{"id":67143,"date":"2017-10-11T00:33:26","date_gmt":"2017-10-10T16:33:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/ludicrous-and-ridiculous-ceos-react-to-intelsats-5g-proposal-2\/"},"modified":"2017-10-11T00:33:26","modified_gmt":"2017-10-10T16:33:26","slug":"ludicrous-and-ridiculous-ceos-react-to-intelsats-5g-proposal-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/ludicrous-and-ridiculous-ceos-react-to-intelsats-5g-proposal-2\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cLudicrous and Ridiculous\u201d \u2013 CEOs React to Intelsat\u2019s 5G Proposal"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/p>\n
\"Tom
Tom Choi, former CEO and founder of ABS. Photo: ABS.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cSimply ludicrous and ridiculous\u201d \u2014 Tom Choi, CEO of ABS<\/strong> and one of the most outspoken CEOs in the satellite industry, did not hold back when assessing Intelsat<\/strong>\u2019s announcement last week to join forces with Intel <\/strong>to expand the use of 3700-4200 MHz C-band spectrum to terrestrial mobile services. If the proposal, made in response to a Notice of Inquiry (NOI) filed by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission <\/strong>(FCC) in August, is adopted, wireless operators would be able to leverage mid-band spectrum alongside satellite operators, who historically have resisted such sharing agreements due to concerns about interference.<\/p>\n

Choi believes, first and foremost, that C-band or any other spectrum used in Geostationary Earth Orbits (GEO) does not belong to any satellite operator but rather by countries\/administrations that are registered with the International Telecommunications Union<\/strong> (ITU). \u201cThe orbital slot filings operated by Intelsat belongs to an intergovernmental organization called the International Telecommunications Satellite Organization <\/strong>(ITSO) and I highly doubt they would agree to this preposterous move,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Choi added that there are multiple countries including Papua New Guinea that allow a company like ABS to operate a C-band satellite, ABS 3A, which serves the Americas. Choi believes there would be three violations of the rules and rights as defined by the ITU regulations at this move: \u201cFirst, Intelsat does not own any C-band spectrum rights either in GEO or for use in terrestrial,\u201d he said. \u201cSecond, the ITU Radio Regulations does not allow individual countries to assign satellite C-band spectrum for use terrestrially by any individual country. If the FCC agrees with this they would be setting a dangerous precedent and all other countries would follow suit. The radio regulations created in the ITU and its legitimacy maybe completely decimated, threatening the existing C-band operations in every country around the world. This would destabilize the fundamental business that even Intelsat has on a global basis. Third, C-band rights are assigned to multiple administrations that serve the United States and I don\u2019t believe any other party would agree to go along with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

[contextly_sidebar id=\u201dxgt6V7S4Gkr5C5ItPXzCvALeVP0OcVJY\u201d]<\/p>\n

AsiaSat CEO Also Speaks Out<\/strong><\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
\"Andrew
Andrew Jordan, CEO of AsiaSat.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Other CEOs, while maybe not as harsh in their assessments as Choi, are scratching their heads at Intelsat\u2019s move. Andrew Jordan, CEO of AsiaSat<\/strong>, was also fairly withering in his assessment. \u201cOn face value, this was a unilateral decision by Intelsat, without prior consultation with other satellite operators, and is very divisive. Furthermore, I don\u2019t agree with the premise that the C-band battle has been lost,\u201d he told Via Satellite<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Jordan admits he was \u201cvery surprised\u201d by Intelsat\u2019s move and said this surprise has also come out in conversations he has had with other satellite operators. Jordan believes one of the great strengths of the satellite industry is how all of the operators, although fierce competitors, have banded together for the common interest of the industry to protect C-band resources, which are critical for lifeline services, television distribution and video contribution globally.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know that LTE and satellite cannot coexist in the 3.7 \u2013 4.2 MHz band, so it is hard to see how carving out certain portions of this in cities can help the industry or our customers who depend on us for reliable and high quality service. The incompatibility of LTE\/WiMax with satellite applications in the 3.7 \u2013 4.2 MHz band has been demonstrated through numerous ITU studies and this view was also endorsed during the conclusion of the WRC-15. I\u2019m also surprised because my understanding is that the frequencies do not belong to any individual operator or administrations, but rather a global resource administered by notifying authorities through the ITU,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

While Jordan welcomes any constructive proposals to satisfy both the LTE and satellite industries, he doesn\u2019t see how unilaterally withdrawing from C-band services in certain areas will achieve this, and therefore believes Intelsat\u2019s move is bad for the satellite industry. \u201cDoing this unilaterally outside the ITU process and without prior consultation with the satellite industry is a complete surprise to the industry. I also note that there are many other spectrum bands the 5G industry could apply for, and yet they continue to push for C-band, threatening multiple billions of dollars\u2019 worth of investments,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\"Rodolphe
Rodolphe Belmer, CEO Eutelsat.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Belmer Chimes In<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Via Satellite<\/em> also talked to Rodolphe Belmer, CEO of Eutelsat<\/strong>, the day after Intelsat\u2019s surprise announcement. Belmer admitted that, at the moment, Eutelsat\u2019s opinion is not fully shaped yet. \u201cWe read with surprise the announcement by Intelsat and still need to analyze all the possible consequences. We believe there are potentially both positive and negative consequences. We don\u2019t have a spontaneous positive or negative reaction. It is a complex situation that we need to analyze deeper to see whether we think the net balance is positive or negative. It is a complex situation with many elements \u2014 regulatory, strategic, partnerships, etc. So we need to fully understand the precedent created by the Intelsat announcement,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

When asked about his gut instinct on the situation, Belmer said that the jury is still out. \u201cIt might be positive, even though there are some risks associated with this. It came out totally by surprise to us. I don\u2019t want to react by instinct,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Belmer says it will take one or two months for Eutelsat to have a considered opinion. The company aims to have discussions with stakeholders to understand what they think in their relevant geographies.<\/p>\n

[contextly_sidebar id=\u201dMwNu1lLCaEGZpulyNFL6477biMeuZkkN\u201d]Situation Playing Out
\n<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Jordan himself does not believe Intelsat will find many satellite operator supporters in the satellite industry for this announcement, and he thinks most likely the 5G industry will not view it as going far enough, so the risk is that it satisfies nobody.<\/p>\n

In terms of how this situation will play out, Jordan adds, \u201cIt\u2019s hard to say.  I would be surprised if the FCC were to allow Intelsat to effectively sell C-band to 5G in certain cities, and I don\u2019t have enough detail to understand how Intelsat sees the use of C-band outside cities, but it does not seem to me to be a workable solution for either industry.\u201d<\/p>\n

Choi said the satellite industry will have to carefully examine if Intelsat is a willing participant and a partner in the ongoing protection of GEO frequencies and the ITU radio regulations process. \u201cIf this decision was made without ITSO\u2019s approval, ITSO should examine this move carefully and understand its implications for its inter-governmental owners. Worst of all the potential fallouts, I am now seriously worried now that if the FCC takes this move seriously, other regulators in all the countries of the world will take notice and see if they should \u2018nationalize\u2019 the C-band spectrum. This is in fact what Intel [who is the leader in setting the 5G standards] would love to do,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Choi believes there could be far reaching consequences for the satellite industry as a result of Intelsat\u2019s move. \u201cI can almost guarantee they will be using this initiative to delegitimize the C-band operations for satellite everywhere in the world and they will point to the complicity of Intelsat in the United States to justify that C-band is not needed by the GEO operators. This would be truly a disaster for the Fixed Satellite Services (FSS) industry. Why couldn\u2019t the brains at Intelsat not foresee that consequence? Did they never play chess?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tom Choi, former CEO and founder of ABS. Photo: ABS. \u201cSimply ludicrous and ridiculous\u201d \u2014 Tom Choi, CEO of ABS and one of the most outspoken CEOs in the satellite industry, did not hold back when assessing Intelsat\u2019s announcement last week to join forces with Intel to expand the use of 3700-4200 MHz C-band spectrum to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":67145,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-67143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67143"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=67143"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67143\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67145"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=67143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=67143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=67143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}