The National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative filed a reply with the Federal Communications Commission outlining its objections concerning PrimeStar's effort to secure satellite spectrum at 119° and 110°.
The NRTC joined a long list of objectors, which include DirecTV, EchoStar and the Small Cable Bus- iness Administration, hoping to stop PrimeStar from receiving DBS orbital locations now controlled by one of its partners and the News Corp./MCI team.
"PrimeStar's request to transfer control of the 119-degree orbital slot is contrary to the public interest because of its likely anticompetitive effect on the MVPD (multichannel video program distributor) market," the NRTC told the FCC. "Taken together, PrimeStar's request for control of the 110-degree and 119-degree full-CONUS DBS locations violates the FCC's policy of promot-ing competition in the MVPD market and avoiding an accumulation of control of full-CONUS DBS spectrum."
The NRTC said it feared PrimeStar would use spectrum at 119 degrees, controlled by TeleCom- munications Inc.'s Tempo unit, to "squelch" DBS competition by adding new features to present cable TV lineups.
"The direct control of Tempo's DBS license by the five largest MSOs in the country would virtually eliminate any possibility that PrimeStar would compete against cable," the NRTC said.
When added to the 110-degree slot, now owned by MCI, the NRTC said PrimeStar would unfairly dominate the amount of spectrum capable of delivering programming across the United States.
The Copyright Arbitration Rate Panel - under jurisdiction of the 1994 Satellite Home Viewer Act - set fees at 27 cents per-subscriber for both superstations and distant network signals. Those fees will be in effect through Dec. 31, 1999, when the satellite copyright license expires under the terms of the Satellite Home Viewer Act.
Cable operators pay 9.7 cents per subscriber/per month for the same superstations, and 2.7 cents for distant network signals. Under the new fee schedule, satellite services will be paying 170 percent more than cable for superstation carriage and 900 percent more for distant network carriage.
According to various Internet newsgroups, web pages and online chats, the video scrambling system used in VideoCrypt and Nagravision was apparently cracked in Hungary.
The hacking wasn't confirmed by Nagra, which supplies EchoStar Communications with its encryption system for the DISH Network. EchoStar's services in the United States were not and haven't been compromised by the same hackers.
Rumors of the system break followed what appeared by some in the Internet community a key weekend for those trying to break DSS electronic counter measures in the United States.
Any modified cards still capable of getting DSS programming were expected to get another ECM dose this past weekend, which marked the kick-off of the National Football League's regular season. The NFL Sunday Ticket delivered by DirecTV and C-Band is entering its fourth year, and has become a favorite target of DSS hackers. No ECM took place.
Officials from TCI Satellite Entertainment and EchoStar Com-munications found were in court recently regarding a complaint TSAT filed over alleged misappropriation of information about one of its computer networks and other trade secrets.
In a lawsuit filed recently in Arapahoe County District Court in Colorado, TSAT claims EchoStar is trying to obtain information about one of its sensitive computer net-works. At an emergency hearing the company sought a temporary re-straining order barring a former TSAT engineer from divulging his knowledge of the computer system, and preventing EchoStar from using any proprietary information it may already have learned from its former employee.
According to the lawsuit, the engineer resigned in July 1997, citing a personal problem and representing that he did not have a another job lined up. But he went to work for EchoStar within weeks, taking a job nearly identical to the one he had just left, TSAT claims.
The PAS-5 satellite, which contains 24 C-band and 24 Ku-band transponders, was lofted into space on August 27. PAS-5 will deliver programming to cable operators and will serve as the DTH television platform in Mexico for Sky Latin America. .
EchoStar and PrimeStar plan to add services enhanced with Dolby Digital AC-3 audio by first quarter of 1998, while DirecTV said it's cont-inuing to weigh its AC-3 audio options, Satellite Week reports.
The step to better audio will accompany late-1998 digital TV set introductions with AC-3 capability and the debut of combo satellite receivers with built-in DVD drives.
Both PrimeStar and EchoStar concede the market may be limited to a small audience that buys high-end products and premium movie chan-nels, but they argue the business will grow over time. .
October 6th is the tentative date for launch of EchoStar Commun-ications' third satellite from Cape Canaveral, Fla.
The launch date and times for EchoStar III are subject to change and delays in priorly scheduled launches will likely push EchoStar-III's launch into mid-October. EchoStar III, a Lockheed Martin AX2100 satellite, to be positioned at 61.5 degrees, will be launched by an Atlas IIAS rocket. The satellite will carry DISH Net-work programming as well as data delivery applications and retrans-mission of local channels for selected markets. .
DirecTV will offer free DSS equipment and 60 days of free DirecTV programming to more than 6,000 taverns, restaurants and nightclubs that currently receive programming via C-Band dishes through a promotion that ends Nov. 30.
The "DirecTV Delivers" cam-paign also offers commercial estab-lishments free installation and the 1997 DirecTV Ringside boxing series free to new clients. National sales agents for DirecTV - including Convergent Media Systems, Digi-Vision, Music Choice, TechNet International and Tiffany Commun-ications - will distribute DSS equip-ment and DirecTV programming to commercial C-Band establishments.
"This is a 'no-catch' offer. There is no obligation for restaurant and bar owners to buy programming after they receive their free DSS equipment," said John McKee, vice president of special markets and distribution for DirecTV. "We want as many commercial C-Band sub-scribers as possible to experience the many benefits of DirecTV. We recognize that our role is to help restaurants and bars drive their business. This campaign allows these establishments to see those benefits firsthand." .
Satellite industry leaders told the Federal Communications Commis-sion to drop the ECO-Sat (economic competitive opportunities for satel-lites) test from current agency orders for countries that signed the World Trade Organization agree-ment on basic telecommunications services.
In its comments, Motorola Satellite Communications said the U.S. commitment to the WTO agreement should require domestic markets be opened to competition from satellite systems owned by member countries as a means to encourage others to do the same. The company said the WTO agreement already has produced results and it's "impressed by the spirit of inter-national cooperation and commit-ment to the development" of Big LEO services, such as its Iridium project.
Comsat said it opposes the ECO-Sat test for its Intelsat or Inmarsat since a majority of the service's owners are from WTO countries.
Telesat Canada said the FCC shouldn't impose further public interest reviews on foreign applic-ations, especially from WTO countries. The company said it was concerned that "public interest, convenience and necessity test may create confusion and difficulties for non-U.S. satellites"
The Canadian satellite provider also said the FCC should clarify that trade issues won't be part of any review. .
Several American companies are focusing on the Mexican government as they await the sell-off of two extremely desirable satellite properties.
The Mexican government is auctioning off a high-powered direct-broadcast satellite position at 77 degrees west, equipped with 32 transponders offering full coverage of the United States.There is, as expected, high U.S. interest in this auction, but must acquire an interest in a Mexican telecommunications company to qualify for the bidding. GE Americom, Loral Space and Communications Ltd. and Hughes Electronics Corp.'s PanAmSat Corp. have all been given authorization to bid for Mexico's satellite company, Satelites Mexicanos (Satmex), which is being privatized by the govern-ment. For its money, the winner will gain control over two earth stations and three existing Mexican birds: Solidaridad I and II and Morelos II. The latter will be replaced next year by a higher-powered bird, Morelos III, with 75 percent coverage of North America. Both Solidaridad birds cover 85 percent of Mexico and the southern U.S. and 15 percent of Latin America.
The auction for the orbital slot is expected to occur as early as this month, with the slot to be sold to the highest bidder.
PrimeStar Partners L.P. and DirecTv Inc. are expected to enter the competition, but aren't likely to be the only other U.S. companies to show interest. Hughes, Telquest Satellite Services, Loral and TeleCommun- ications Inc., are other potential bidders. .
C-SPAN will begin offering affiliates a new service Sept. 15 that will cover live events away from full House and Senate coverage on weekdays.
The new service, C-SPAN Extra, will be offered free to affiliates of C-SPAN and C-SPAN2, and it will air from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. (EST). It will be transmitted digitally, within the bandwidth of the C-SPAN2 transponder, and C-SPAN will provide the D/A converter to the cable headends.
The network said it is hoping to be carried on open channels, local channels, or digital tiers. Operators have initially indicated that they will piggyback the service on existing channels, such as local-origination or government-access channels. .
Wireless One signed a marketing agreement with DirecTV allowing its wireless cable service to offer channels provided by DirecTV via satellite to customers living in multiple-dwelling units, such as apartments, townhouses and hotels throughout the southeastern United States.
Wireless One is considered the largest wireless cable provider in the Southeastern United States. .
MCI Communications is con-sidering packaging Primestar's satel-lite TV service along with its telephone offerings, even though rival AT&T failed somewhat in its attempt to to sell DirecTV services to its customers.
MCI, in documents filed with the FCC earlier this month, said it has a clause giving it non-exclusive rights "to bundle the Primestar DBS service with MCI's telephony service offering, on mutually agreeable terms." .
The European Commission criticized U.S. efforts to implement a global pact on opening satellite services in markets around the world.
A European Union executive said in a statement that draft rules on satellite communications announced by the Federal Communications Commission in July risked violating international trade obligations. "The EU is asking the U.S. to change the rules and reserves its right to challenge them under the WTO (World Trade Organization)," the commission said in its statement. The European Commission com-plained in August about Wash-ington's general plan for regulating foreign participation in its market under the WTO telecoms pact signed in February. The EU said on Friday it objected to the specific proposals on satellite services because they imposed a "reciprocity" test for transmitting direct-to-home, digital TV and digital audio services. .
DirecTV, the nation's largest satellite-television provider, is being investigated by 20 state attorneys general for removing some channels from a pre-sold package of pro-gramming and selling them at a higher price.
The multistate group is looking into whether DirecTV pulled a "bait and switch" on its subscribers when it removed seven Encore movie chan-nels from its most-popular package of programming and added them to a more-expensive pack.
The change may violate state consumer-protection laws prohibiting deceptive and unfair practices, since subscribers had paid for the pro-gramming and the special satellite dish as part of a binding contract.
Through the $200 rebate offered by DirecTV, an offer which ended in July, some consumers bought a DSS dish and signed up for a year's worth of programming that included seven Encore movie channels. In April, DirecTV moved the Encore channels from its Total Choice package, priced at $29.99, to a new package called Total Choice plus Encore for an extra four dollars a month.
A spokesman for DirecTV acknowledged the investigation, saying the Los Angeles-based com-pany is providing information to the states.
State attorneys in Florida are leading the multi-state investigation, which also includes Arizona, Arkan sas, California, Connecticut, Dela-ware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Ver-mont and West Virginia.
The task force began looking into this issue in July after receiving complaints from consumers.
West Virginia, whose inves-tigation began in April ahead of the other states, also is focusing on the financing agreements between Direc-TV and those who purchased satellite systems.
The investigation broke into public view when West Virginia issued a subpoena for documents from DirecTV on Aug. 5.
The company responded by filing a motion to quash the request, calling it burdensome and duplicative of efforts it was making to provide documents to the multistate task force. .
TRW Inc. has filed a license ap-plication with the FCC to launch and operate their new TRW Global EHF Satellite Network (GESN), according to a company press release.
GESN will provide Fixed-Sat-ellite-Service for a variety of two-way communication services using the extermely high frequency (EHF) band. Wideband data tansport services, multimedia services, and private network services will be made available.
Fifteen satellites will operate at 10,355 km in 3 orbital planes with a period of 6 hours, along with four geostationary satellites located at 113 degrees west, 83 degrees west, 15 degrees east, and 112 degrees east longitude.
The projected system cost is $3.4 billion, and spacecraft design life is 15 years..
Zenith, one of the most respected names in home electronics has finally entered the DBS market. Zenith Electronics was selected to supply digital set-top boxes for Sky Latin America.
Under the agreement with Sky Latin America, Zenith will design, manufacture and distribute digital boxes beginning early in 1998. Terms were not disclosed.
"This agreement enhances Zenith's leadership position in digital technology," said A Zenith spokesman. "The Sky Latin America agreement represents important firsts for Zenith; our first entry in the digital DBS market and our first digital set-top box available through retail channels."