FCC Revokes EchoStar Satelite
Internet
License
by Jim Wagner
EchoStar experienced another hitch in its satelite
Internet broadband access hopes when the Federal Communications
Commission (FCC) cancelled its Ka-band license.
The international
satelite
Internet
bureau of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) cancelled
the license because its records show EchoStar has not started
construction of a satellite that operates on the Ka-band, the
frequency found best for two-way
satellite
broadband communications.
Ka-band is seen as the optimal spectrum for two-way satelite
Internet services. Operating on the 17.7 GHz, 21.2 GHz, 27.5 GHz
and 31 GHz spectrums, the virtually unused frequencies allow for
EchoStar's satellite to cover large areas in its orbit. Marc
Lumpkin, EchoStar spokesperson, said the FCC didn't read the
license agreement correctly, because the company plans to have a
"bird" in the air by the end of the year and providing highspeed
Internet services.
"We believe they misread the contracts or that they went by a
strict reading of the contract without seeing the evidence that
the satellite for satelite Internet is already completed and
ready to launch this fall," he said. "We think that once they
see this evidence, they'll reverse their decision."
