proposing to replace the Commission’s existing flexible spectrum policies with a forced 'one-size-fits-all' approach rendering licensed spectrum subject to sharing obligations that Google itself could administer," Globalstar said. Google has shown no support to back its claim that general unlicensed use of channel 14 could be done while protecting Globalstar services from interference, the company said. And Globalstar again prodded the FCC (see 1510050057) to approve TLPS.

LightSquared remains hopeful it will resolve a legal dispute with Trimble, though talks with Garmin and John Deere have seemingly hit a dead end, attorneys said in a status conference Thursday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan before Judge Richard Berman. LightSquared and Trimble have "exchanged formal proposals" and resolution might be possible within the next 30 to 45 days, said Winn Allen of Kirkland & Ellis, representing LightSquared. But regarding Garmin and Deere, "there has not been substantial progress" since the September status conference (see 1509090013), and mediation with Garmin did not produce any settlement Allen said. "We don't really see a realistic proposal for settlement and what we're talking about is ... not really settling this lawsuit as much as setting regulatory issues before the FCC," said Kenneth Schacter of Morgan Lewis, representing Deere. Philip Douglas of Jones Day, representing Garmin, said LightSquared had made a settlement proposal to all three GPS companies, and it was rejected by all three. A LightSquared spokeswoman Friday said the company continues "to work toward resolution of all technical and business issues to the extent the parties are willing." LightSquared sued the three companies and the U.S. GPS Industry Council in 2013 after they raised concerns that LightSquared's planned ground-and-satellite-based LTE broadband network could interfere with GPS signals in adjacent spectrum space, which led to the FCC revoking LightSquared’s spectrum license, ultimately forcing it into bankruptcy. In that bankruptcy, U.S. District Court Judge Katherine Forrest of New York on Wednesday sided with an appeal for part of the company's plan for emergence from bankruptcy, vacating an injunction against SP Special Opportunities, which is the largest unsecured lender to one of the debtors, LightSquared LP, and which is wholly owned by Dish CEO Charles Ergen. The injunction limited Ergen's involvement in the reorganization. Forrest in her ruling remanded the matter to Bankruptcy Court to see if some injunctive relief is "appropriate."

A chief goal of SpaceX's proposed satellite test is validation of a broadband antenna communications platform design that will be part of the final constellation design, the company said in an FCC Office of Engineering and Technology filing posted Wednesday. SpaceX said it plans to use three broadband array test ground stations on the West Coast to test its Ku-band tests for less than 10 minutes a day on average every 0.9 days. To avoid any signal interference, the microsatellites to be tested will at times reduce the Ku transmission power or at times quit Ku downlink emissions entirely, it said. The company in its filing also clarified its collision avoidance plan, saying it would work with the Joint Space Operations Center on cataloging satellites before launch and making orbital parameters available to it. SpaceX's proposed satellite tests in advance of a low earth orbit constellation providing a global broadband service have seen pushback from Intelsat, because that company has raised concerns about Ku-downlink interference and collision risks (see 1509110013).

The FCC International Bureau is asking for fresh comments on possible means for mitigating ground path interference between direct broadcast satellite feeder link earth stations and earth stations receiving signals in the same 17.3-17.7 GHz band, it said in a notice published Wednesday. The FCC said it allocated that spectrum to broadcasting satellite service (BSS) and fixed satellite service uses, including use in feeder links, and then proposed rules in 2007 to mitigate what it saw as potentially increasing interference in populated areas with 17/24 GHz reverse band BSS subscriber antennas. "Since considerable time has passed," the IB said in its notice, it's seeking updates and additional comments on docket 06-123.