WASHINGTON � The FCC has adopted an updated regulatory framework to facilitate the delivery of broadband services through satellite constellations, and believes this action paves the way for greater broadband offerings in the US, particularly in remote and rural areas, according to telecompaper.com. The commission said it updated, clarified and streamlined the current rules governing non-geostationary satellite orbit fixed-satellite service systems to �better reflect current technology and to promote additional operational flexibility.�
The report and order amends the Table of Frequency Allocations to better accommodate NGSO and geostationary satellite operations in the Ka-band (20/30 GHz) and streamlines the NGSO milestone rules for deployment. It also eliminates the international geographic cover requirements in order to provide greater flexibility to NGSO FSS operators, according to the same article, and it adopts a new threshold to characterize circumstances where a default mechanism will govern spectrum sharing between operators.
There are at least 11 different organizations vying to provide satellite-based broadband across the U.S. continent, according to fiercewireless.com.�
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