The Satellite Industry Association requested a 30-day deadline extension for comments in a proceeding on the annual Satellite Competition Report. SIA and its member companies are working on several pending proceedings, including items on Part 25 rules changes, use of spectrum bands above 24 GHz and the development of commission positions for the 2015 World Radiocommunication Conference, it said in a filing in docket 14-229. The report comment cycle overlaps with the comment cycles of the three major proceedings, it said. SIA would like the deadline for initial comments to be Feb. 6, and for replies, Feb. 23, it said.

Globalstar will use Level 3’s network and infrastructure to help connect its customers in 120 countries. Globalstar plans to provide a “fully meshed Multi-Protocol Label Switching network for their ground stations across the globe,” Level 3 said Monday in a news release. Globalstar is upgrading its backbone infrastructure “and needed a network provider that could offer connectivity and continuity around the globe,” it said.

Iridium again said expanded spectrum sharing in the big low earth orbit band would be in the public interest. Sharing that spectrum “would not result in harmful interference to Globalstar,” it said in an ex parte filing posted Wednesday in docket 13-213. Iridium petitioned the FCC to designate 1616 MHz-1617.5 MHz for shared use between Iridium and Globalstar (see 1411060018). The filing pertains to a meeting with International Bureau staff, including International Bureau Chief Mindel De La Torre and Satellite Division Chief Jose Albuquerque.

In its first move to reach the cord-cutter generation, Dish Network said it began rolling out the Netflix app in a software update, becoming the first major U.S. pay TV provider to integrate the Netflix app into its set-top box. The app is available on Dish’s second-generation Hopper DVR, enabling subscribers to instantly stream Netflix content from the same platform as linear TV channels without having to switch sources, Dish said Wednesday. Users can access the Netflix app via the blue button on the Dish remote or by clicking the Netflix icon on the Hopper’s main menu, it said. Dish will extend the Netflix app rollout to Joey, Super Joey and Wireless Joey set-top boxes in “coming months,” it said. Netflix titles are expected to be integrated into the search function across live, recorded and video on demand programs, Dish said. Meanwhile, Fox could disappear from the Dish guide this week as the two sides haven't come to an agreement on a new contract after the current contract expires Saturday at midnight. Media reports said Fox Sports ran commercials during NFL games last week urging viewers to contact their satellite provider about a pending channel blackout of Fox News and Fox Business Network this weekend. Some 20,000 people called the number provided by Fox and 75,000 visited the website, said reports.

The FCC International Bureau reminded filers that applications to deliver programs to foreign stations and on international high frequencies can be made electronically. Those types of applications are among the filings that now can be made online through the FCC Electronic Comment Filing System's non-docketed filing module, though paper versions still will be accepted, said the bureau in a Tuesday public notice. Previously, such filings could be made only on paper, it said.

Public broadcasters in the Czech Republic (Ceska televize) and Slovakia (Radio and Television Slovakia) will begin test transmissions of Ultra HD under a collaboration with satellite provider SES, the companies said Monday in a joint announcement. Ceska televize said it believes Ultra HD adoption "will be much faster than HD and is eager to make sure it arrives soon in the Czech Republic."

O3b Networks plan to launch four satellites Thursday. The satellites will be part of O3b's network that's designed to connect people "who have historically lacked proper access to the Internet," it said last week in a news release. The satellites are to launch from French Guiana, O3b said. Once launched, they'll go through a period of in-orbit testing before being fully integrated into the O3b network, it said.

SES plans a Feb. 12 Ultra HD conference in London to focus on sorting "out the reality from the hype," the satellite provider said Thursday. The conference will feature keynote speeches and panels on such issues as whether broadcasters will "go for 4K now, or wait for 8K in a few years," and whether the "significant boom" in Ultra HD TV set sales is "being driven by consumer ‘PULL' or manufacturers ‘PUSH,'" SES said. Speakers for the conference include representatives from the BBC, Cisco, the EBU, Ericsson, Samsung, Sky Deutschland and Sony Professional, in addition to those from SES, it said. SES has been active in early Ultra HD broadcast experimentation. The Linkin Park concert Nov. 19 at the O2 World Berlin arena was the world’s first live concert broadcast via satellite encoded in HEVC with a resolution of 3840 x 2160 pixels, 50 frames a second and a 10-bit color depth, said SES and Samsung, which teamed up for the event (see 1411130035).

Eutelsat will develop a satellite program aimed at allowing clients to define the performance and flexibility they need from a satellite. The Eutelsat Quantum class of satellites “will set new standards in terms of coverage, bandwidth, power and frequency configurability for users operating in government, mobility and data markets,” Eutelsat said in a news release. The first satellite will be launched in 2018, and be manufactured by Airbus Defense and Space “using its innovative flexible payload technology and a new platform from its affiliate, Surrey Satellite Technology,” it said. The design will give customers access to premium capacity “through footprint shaping and steering, power (Mbps) and frequency band pairing that they will be able to actively define,” it said Monday.

Hispasat selected Space Systems/Loral to build the Amazonas 5 satellite. The satellite will provide a wide range of telecom services in Latin America, Hispasat said in a news release. The satellite has a high throughput Ka-band spot beam payload, it said. It also has a Ku-band beam for fixed satellite services, “which will be used for television, corporate networks and other telecommunications applications,” it said Friday.