Telesat President & Chief Executive Officer
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Daniel S. Goldberg Telesat President & Chief Executive Officer May 25, 2009 Pamela Miller Acting Director General Telecommunications Policy Branch Industry Canada 16lh Floor, 300 Slater Street Ottawa,ONKlA0C8 Re: DGTP-003-08 - Consultation Paper on the Possible Use of the Extended Ku Spectrum Bands for Direct-to-Home (DTH) Satellite Broadcasting Services Dear Ms. Miller: Telesat is pleased to submit its reply comments on the consultation paper on the possible use of the Extended Ku bands for DTH satellite broadcasting services. Expeditious approval of the proposed change in policy as outlined in our submission dated April 17, 2009 and reply comments which follow will permit Telesat to immediately commence the construction and investment in a new Extended Ku band satellite valued at several hundred million dollars. Should the department require further information regarding this Gazette Notice response, please contact: Ms. Michele Beck Director Engineering Telesat Tel: 613-748-8700 ext. 2757 E-mail: mbeck(S|telesat.com Respectfully submitted, Daniel S. Goldberg Enclosure 1601 Telesat Court, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1B 5P4 Tel: +1-613-748-8744 Fax: +1-613-748-8804 Email: [email protected] Telesat Canada Reply Comments submitted to Industry Canada Spectrum Management and Telecommunications on Consultation Paper on the Possible Use of the Extended-Ku Spectrum Bands for Direct-to-Home (DTH) Satellite Broadcasting Services (DGTP-003-08, issued December 2008) May 25, 2009 Telesat Canada 1601 Telesat Court Ottawa, ON K1B 5P4 613-748-8700 Executive Summary In these Reply Comments, Telesat submits that the initial round of Comments filed in response to the Consultation Paper corroborates the need for an urgent change in Industry Canada’s spectrum utilization policies to accommodate the provisioning of Direct to Home (“DTH”) services in the Extended Ku (“xKu”) frequency band. Telesat notes that the majority of Comments support the “FSS Proposals” for DTH use of the xKu band. These comments were advanced by Telesat, Shaw, several broadcasters and other representatives of the broadcasting industry, and other satellite users and suppliers. The only Comments that opposed the FSS proposals came from certain Fixed Service (“FS”) users who contend that they require continued use of the xKu band, mostly for terrestrial microwave links to backhaul the growing volume of mobile wireless data traffic. In reply to the FS Comments, Telesat’s Reply Comments indicate that: • The FS Comments did not dispute the fact that more DTH satellite capacity is urgently required for Shaw to meet Canadian policy objectives related to the rollout of HDTV and other services. Instead, they argued that other frequency bands should be used for such DTH expansion, such as the Ka band or the RDBS band. However, they provided no analysis of the suitability of such other bands. Nothing in the FS Comments contradicted the clear evidence provided by Telesat to demonstrate that neither the Ka band or the RDBS band provides a viable solution to meet the near term DTH requirements in the Shaw orbital neighbourhood. • The FS Comments made general claims about their need for the xKu spectrum, but these were not supported by any data or research on their use of this band, nor on the availability of alternative bands and transmission media such as fibre optics. • More specifically, no data or analyses are provided in the FS Comments that contradict the research conducted by Lemay-Yates for Telesat which shows that: ▪ there are relatively few licensed FS transmitters in the xKu bands; and ▪ there are good alternatives available for these FS transmitters. In particular, most xKu-band transmitters could be moved to the Allotment band. In addition, alternatives are available in the FS bands below 11 GHz and the 12.7, 15, 18 and 23 GHz bands, among others. Finally, wireline alternatives, e.g. terrestrial fibre-optic networks are the logical alternative in many cases. These can be more efficient and reliable, and can provide greater capacity to handle large scale growth in mobile broadband traffic. • Independent of Telesat, Shaw undertook some technical analysis to determine the viability of moving FS transmitters from the xKu band. Using a quite different analytical approach (based on ITU recommendations), the Shaw study reached the same conclusion as Lemay-Yates: the vast majority of FS links in the xKu band can be supported in the Allotment band with few or no coordination challenges. - i - • The only significant point made in the FS comments about the need for more spectrum was that there will be an ‘explosion’ in the growth of mobile broadband data traffic as new cellular technologies are adopted. Telesat does not dispute that such growth will occur. However, it would not be good policy to permit all usable spectrum in multiple bands to be devoted to mobile broadband backhaul. Mobile broadband providers should act early to design high capacity links, using fibre optics and other available spectrum resources, to avoid saturating all usable bands with mobile backhaul traffic. • In determining the best use of the limited xKu-band spectrum, Industry Canada should keep in mind that this band provides the only viable solution for near-term expansion of DTH capacity for Shaw Direct, enabling it to roll out advanced video services such as HDTV. Conversely, as the Lemay-Yates reports indicate, there are a number of other spectrum bands as well as other transmission media, such as fibre optics, available to help achieve the objectives of mobile broadband expansion. Good public policy therefore supports implementation of the FSS proposals. • Contrary to the assertions of one of the FS Comments, the FSS proposal will have no impact on manufacturing or design of FS equipment. • In reply to concerns raised in FS Comments that there may not be suitable alternatives for existing FS transmitters in the xKu band, Telesat commissioned a supplemental report from Lemay-Yates that includes case by case analyses of the most congested markets in Canada. This research demonstrates that suitable alternatives are available for FS users, even in these most congested markets. • The Joint FS Comments suggest that Industry Canada should harmonize spectrum policy for the xKu band with the FCC in the United States. Telesat submits that there are very good reasons not to do so, based on differences between Canada and the United States. The current Canadian broadcast distribution system is much more efficient than that of the U.S. system. In Canada a single Ku band satellite platform is used to deliver the same advanced TV services to DTH subscribers and to approximately 4.5 million subscribers of cable systems, many in small and remote communities. By contrast, U.S. satellite operators use DBS satellites for DTH customers, and C-band satellites to transmit the same services to cable head ends. While the U.S. market may be large enough to permit such duplication, in the smaller Canadian market our more efficient ‘dual-purpose’ system serves both DTH subscribers and small cable system subscribers across the country at a reasonable cost. Since no additional Ku-band spectrum is available in the Shaw orbital neighbourhood, use of the xKu band is urgently required to maintain this efficient distribution system. • The supplemental Lemay-Yates report includes an analysis of the spectrum available for FS users in Canada and in the United States, a country with far larger telecom operators and FS transmission requirements. This analysis concludes that there is, in - ii - fact, 25% more capacity potentially available for fixed service use in Canada than there is in the United States–even assuming the Industry Canada proposals to move FS out of the xKu bands and part of the 15 GHz band are implemented. Thus, while Canadian FS spectrum requirements should be smaller than those in the United States, considerably more good-quality spectrum is available for FS use in Canada. The obvious conclusion is that the FSS proposal to segment the xKu band evenly between FS and FSS use, will leave more than adequate spectrum available in Canada for FS users if they manage their spectrum use efficiently. • Finally, Telesat strongly disputes the implication in the Joint FS Comments that this Industry Canada Consultation Process is not a “real” policy review. These Comments imply that if Industry Canada wishes to change its spectrum policy, further consultations and proceedings would be required. Telesat respectfully submits that this suggestion is merely a delaying tactic. The Industry Canada Consultation Process has been properly run as a formal proceeding. Adequate notice of the purpose of the review was given via the Canada Gazette and other media. If Industry Canada decides to implement the FSS proposals, Telesat submits that the Department should do so expeditiously in order to expand access to advanced multi-channel video services across Canada without further delay. - iii - Table of Contents Executive Summary......................................................................................................................... i 1. Introduction..............................................................................................................................1 2. Other Frequency Bands Will Not Meet Near-Term DTH Requirements................................3 3. FS Users have Viable Alternatives to the xKu Band...............................................................6 4. There are Good Reasons for Not Harmonizing