Tuesday, July 14, 2020

Pai Seeks Conditional OK for Amazon Rural Satellite Broadband

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai on Friday tweeted that he circulated among his colleagues a proposal to approve Amazon’s satellite rural broadband plan with conditions. Called Project Kuiper, Amazon plans to launch more than 3,200 low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites, according to GeekWire.

The full commission would have to vote to approve the Project Kuiper application, which has been in the works for the past year, but support from Pai is a sign that conditional approval will likely be granted.

Some competitors are frustrated about Amazon’s bid to move forward on its own rather than as part of a broader round of applicants the Commission considered earlier, reported Politico. “Amazon’s primary policy argument in support of its request to bypass Commission rules is a bald assertion that it hopes to provide broadband one day,” SpaceX wrote in a November filing. “But if that sort of unsupported assertion is all that is needed to be granted a waiver, the Commission’s rules lose all meaning.” Continue Reading

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