SiriusXM and the NFL signed a six-year extension of their satellite broadcasting and marketing agreement, they said Wednesday. Through the partnership, SiriusXM carries every NFL game live, they said.

The FCC doesn't need interim milestones to keep satellite companies from "warehousing" spectrum or orbital resources, and should eliminate them or at least make them optional, EchoStar said in a letter posted Wednesday in docket 12-267. A bond or corporate guarantee, and "a reasonable limit" on the number of licensed satellites that are not yet operational would prevent warehousing, EchoStar said in its filing, which included a list of suggestions as the FCC considers changing its Part 25 rules. EchoStar also suggested eliminating the "three-strike rule" for operators with a pattern of missing milestones and that there shouldn't be a three-strike rule at the ITU stage, arguing it similarly doesn't prevent warehousing but instead motivates applicants not to seek space station authorizations. It argued for letting satellite operators have "a reasonable number" of advanced publication information (API) filings pending before submitting an application, saying such a number -- such as five in each band -- would prevent warehousing but still accommodate larger operators "who may need access to several new orbital locations." The FCC should adopt a reverse/escalating bond because that would motivate licensees to return licenses as soon as it's clear they won't be used, and opt for corporate guarantees instead of bonds in some situations, EchoStar said, though it said it believes the FCC lacks legal authority to impose a bond at the API stage. The company also backed keeping the two-degree spacing rule and made some technical recommendations.

AT&T signed an agreement with Host Hotels & Resorts and hospitality industry technology firm GuestTek to bring DirecTV programming to Host-owned Marriott hotels, the telco said Wednesday. The added in-room entertainment is happening now through Q2, the company said. AT&T has been pushing DirecTV services in a variety of ways since completing its buy of the direct broadcast satellite company this summer (see 1508030030).

XM Radio is seeking a 180-day extension of the license given for the XM-1 satellite's retirement and relocation plan. In an FCC International Bureau filing Tuesday, XM Radio said its original drift plan -- from 115.25 degrees west to 39 degrees west, set to start in mid-June with orbit-raising maneuvers starting in mid-October -- couldn't be met due to problems with earth stations the company and its affiliates planned to use for fleet management and to free up a tracking antenna. The drift now is scheduled to start Oct. 15, with the two-week orbit-raising maneuvers to start sometime between late February and late April. The original license term was granted in April and expires Nov. 22, with XM Radio asking for an extension to run through May 20.

LightSquared and the FCC are discussing possible solutions to GPS/LTE compatibility worries about "concepts of flexible use," LightSquared said in an ex parte filing posted Tuesday in docket 12-340. According to the filing, Reed Hundt -- representing LightSquared in the meeting with Office of Strategic Planning & Policy Analysis Chief Jonathan Chambers and Senior Economist Evan Kwerel and with Policy & Rules Division Deputy Chief Michael Ha -- also said "market-based mechanisms" for retrofitting existing devices are a route to protection of the Global Navigation Satellite System band.

The Satellite Industry Association is urging Congress to reauthorize the Export-Import Bank. Without it, SIA President Tom Stroup said in a statement Tuesday, "U.S. commercial satellite manufacturers are increasingly uncompetitive in a global marketplace where foreign buyers account for roughly 75 percent of all commercial satellite sales." Numerous satellite companies have complained about loss of Ex-Im in recent weeks (see 1509210026). According to SIA, since the bank's virtual shutdown July 1, U.S. companies have seen at least three commercial satellite orders withdrawn and the U.S. has not been able to take part in some other competitions. "This is just the tip of the iceberg," Stroup said. "In the highly competitive commercial satellite manufacturing market, support from export credit agencies (ECAs) can be the difference between the winning proposal and a competitive one. And in some cases, ECA support is a required component of the proposal. The longer the Ex-Im Bank remains closed, the greater the damage will be to U.S. satellite manufacturers and the hundreds of local businesses that supply them."

The FCC should take a new look at service designations in the 27.5-38.35 GHz band because technology and market changes have shown that satellite operators deserve co-primary status there, said the Satellite Industry Association in a filing posted Monday in docket 14-177. That co-primary designation "would provide satellite operators much-needed certainty that their investments in significant earth station facilities will be protected against the impacts of terrestrial operations in the band," SIA said. With the FCC looking at modifying the parameters for terrestrial use in that band and opening it up for 5G mobile services, the agency should also look at means of guaranteeing fixed satellite services (FSS) access to the spectrum, because they already use it for earth station uplinks without any interference to local multipoint distribution services, SIA said. The FCC also should revisit its "dated assumptions" on other FSS earth station terminals operating in the band to ascertain what -- if any -- techniques or technologies now exist that could let FSS earth station uplinks operate in the band without interfering with terrestrial networks, SIA said.

Eutelsat and Facebook plan to use Spacecom's forthcoming AMOS-6 satellite as the foundation for joint plan to provide broadband services to much of Sub-Saharan Africa, Eutelsat said in a Monday news release. AMOS-6 is to launch by year end, and Eutelsat and Facebook will share its entire broadband capacity as part of the dedicated system they planned, which also includes gateways and terminals that would provide community and direct-to-user Internet, Eutelsat said. The companies will provide a variety of fixed and mobile Internet services, the satellite company said. Eutelsat said it's establishing a London-based company -- headed by former Tiscali International Network CEO Laurent Grimaldi -- to oversee its African broadband plans and business targeting the premium and professional segments.

Intelsat plans to drift its Intelsat 805 satellite from 55.5 degrees west to 169 degrees east, the company said in an FCC International Bureau filing Friday. The drift -- subject to FCC approval -- is expected to start Dec. 1 and take roughly three months, Intelsat said. The relocation follows the transfer of traffic to its recently launched Intelsat 34, and Intelsat 8 -- currently at 169 degrees east -- will be relocated, with FCC approval, the company said.

Globalstar is again prodding the FCC to approve its plans for a private Wi-Fi channel for broadband terrestrial low-power service (TLPS) in the 2.4 GHz band. The agency has everything it needs, and the nearly two-year delay in approval "only postpones the enormous consumer benefits of TLPS," the company said in an ex parte filing posted Friday in docket 13-213. It recapped a meeting between Globalstar representatives including General Counsel Barbee Ponder and a variety of Office of Engineering and Technology, International Bureau and Wireless Bureau staff. Globalstar repeated its latest case for approval (see 1509110018), including the details of a recent TLPS test in Chicago, the terms of its TLPS mitigation practices, and its pledge not to use LTE-U in the 2.4 GHz band until the agency allows LTE-U deployment in unlicensed spectrum. Even if TLPS were approved immediately, it would "take some time for Globalstar to deploy TLPS access points and for consumer devices to be able to receive TLPS on a widespread basis, given the need to finalize production model access points and modify existing client devices to operate on Channel 14," the company said, adding that "the sooner the Commission adopts rules permitting TLPS, the sooner the American public will enjoy the substantial public interest benefits of this service." But the Hearing Loss Association of America in a filing also posted Friday said Globalstar "has not submitted testing that demonstrates its will not interfere with hearing aids and assistive devices." The organization said the FCC should require more testing by Globalstar, and submit those results publicly, before any approval. "Hearing aids and hearing aid accessories now have functionality that depends on interaction with smartphones and computers," the group said "That functionality, in turn, requires using technologies in the unlicensed frequency bands. The Commission must exercise caution that the advances that people with hearing loss have made under accessibility laws is not undermined by failure to adequately test Globalstar’s proposed service."