Satellite

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai announced that the items below are tentatively on the agenda for the FCC Open Meeting scheduled for Thursday, September 26, 2019:

In 2018, we created the Uniendo a Puerto Rico Fund and Connect USVI Fund. Today, I shared with my colleagues a draft Order that would finalize Stage 2 of the Funds, allocating about $950 million to improve, expand, and harden broadband networks in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. We will be voting on this draft Order at the FCC’s monthly meeting on Sept 26.

A Q&A with Federal Communications Commissioner Michael O'Rielly. 

House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Mike Doyle (D-PA) and Democratic colleagues have expressed interest in legislation to allocate prime 5G airwaves known as the C-band and to use auction proceeds to help fund broadband buildout.

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket that launched to the International Space Station recently carried a tiny package that could eventually lead to the smartphone you have in your pocket getting cell service from space. If it works, the instrument could be a precursor to a giant constellation of thousands of mini-satellites that function as cell towers circulating all over the globe. The package is the product of a startup called UbiquitiLink, the latest company to propose putting a mega-constellation of satellites into low orbit above Earth.

Thank you to OneWeb Satellites for inviting me to the opening of the world’s first facility to manufacture satellites using industrial-scale mass production techniques. I’m particularly pleased to be here this morning because the Federal Communications Commission under my leadership has been focused on promoting innovation in space.  Among other things, we’ve approved many proposals for low-Earth orbit, non-geostationary satellite orbit constellations. Indeed, in June 2017, OneWeb’s constellation was the first to receive the FCC’s signoff.

The House Communications Subcommittee held a hearing on spectrum management and House leadership was not pleased with the infighting between the Federal Communications Commission and National Telecommunications & Information Administration over spectrum policy. The most prominent falling-out is over the FCC's recent auction of high band spectrum in the 24 GHz band for 5G and concerns by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of "out-of-band emissions" affecting satellite weather sensing.

Microsoft, Google and the Wireless Internet Service Providers Association (WISPA) are urging the Federal Communications Commission to allow co-channel spectrum sharing in the C-band. The proposal would allow fixed wireless operators to use the same spectrum band as incumbent users, who are comprised largely of satellite operators that use the spectrum for their earth stations. The FCC is currently pondering how it might best make a portion of the C-band, comprised of spectrum between 3700 and 4200 MHz, available for wireless services.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai announced that the items below are tentatively on the agenda for the Open Commission Meeting scheduled for Aug 1, 2019:

Establishing the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund – The FCC will consider a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that would propose to adopt a two-phase reverse auction framework for the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, committing $20.4 billion in high-cost universal service support to bring high-speed broadband service to millions of unserved Americans.

This April, I joined President Donald Trump at a White House event, where I announced my plans to create the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, a modernized approach for connecting the hardest-to-serve corners of our country. Today, I’m circulating a proposal to formally establish this program. If adopted, the Rural Digital Opportunity Fund will mark the Federal Communications Commission’s single biggest step yet to close the rural digital divide and will connect millions more rural homes and small businesses to high-speed broadband networks.