Subject: [NEXTEL-1] FCC Adopts New Satellite Licensing Process

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 25 Apr 2003 16:52:46 -0400

FCC Adopts New Satellite Licensing Process

At its open meeting on Wednesday, the FCC adopted a new licensing process
for satellite services. The new process is designed to provide a framework that
creates a regulatory environment in which satellite providers can respond
quickly and efficiently to the challenges of a competitive telecommunications
industry, and ultimately to provide new satellite services to consumers as
expeditiously as possible, the commission said. Among the changes, the FCC
adopted safeguards to discourage speculation, including a requirement that
licensees post a $5 million to $7.5 million bond within 30 days after receiving a
license, payable upon revocation of the license for missing a milestone; limits
on the number of applications companies can have; an attribution rule so that
licensees cannot evade the limits; additional implementation milestones and
stronger enforcement milestones; and a streamlined replacement satellite
application procedure. The FCC also confirmed that it retains the discretion in
reviewing assignments and transfers of control to determine whether the initial
license was obtained in good faith with the intent to construct a satellite
system.
===========================================================================

FCC Moves to Cut Satellite Slot Speculation
Wed Apr 23, 5:30 PM ET

By Jeremy Pelofsky

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Companies seeking U.S. satellite licenses will have to pony up a
bond of between $5 million and $7.5 million to ensure they will use the scarce resource,
according to rules adopted by U.S. regulators on Wednesday.

  Despite industry opposition, the Federal Communications Commission (news - web sites)
decided to require bonds to prevent companies from applying for satellite slots to keep
them from competitors or speculators who might hoard the valuable spectrum instead of
actually using it.

The FCC (news - web sites) approved the bond requirement at its monthly open meeting as
part of a broader effort to streamline the satellite licensing process, which includes
cutting the wait time to as little as six months compared to the years it often takes.

"I am hopeful that, taken together, all of these provisions put applicants on notice that
our revised satellite process is intended to promote technology and innovation, not the
filing of speculative applications," said FCC Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein.

The bond would have to be posted within 30 days of a company receiving the license and it
would have to pay it if a license was revoked for missing a build-out milestone.

As well as having to post a bond, applicants will be limited to the number of pending
requests for licenses and another rule will bar applicants from skirting limits, according
to the FCC.

Additional implementation milestones will be set and there will be stronger enforcement of
such milestones, the agency said.

"The primary thing would be to eliminate the administrative nightmare from the FCC and
allow for more innovative filings from companies that are serious about launching
satellites and get rid of the dead wood," Coudert Brothers space and communications
analyst Tim Logue said.

The concept of a bond requirement was proposed by Intelsat, which was set up by the U.S.
government in the 1960s and privatized in July 2001, but opposed by most of the other
major satellite industry players.

Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE:LMT - news), PanAmSat Corp. (Nasdaq:SPOT - news), Loral Space
& Communications (NYSE:LOR - news), Hughes Network Systems Inc. (NYSE:GMH - news) and SES
Americom Inc. (SESF.LU), had argued such a bond would create additional barriers to market
entry. They had urged the FCC, if it adopted such a rule, to cap the bond at $500,000.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20030423/tc_nm/media_fcc_satellites_dc_2

--
    "NEXTEL-1 IT'S NOT JUST NEXTEL"
  Note The New address
Subscribe to Nextel-1: http://www.groups.yahoo.com/subscribe/NEXTEL-1

  "NEXTEL2 FOR iDEN SOFTWARE DEVELOPERS"
Subscribe to Nextel2: http://www.groups.yahoo.com/subscribe/NEXTEL2

  "WIRELESS FORUM HOMELAND SECURITY GROUP"
     The Complete Resource for Wireless Homeland Security.
Subscribe to WFHSG:  http://www.groups.yahoo.com/subscribe/WFHSG

------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~-->
Get A Free Psychic Reading!
Your Online Answer To Life's Important Questions.
http://us.click.yahoo.com/cjB9SD/od7FAA/AG3JAA/61FxlB/TM
---------------------------------------------------------------------~->

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/