Before the FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION Washington, DC 20554
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Before the FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION Washington, DC 20554 In the Matter of ) ) Fourth Report to Congress on ) IB Docket No. 14-229 Status of Competition in the Provision of ) Satellite Services ) To: The Commission COMMENTS OF THE SATELLITE INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION SATELLITE INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION Tom Stroup President 1200 18th Street, NW, Suite 1001 Washington, DC 20036 February 6, 2015 Tel. (202) 503-1561 SUMMARY The Satellite Industry Association (“SIA”) hereby responds to the International Bureau’s Public Notice requesting information on competition in the provision of satellite services. As discussed herein and in the attached 2014 State of the Satellite Industry Report, the satellite industry has continued to grow and innovate, providing an ever-increasing array of services and using spectrum more efficiently. During the 2011-2013 time frame on which the Bureau seeks comment, existing providers added capacity and new operators entered the market in every region of the globe. Meanwhile, there has been no significant change in the level of vertical integration within the industry. Despite the long lead times and substantial upfront costs that characterize the satellite industry economic structure, entry by additional competitors has continued. Indeed, one notable trend has been the establishment of new national operators, particularly in emerging markets. In addition, the past few years have seen the introduction of high throughput satellites that add significant capacity, decrease costs per unit, and permit faster broadband speeds. Furthermore, consumers of satellite services have an increasing array of alternatives available to them, including many terrestrial services that compete directly with satellite offerings. This leads to robust competition on both price and non-price factors. In the global market, foreign trade barriers continue to raise concerns for SIA members. SIA highlights in its comments policies in China and India that impede market access for satellite service providers. i TABLE OF CONTENTS SUMMARY ..................................................................................................................................... i I. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................. 2 II. INDUSTY STRUCTURE: THE NUMBER OF COMMERCIAL SATELLITE OPERATORS AND SATELLITES IS INCREASING IN EVERY REGION OF THE GLOBE .................................................................................................................................. 4 A. Participating Firms ................................................................................................................. 4 B. Horizontal Concentration and Vertical Integration ................................................................ 8 C. Entry Conditions .................................................................................................................... 9 III. NUMEROUS COMPETITIVE ALTERNATIVES TO SATELLITES HAVE EXPANDED CONSUMER CHOICE ..................................................................... 10 IV. ACCESS TO FOREIGN MARKETS .................................................................................. 11 V. CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................... 12 ANNEX......................................................................................................................................... 13 ii Before the FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20554 In the Matter of ) ) Fourth Report to Congress on ) IB Docket No. 14-229 Status of Competition in the Provision of ) Satellite Services ) COMMENTS OF THE SATELLITE INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION The Satellite Industry Association (“SIA”) welcomes this opportunity to submit these comments in response to the International Bureau’s Public Notice of November 25, 2014, seeking information on the state of competition in the provision of satellite services.1 SIA is a U.S.-based trade association providing worldwide representation of the leading satellite operators, service providers, manufacturers, launch services providers, and ground equipment suppliers. Since its creation almost twenty years ago, SIA has advocated for the unified voice of the U.S. satellite industry on policy, regulatory, and legislative issues affecting the satellite business.2 SIA is filing these comments to respond to the Commission’s requests for information on the structure of the satellite industry, the performance of the industry (including the requested three-year time series data), and access to foreign markets. 1 International Bureau Invites Comment for the Fourth Report to Congress on Status of Competition in the Provision of Satellite Services, DA 14-1707 (Nov. 25, 2014) (“Public Notice”). 2 SIA Executive Members include: The Boeing Company; The DIRECTV Group; EchoStar Corporation; Intelsat S.A.; Iridium Communications Inc.; Kratos Defense & Security Solutions; LightSquared; Lockheed Martin Corporation; Northrop Grumman Corporation; SES Americom, Inc.; SSL; and ViaSat, Inc. SIA Associate Members include: ABS US Corp.; Airbus DS SatCom Government, Inc.; Artel, LLC; ATK Inc.; Cisco; Comtech EF Data Corp.; DRS Technologies, Inc.; Eutelsat America Corp.; Exelis, Inc.; Glowlink Communications Technology, Inc.; Harris CapRock Communications; Hughes; iDirect Government Technologies; Inmarsat, Inc.; Kymeta Corporation; Marshall Communications Corporation.; MTN Government; O3b Limited; Orbital Sciences Corporation; Panasonic Avionics Corporation; Row 44, Inc.; TeleCommunication Systems, Inc.; Telesat Canada; TrustComm, Inc.; Ultisat, Inc.; Vencore Inc.; and XTAR, LLC. I. INTRODUCTION In a 2005 amendment to the Communications Satellite Act, Congress directed the Federal Communications Commission (the “Commission”) to provide an annual report on the competitive market conditions facing satellite communications services providers.3 The Commission has submitted three reports pursuant to this provision in 2007, 2008, and 2011, and has requested comments from the public as it prepares its fourth report.4 To assist the Commission in preparing this next report to Congress, SIA is attaching to these comments the 2014 State of the Satellite Industry Report, which contains the Association’s most current data on the performance of the global commercial satellite industry. The report provides statistical information and explanatory comments on all four segments of the satellite industry on which the Commission requested data: the fixed-satellite service (FSS); the mobile- satellite service (MSS); satellite broadband; and the satellite digital audio radio service (SDARS). The report shows that global satellite industry revenues grew by three percent from 2012 to 2013, reaching more than $195 billion in the latter year. The portion of the industry that SIA refers to as the satellite services segment (which includes the FSS, MSS, satellite broadband, satellite television and SDARS sectors) continues to be the largest single source of revenues for the global satellite industry, as well as its primary growth driver. The satellite services segment grew by five percent in 2013, reaching nearly $120 billion. Revenues attributed to the FSS were $16.4 billion, while MSS, broadband, and SDARS revenues reached $2.6 billion, $1.7 billion, and $3.8 billion, respectively. 3 Amendment to Communications Satellite Act, Pub. L. No. 109-34, 119 Stat. 377 (2005), codified at 47 U.S.C. § 703. 4 Public Notice at 1–2. 2 The satellite industry performed well from 2011 to 2013 due to numerous developments. For example, operators launched high throughput satellites (HTS) such as EchoStar 175 and ViaSat-1,6 which utilize a variety of innovative spot beam and spectrum re-use technologies to expand capacity, elevate broadband speeds and offer new service applications. In addition, the mid-2013 launch of the O3b HTS constellation in relatively unused middle-earth orbit (MEO) brings fiber-like, low latency broadband connectivity to unserved and underserved areas. This period also saw an explosion of significant investment in research and development for new satellite terminal equipment and innovative mobility applications in the FSS as a result of the Commission’s long-awaited earth station aboard aircraft proceeding.7 All this notable industry innovation and growth has been supported by Commission satellite policies over the last four decades that have facilitated market entry and a competitive U.S. market. The importance of satellite communications to national security and public safety was emphatically shown during the period covered by this report. Satellites provided emergency restoration after Hurricane Sandy in 2012 and Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines in late 2013,8 extensive support of national security missions throughout in the Middle East and Afghanistan, 5 Hughes Network Systems, LLC, “Hughes EchoStar XVII Satellite with JUPITER™ High Throughput Technology Successfully Launched,” July 6, 2012, at http://sats.client.shareholder.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=689448. 6 ViaSat Inc., “ViaSat-1 High-Capacity Satellite Launch Successful,” Oct. 20, 2011, at https://www.viasat.com/news/viasat-1-high-capacity-satellite-launch-successful. 7 In the Matter of Revisions to Parts 2 and 25 of the Commission’s Rules to Govern the Use of Earth Stations Aboard Aircraft Communicating with Fixed-Satellite Service Geostationary-Orbit Space Stations Operating in the 10.95-11.2