Satellite Industries Blast Northpoint Plan

The Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association (SBCA), together with the leading providers of DBS satellite television services to consumers, and companies representing the NGSO FSS services, today expressed their grave concern over interference to consumers from Northpoint's DBS spectrum sharing plan and called on the Federal Communications Commission to delay granting Northpoint's proposal. The Northpoint plan was universally criticized in a joint letter to FCC Chairman William Kennard signed by the SBCA, SkyBridge Communications, LLC, The Boeing Company, DIRECTV, Inc, EchoStar Communications Corporation, Galaxy Latin America, LLC, GE Americom, Loral Space and Communications, PanAmSat Corporation, and Pegasus Communications Corporation. In it, the satellite companies and the SBCA asked the Commission to resolve the following issues as it evaluates the Northpoint frequency sharing request: 1) The demonstrated harmful interference to over 11 million DBS subscribers in the U.S.; 2) The demonstrated interference to NGSO FSS services; and 3) The international implications of the proposal in view of the spectrum sharing arrangements in the DBS bands agreed to by the US at the ITU. ""There are very real technical and policy issues at stake in the Northpoint proposal which must be considered and that we believe have not been,"" stated SBCA President Chuck Hewitt. ""We are asking the Commission to take a long hard look in view of these critical elements and to be one hundred percent certain that the providers operating in the DBS band, and the consumers they serve, will not be affected one iota by interference from Northpoint,"" he said. The DBS satellite television providers are concerned that Northpoint's recent tests in the DBS frequency bands were designed not so show any interference to satellite television viewing by consumers. DIRECTV and Echostar recently received a Special Temporary Authorization (STA) from the Commission to test the Northpoint system, but the industry fears that the Commission will act too hastily in granting Northpoint's request to operate in the DBS band before the testing and the results can be properly analyzed. The industry is willing to cooperate with the Commission in an independent test of the Northpoint system with the participation of all parties and under an agreed upon protocol. The NGSO FSS community is equally concerned over harmful interference from Northpoint, and that Northpoint's assurances of techniques to avoid interference are wholly unworkable. They are also displeased that the spectrum sharing agreements that were so carefully worked out at the ITU could now be in jeopardy because of a determination by the Commission that Northpoint should be permitted to use the band. Those companies are relying on the workability of those sharing agreements to make substantial investments to create new global satellite systems. Hewitt implored the FCC to realize the full scope of the damage that interference from Northpoint's operations could inflict on use of the DBS band. ""Years of hard work by the Congress, the FCC, the satellite industry, and the international spectrum planning bodies to offer new services and competition to consumers will be jettisoned overnight if that happens. Frankly, we are totally perplexed why the Commission would even consider taking such a risk. The Northpoint plan doesn't belong in the DBS band, period,"" he said.About The Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association of America (SBCA)The Satellite Broadcasting and Communications Association of America (SBCA) is the national trade organization representing all segments of the satellite industry. It is committed to expanding the utilization of satellite technology for the broadcast delivery of video, data and voice services. The SBCA is composed of DBS and other satellite service providers, programmers, equipment manufacturers, distributors, retailers, encryption vendors, and national and regional distribution companies.