Unlicensed Spectrum and the Challenge of Finding Investment Capital

By Armand Musey | January 27, 2013

White spaces use is becoming increasingly visible way to use spectrum more efficiently and jumpstart the use of new services. However, the industry will need significant investment in order to build a substantial industry. Traditional telecom service providers have FCC spectrum licenses that can serve as collateral for investors. White space service providers don’t have…

The Shifting Balance Between Infrastructure vs. Service Providers Now Favoring Infrastructure

By Armand Musey | January 17, 2013

In the wireless industry hardware providers seem to be gaining the upper hand over the wireless service providers. Examining the wireless value chain, its clear that hardware and spectrum are the only areas with increased demand. The wireless service infrastructure consists of 1) spectrum; 2) network hardware; 3) network integration and management; 4) marketing, billing…

Technology Won’t Decide the Ka-band vs. Ku-band HTS Battle

By Armand Musey | January 6, 2013

Technology Won’t Decide the Ka-band vs. Ku-band Battle for HTS Satellites The current debate about the advantages of Ka-band vs. Ku-band for next generation High Throughput Satellites (HTS) misses the point. Endless pages have been written about Ka-band advantages of higher theoretical throughput vs. Ku-bands superiority in sub-optimal weather vs. the costs of end user…

ITAR Restrictions on US Satellite Exports to be Loosened

By Armand Musey | December 28, 2012

Under the 2013 Defense Authorization bill approved by both houses and awaiting President Obama’s expected signature, the highly controversial restrictions on US satellite exports under the International Traffic and Arms Regulation (known as ITAR) are set to be loosened. Specifically, the bill allows the president to remove commercial satellites and satellite components from the U.S. munitions…

Takeaways from Reverse Incentive Auction Webinar

By Armand Musey | December 20, 2012

Takeaways from Reverse Incentive Auction Webinar The reverse incentive auction webinar took place at Pillsbury Winthrup’s Washington DC offices yesterday December 19th.  A replay is available at  http://www.tmcnet.com/webinar/crossfire/incentive-auctions.htm  (note: paid registration required, CLE credits may be available). In addition to the opening remarks, there were three panels – Legal, Valuation and Policy. The key takeaways…

Discount Code for Reverse Incentive Auction Webinar

By Armand Musey | December 16, 2012

A previous post (see: http://wp.me/p2Jv6Q-o4) describes an upcoming 3-hour webinar on the reverse incentive auction. If you enter the code: AMWEB, you will get a 36% discount on the $150 price, bringing it to $95. The webinar is about the FCC TV Incentive Auction (Spectrum Act 2012). We have Coleman Bazelon, The Brattle Group; Barlow Keener, Keener Law; Mark Fratrik,…

Reverse Incentive Auction Webinar – December 19th

By Armand Musey | December 11, 2012

I’ll be moderating a valuation panel discussion as part of a three hour webinar on the FCC’s Reverse Incentive Auction process. Here is a link to the site describing the event: http://www.tmcnet.com/webinar/crossfire/incentive-auctions.htm : Incentive Auctions: What Broadcasters Need to Know A 3 Hr. a Video Virtual Event (Webinar). December 19th starting at 8:45 AM EST The discussion…

A Layman’s Guide to the Possible Intelsat IPO

By Armand Musey | November 29, 2012

Given all of the industry questions about a possible Intelsat IPO, I decided to spend some time an analyze the situation. This resulted in a 26 page analysis (e-mail me at amusey@SummitRidgeGroup.com) for a copy. Here is the executive summary: Executive Summary In light of its May 18th $1.75 billion IPO filing, satellite industry observers…

Implications of Expected FCC Limits on DISH’s AWS-4 Spectrum

By Armand Musey | November 21, 2012

BACKGROUND The FCC recently indicated it was leaning towards limiting DISH’s use of its 40 Mhz of AWS-4 spectrum it acquired from Terrestar and DBSD North America to prevent interference with the H-block which runs from 1915 MHz to 1920 Mhz and 1995 MHz to 2000 MHz. DISH’s spectrum currently runs between 2000 Mhz and…

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