The FCC on Thursday approved for the first time use of stratospheric platforms as telecommunications stations. The ruling states that stratospheric platforms are expected to be the dominant use of 1000 MHz of spectrum (47.2-48.2 GHz). This represents a major milestone for Sky Station International, Inc., the world’s leading stratospheric platform company, which plans to begin operating a high-speed, high-density wireless service via stratospheric platforms during 2001.
The FCC specifically ruled that the spectrum 47.2-48.2 GHz would be
auctioned and those potential users would include stratospheric platforms and satellites. However, the FCC concluded that stratospheric platforms are expected to be the dominant users of these bands and fashioned auction and service rules that are favorable to such use. For instance, the FCC proposed auction rules that would divide the service areas for the new frequency allocation into twelve regions throughout the United States, which match well with the coverage capabilities of stratospheric platforms.
The FCC also noted that while it would not prohibit satellite companies
from bidding for the frequencies, it recognized the existence of the decision of the International Telecommunication Union in November 1997 favoring use of the 47 GHz band worldwide for stratospheric platforms. Accordingly, the FCC said any satellite bidders would have to show that they would not cause any interference to stratospheric platforms.
The FCC also ruled that use of the spectrum would be flexible, which would
allow the bands to be used for fixed, mobile and point to multi-point
services. This will enable Sky Station to provide a wide range of ervices.
The FCC declined to impose any foreign ownership limitation on stratospheric companies so long as the foreign owners were from WTO signatories or from countries which met trade reciprocity conditions.
Finally, the FCC proposed liberal disaggregation rules, which means that
winning bidders can resell their spectrum, or combine with other winning
bidders. The FCC concluded that they wanted to ensure that no one company
controlled the entire 1000 MHz spectrum.
The next step is for companies to comment to the FCC on the specific auction rules proposed. Once those comments are in, within the next 90 days, the FCC can release an order scheduling the actual auction. The Company expects that auction will be scheduled in the first half of 1999.
