The FTC is seeking a court order making DirecTV identify all parties for whom it has paid the legal costs for the agency's 2015 complaint in U.S. District Court in San Francisco on the direct broadcast satellite company's advertising practices (see 1503110042). In a filing Wednesday in the case, the FTC said DirecTV hasn't produced "numerous categories of requested materials in discovery," making the agency go to third parties doing business with DirecTV for the information. But the FTC said Dish's lawyers from Sidley Austin also represent many of those third parties, some of whom also are responding slowly if at all. "Determining whether DirecTV is paying for these nonparties' legal fees and costs will help the FTC, and ultimately the Court, assess the extent of DirecTV's influence over these witnesses, weigh bias and ensure orderly and transparent discovery," the agency said. In the same case, DirecTV disputed the FTC claims, saying the problem is that the agency "issued sweeping and over broad requests, requiring the responding parties and the FTC to engage in weekly meet and confer session to discuss how these requests could be narrowed and what documents will be produced." The FTC has received more than 468,000 separate records and documents from DirecTV and Sidley Austin-represented third parties, and more are coming, the satellite company said, saying the court shouldn't issue the order the agency seeks. It also said the commission has no authority for its claim that the same attorneys can't represent both a party and a non-adverse third party. While federal law says fee arrangements aren't confidential communications, DirecTV said, California law does protect those as confidential.

The first two satellites in ViaSat's ViaSat-3 ultra-high capacity satellite platform are expected to be ready in 2019, the satellite company said in a news release Tuesday. The ViaSat-3 constellation will include three satellites, and the first two will have more than twice the total network capacity of the roughly 400 commercial satellites currently in orbit combined, the company said. ViaSat said the ViaSat-3 platform -- with network capacity of more than 1 Tbps per satellite -- promises residential broadband service of 100-plus Mbps, which would enable 4K Ultra-HD video streaming; "hundreds" of Mbps for in-flight connectivity; and up to 1 Gbps speeds for maritime, oceanic and other enterprise applications.

LightSquared is now Ligado Networks, meant to "signal [its] future vision of deploying its mid-band spectrum to deliver next-generation connectivity while also conveying the company’s heritage as a network service operator providing satellite connectivity," the company said in a news release Wednesday. The name "means being connected and ready to go," CEO Doug Smith said in a blog post. "The name reflects our commitment to delivering and accelerating next-generation connectivity through innovation and collaboration ... with industry and with each other." Ligado has been pushing for regulatory approval of its planned LTE network, especially as it cleared legal battles with GPS makers Deere, Garmin and Trimble (see 1602040015). In an ex parte filing posted Wednesday in FCC docket 12-340, Ligado said board member and ex-FCC Chairman Reed Hundt met with Julius Knapp, head of the Office of Engineering Technology, and other commission staffers to discuss the Ligado-commissioned LTE/GPS interference study being done by Roberson and Associates. Ligado said it discussed the Roberson study methodology and reiterated its oft-made argument that the two technologies can coexist and that the agency should issue a public notice seeking comment on its license modification applications.

ViaSat wants U.S. market access for U.K.-registered satellites. In three FCC International Bureau filings Monday (see here, here and here), ViaSat said it wanted to use ViaSat-79W, ViaSat-190W and ViaSat-133W to provide additional broadband service to the continental U.S. Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. The company said the three satellites would locate at 79 degrees west, 109 degrees west and 133 degrees west, and all three would operate in the 28.1-29.1 GHz and 29.5-30.0 GHz bands for uplinks and the 18.3-19.3 GHz and 19.7-20.2 GHz bands for downlinks.

SES expects to launch its SES-9 satellite Feb. 24 from Cape Canaveral, Florida, it said in a news release Monday. The satellite -- to orbit at 108.2 degrees east and add to the company's video and data connectivity capabilities in Asia -- is expected to go into operation in Q3, SES said.

Intelsat expects to begin de-orbit maneuvers for its Intelsat 7 satellite by mid-September, it told the FCC International Bureau in a filing Friday. The application seeking special temporary authority starting March 20 to continue operating Intelsat 7 at 18.2 degrees west said that during that 180-day span, it expects to begin de-orbiting the satellite.

AMC-12 is operating slightly outside its assigned station-keeping volume, and SES Americom is asking for a bit of time to correct it. In an FCC International Bureau filing Friday, SES said AMC-12 -- while licensed to operate between 37.4 and 37.5 degrees west -- has been operating between 37.355 and 37.455 degrees west. The problem "seems to be the result of inaccurate range calibration data provided by the satellites' manufacturer related to the spacecraft's signal processing delay," SES said. The correction is to take place Friday through Monday, and SES said until the orbital correction is made, it needs special temporary authority to continue operating slightly outside its assigned station-keeping volume. SES said AMC-12's current location shouldn't cause any interference problems because the closest C-band satellite, Intelsat 903, is at 34.5 degrees west, about 2.9 degrees away.

A recent ruling by the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals further shows Ace American Insurance should be required to defend Dish Network against robocall claims, Dish said in a filing Friday in U.S. District Court in Denver. The insurance company sued Dish in 2013, seeking a determination it isn't obligated to reimburse Dish for defense costs as the DBS provider fights claims by the FTC and California, Illinois, North Carolina and Ohio alleging violations of the telemarketing sales rule because Dish helped dealers use robocalls to deliver prerecorded messages (see 0903260144). Ace argued in its original lawsuit that its Dish coverage didn't apply to the robocalls suit because its policy is for such matters as property damage or bodily injury. Dish, in its filing Friday, said a portion of Ace's argument relied on a U.S. District Court ruling in KF 103-CV v. American Family Mutual Insurance, and a July ruling by 10th Circuit reversed that decision and backs its position that Ace has an obligation to defend it. Ace, in a similar filing in January in the Denver court, said it would discuss the 10th Circuit decision during oral argument on its motion for summary judgment or could file a supplemental briefing if so asked by the court. Ace didn't comment Monday.

Trimble formally signed onto LightSquared's proposal that LightSquared will give up any terrestrial plans for 1545-1555 MHz as part of a means to ending objections to the proposed LightSquared L-band terrestrial broadband service. In a filing posted Thursday in docket 12-340, LightSquared said it and Trimble signed an agreement that mirrors similar agreements inked with Deere and Garmin last year that also had LightSquared ending its 2013 legal claims against them (see 1512180020). "It completes the picture," LightSquared counsel Gerard Waldron of Covington & Burling told us. "We can say we have final settlement agreements with the largest GPS companies, the end of litigation is upon us, these disputes have been solved." Unlike past agreements with Deere and Garmin, Waldron said, the Trimble agreement also has it and LightSquared telling the Transportation Department there's no need for the agency to test upper spectrum compatibility issues as part of the agency's pending GPS/LTE compatibility study, given the technical limits the satellite company has agreed to with the three GPS companies. Under the Trimble agreement, LightSquared said it will seek dismissal with prejudice of its suit against Trimble and the U.S. GPS Industry Council. LightSquared also agreed through January 2020 to keep records of base station activations involving use of 1627.5 MHz and higher and allow Trimble access to those records as a means of supporting resolution of any interference issues. The agreement also said Trimble, like Deere and Garmin, doesn't object to LightSquared's deployment of its terrestrial network under the technical specifications laid out in the agreements -- those specifications including foregoing terrestrial use of the 1545-1555 band. It also said it echoes LightSquared's call for the FCC to put out a public notice seeking comment on the GPS company agreements (see 1512310016). Trimble didn't comment. In a statement, LightSquared said the agreement "not only addresses pending policy issues related to new LightSquared's spectrum but also supports a regulatory path forward." LightSquared declined to comment on the status of its own commissioned study by Roberson and Associates of possible interference between its broadband uplink and downlink signals and neighboring spectrum GPS signals.

Dish Network and EchoStar are asking for FCC International Bureau approval to do in-orbit testing (IOT) of EchoStar 18, due to launch in May. In IB applications Tuesday (see here and here), they said the 60-day IOT will take place while the satellite is at 137.75 degrees west. After IOT, they said, EchoStar 18 will relocate to its assigned nominal orbital location of 110 degrees west.