FCC Questions Sirius on Video Plans

The FCC has asked Sirius for details about its plans to add rear-seat video entertainment to its offerings in the future.
An FCC spokesman told Radio World the agency is trying to determine whether the video offering would be an ancillary service, and thus consistent with the satcaster’s spectrum authorization.
If not, Sirius may need to make a formal request to do the service, which would require a ruling from the commission.
“We’re posing those questions,” said an agency spokesman. There is no deadline for Sirius to answer the questions; at CES last week, Sirius demoed the latest version of its video project, which it would like to debut in 2005.
The service rules for satellite digital audio radio services were passed in 1997.
Currently pending are separate rules to govern how Sirius and fellow satcaster XM will use their terrestrial repeaters.