MSS/ATC Modification Request is Within FCC Rules, Says LightSquared
LightSquared shot back in FCC filings at companies and wireless associations opposing its ancillary terrestrial component license modification application now being considered by the International Bureau. The bureau should move forward and approve the modification through adjudication, LightSquared said. Critics have said the modification would mean a significant change to mobile satellite services/ATC policy (CD Dec 6 p7). LightSquared, which plans to lease out its spectrum wholesale, recently said its business plans would allow retailers the choice to offer devices that don’t connect to satellite. MSS/ATC licensees are currently required to only offer devices able to connect to both satellite and terrestrial services. The filings are at http://xrl.us/bh969f.
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LightSquared’s request is “narrow” and “well within the Commission’s existing rules regarding MSS/ATC,” despite wireless carrier claims describing the request as precedent-setting and far-reaching, said LightSquared. LightSquared will still “ensure dual-mode handsets are available” as required, “but now also proposes to satisfy the integrated service requirement through a combination of integrated pricing and other technical factors,” the company said. The plans make it impossible for LightSquared to profit by selling terrestrial-only service because all retailers will have to pay for use of both terrestrial and satellite spectrum, said LightSquared.
The FCC should treat the application as a minor modification as it has for ATC applications going back to the first order authorizing ATC operations, LightSquared said. As a minor modification, the application is exempt from the 30-day public notice requirement and interested parties don’t have a right to file petitions to deny the application, it said. Requests that LightSquared’s application be folded into the ongoing MSS rulemaking are mistakenly based on the premise that LightSquared requested a modification of integrated service requirement, said LightSquared. Considering the request through adjudication would also have public interest benefits because the FCC would have to otherwise take up the issue anew, likely meaning a lengthy delay, said LightSquared. Currently, there are no proposals in the MSS rulemaking that touch on integrated service, meaning the agency would have to start from scratch, it said.
T-Mobile supported LightSquared’s application, saying while the larger MSS proceeding should be quickly resolved, LightSquared’s application shouldn’t be delayed. The FCC’s ATC rules make clear that the agency can consider compliance of the integrated service requirement “without commencing a new rulemaking proceeding,” said T-Mobile. Under the MSS/ATC rules, applicants may file “showing to demonstrate compliance with the integrated services criterion without requiring every end user customer to purchase a dual-mode handset,” it said. “That is precisely what LightSquared has done here.” While retail customers won’t be required to purchase dual-mode handsets, LightSquared will remain committed to satellite service, evidenced by its allocation of 6 MHz solely for MSS and bi-yearly reports detailing the number and type of terminals in service, said T-Mobile.
Consumer groups also said approval of the application is in the public interest and the opposition is based on efforts to “create delay and uncertainty.” Free Press, the Media Access Project, the New America Foundation and Public Knowledge filed jointly in support of the application. AT&T and Verizon, “the incumbent wireless broadband duopolists,” are “maneuvering to get as great a first-move advantage as possible” in the LTE market by slowing down LightSquared, the groups said.
"ATC gating criteria must not be strictly applied by the Commission as a regulatory barrier to broadband deployment and capital investment,” fellow MSS/ATC licensee DBSD said. Globalstar, an MSS provider who is unable to use its ATC license currently due to non-compliance, said the agency should expeditiously grant LightSquared’s request. If the bureau grants new flexibility to LightSquared, though, “an analogous grant to Globalstar would be necessary to ensure a fair and non-arbitrary process,” it said.