Open issues concern licensing, earth station technical requirements.
People who like to watch silly cat videos on airplanes no doubt were pleased with the FCC’s decision last December that regularized satellite service to and from aircraft in flight. No doubt even more pleased are the satellite providers, which now have access to a promising market: bored people strapped into their seats without much else to do.
Aircraft manufacturers, too, are enthusiastic about the prospect of the new service – at least, the folks at Boeing are. So much so that they have filed a petition for reconsideration and clarification “applaud[ing]” the Commission for its Earth Stations Aboard Aircraft initiative, but asking for several tweaks to the rules on licensing requirements and earth station technical specifics. Thanks to a notice in the Federal Register, we can tell you that comments on the requested changes are due on June 24, 2013 and reply comments on July 2.
