The U.S. filings for multimedia satellites: a review

Abstract

The United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC), in response to industry pressure, has conducted four Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) sessions in which companies could apply for licenses for satellite systems operating at new frequencies (Ka- or Q/V-band) or in new, non-geostationary orbits at Ku-band. The first NPRM resulted in the award, in May 1997, of licenses for 13 systems operating at Ka-band. Of these, seven propose to offer global or near-global service. The FCC opened a second window for companies to file for Ka-band systems, which closed in December 1997 and resulted in nine additional filings, seven of which are for global systems. Thus far, none of these systems have been licensed. In parallel with the second Ka-band window was one for systems operating at still higher frequencies, in the Q- and V-bands. This resulted in 16 filings, 14 of which are for global systems. Still more recently (January 1999), the FCC concluded an NPRM for non-geostationary satellite systems operating at Ku-band. Applications were filed for six systems—all intended for global service. Nearly all of the above systems are intended to serve small offices and consumers by providing broadband services such as multimedia distribution and Internet access. The proposed global systems are reviewed, and the technical approaches taken to provide this type of service at low cost to the user are discussed. Fielding any of the global systems entails significant technical challenges and a large degree of business risk. This seems likely to hamper efforts to raise capital and may defer the completion of any of the systems beyond their announced dates of initial operation (2001–2003). Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.