spacetoday.net: FCC changes satellite licensing procedures

Posted: Thu, Apr 24, 2003, 5:36 AM ET (0936 GMT)
The US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced on Wednesday a series of changes regarding how commercial communications satellites are licensed. For geostationary orbit satellites, the FCC will adopt a "first come, first served" licensing where it will grant a license for a particular orbital slot and frequency range based on the order applications are received. For non-geostationary orbit (NGS) systems, like Iridium and Globalstar, the FCC will announce a cutoff date for applications for particular frequency ranges, and that spectrum will then be divided among all qualified applicants. In addition, to discourage speculation for satellite licenses, the FCC will now require licensees to post a bond of $5-7.5 million within 30 days of receiving a license, and also put limits on the number of license applications and unbuilt systems each operator can have. Many of the provisions adopted by the FCC, notably the bond requirement, were opposed by the satellite industry, although the bond concept was proposed by Intelsat.