It is T-minus four days and counting until the FCC launches its new Space Bureau.

FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said Friday that the new bureau will launch April 11 with a public event (3 p.m., live streamed at www.fcc.gov/live) celebrating the inaugural staff and talking about the goals of the FCC's regulatory space program.

The goals of the bureau are to promote global communications competition in satellite-based technology--the FCC for several years has been promoting low earth orbit (LEO) satellite broadband delivery as a competitor to traditional service, notably efforts by OneWeb, SpaceX, and most recently Amazon’s satellite-delivered broadband company, Project Kuiper.

Those companies will be glad to hear that another of the bureau's charters is to "streamline regulatory processes to provide maximum flexibility for operators to meet customer needs; and foster the efficient use of scarce spectrum and orbital resources."

“Whether it’s bringing broadband to hard-to-connect rural communities, closing mobile dead zones, or linking freedom-seeking people across the globe, satellite connectivity is fundamental to improving our quality of life and maintaining our economic succes," said Rosenworcel, who spearheaded the move to give space its own space in the FCC's organizational chart.

OneWeb said Sunday (March 26) it had successfully launched 36 more low earth orbit (LEO) satellites, bringing its total to 618 satellites. The company said that paves the way for its launch of a global broadband service by year's end.

The satellites were launched from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, India, its second launch from that country. "OneWeb’s satellites separated successfully from the rocket and were dispensed in nine phases over a period of 1 hours and 14 minutes, with signal acquisition on all 36 satellites confirmed," the company said.

OneWeb said its constellation requires 588 satellites, plus some more for redundancy, which it now has in orbit.

Back in June 2017, the FCC unanimously approved OneWeb's request to deliver its service in the U.S. market (as part of a global operation), including particularly hard-to-reach and expensive-to-reach rural areas, after FCC chairman Ajit Pai proposed approving it.

The FCC subsequently approved similar plans by SpaceX, SpaceNorway, Kepler and Theia Holdings.

Closing the rural digital divide is one of the FCC's priorities, even more so in the age of social distancing, as well as providing more competition to wired broadband players who generally built their businesses on exclusive franchises.

OneWeb initial investors included Qualcomm, Virgin and Hughes. The company filed for bankruptcy in 2020 but was able to secure financing and emerge to continue its plans to blanket the globe with LEOs. ■ 

The Republican-led House Energy & Commerce Committee and the Democratic FCC chair are on the same page when it comes to the importance of satellite communications.

Committee chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) said Thursday (Jan. 26) that the first Communications Subcommittee hearing of the new Congress will be on “ensuring America continues to lead in the burgeoning satellite communications industry,” adding, “Next-generation satellite technologies are revolutionizing the communications marketplace, [y]et many of our nation’s laws and regulations haven’t been updated in decades.”

The hearing will be Thursday, February 2, and while witnesses have yet to be announced, the FCC chair clearly has some thoughts on the subject that square with Rodgers.

Also: FCC Approves OneWeb

Earlier this month, the FCC under chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel voted unanimously to create a Space Bureau.

“The satellite industry is growing at a record pace, but here on the ground our regulatory frameworks for licensing have not kept up,” Rosenworcel said after the vote. “We’re working to change that … A new Space Bureau at the FCC will ensure that the agency's resources are appropriately aligned to fulfill its statutory obligations, improve its coordination across the federal government, and support the 21st-century satellite industry.”

The FCC under both Republican and Democratic chairs has supported the deployment of constellations of low earth orbit satellite (LEOs) — OneWeb, SpaceX — to provide broadband competition to terrestrial providers. ■

OneWeb said it has successfully launched another 40 low-earth-orbit (LEO) satellites as it builds a web of broadband birds to deliver high-speed service to the U.S., Europe and Asia.

The launch was courtesy of Elon Musk's SpaceX from Cape Canaveral in Florida. SpaceX has its own StarLink low-latency satellite-broadband play, but that has not prevented Musk’s rocket-launch company from helping competitor OneWeb get its birds into place.

Success means not only launch, but acquiring a signal from all 40 birds, which OneWeb said has happened.

That gives OneWeb a total of 542 satellites, or what it said is more than 80% of its first-generation fleet.

OneWeb is among many such LEO-based satellite broadband efforts the Federal Communications Commission has given its regulatory approval to promote broadband price and service competition; to advance the internet of things (IoT) and 5G for all; and to help close the digital divide in the U.S.

OneWeb’s stated goal is to get broadband to some of the hardest-to-reach areas of the world.

In June 2017, the FCC under then-chair Ajit Pai unanimously approved OneWeb's request to deliver its service in the U.S. market, including particularly hard-to-reach and expensive-to-reach rural areas.

Pai’s successor, Jessica Rosenworcel, also supports LEOs as a way to provide broadband competition.

OneWeb filed for bankruptcy in 2020, suggesting it was on the verge of getting financing when the pandemic hit. It had already invested billions of dollars in the enterprise.

The company was able to get new funding from, among others, the U.K. government, and emerged from bankruptcy late last year. It secured over $1 billion in launch insurance back in September 2021. ■

OneWeb said it is about ready to launch another 40 low-earth-orbit (LEO) satellites that will help it provide broadband connectivity in the U.S., Europe and Asia.

It said the launch window opens December 6.

The launch will be the company’s 15th and its first since one from India on October 23, when 36 satellites were launched and the signals successfully acquired, OneWeb said.

If successful, the latest launch will push OneWeb’s satellite total to just under 700 LEOs for delivering high-speed broadband service, which the company said is on track to light up next year.

This time, the launch will be from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center, a first for OneWeb.

OneWeb is among many such LEO-based satellite broadband efforts the Federal Communications Commission has given its regulatory approval to promote broadband price and service competition, to advance the internet of things (IoT) and 5G for all and to help close the digital divide in the U.S.

OneWeb’s stated goal is to get broadband to some of the hardest-to-reach areas of the world.

In June 2017, the FCC under then-chair Ajit Pai unanimously approved OneWeb's request to deliver its service in the U.S. market, including particularly hard-to-reach and expensive-to-reach rural areas.

Pai’s successor, chair Jessica Rosenworcel, also supports LEOs as a way to provide broadband competition.

OneWeb filed for bankruptcy in 2020, suggesting it was on the verge of getting financing when the pandemic hit. It had already invested billions of dollars in the enterprise.

The company was able to get new funding from, among others, the U.K. government, and emerged from bankruptcy late last year. It secured over $1 billion in launch insurance back in September 2021. ■

OneWeb has successfully added another three dozen low earth orbit satellites (LEOs) to its constellation of broadband satellites.

The satellites were launched October 23 by NewSpace India Limited and OneWeb said it had successfully acquired the signals of all 36 of them.

It is OneWeb's 14th launch and brings the total of satellites deployed to 462, which the company says represents more than 70% of its planned 648-satellite fleet, which is meant to deliver on high-speed low-latency broadband competition to wired and wireless providers.

OneWeb says it is now on track to light up that global service by 2023. 

"Today's launch is a significant milestone for OneWeb," said company executive chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal. "This new phase of our launch programme from India brings us a step closer to not only enhancing our global coverage but also delivering connectivity in India and South Asia, particularly to the communities who need it most."

Back in January, OneWeb struck a long-term deal to deliver service to India, contingent on securing the "appropriate" licenses and regulatory approvals. 

OneWeb is among a number of such LEO-based satellite broadband efforts the FCC has given its regulatory approval as a way to promote broadband price and service competition, advance IoT and 5G for all, and help close the digital divide in the U.S.

OneWeb's stated goal is to get broadband to some of the hardest-to-reach areas of the world.

In June 2017, the FCC unanimously approved OneWeb's request to deliver its service in the U.S. market, including particularly hard-to-reach and expensive-to-reach rural areas.

Pai's successor, chairperson Jessica Rosenworcel, also supports LEOs as a way to provide broadband competition.

OneWeb filed for bankruptcy in 2020, suggesting it was on the verge of getting financing when the pandemic hit. It had already invested billions of dollars in the enterprise.

It was able to get new funding from, among others, the British government, and emerged from bankruptcy late last year. It secured over $1 billion in launch insurance back in September 2021. ■

OneWeb and international satellite company Intelsat have struck a deal to target in-flight connectivity.

The distribution agreement allows Intelsat to distribute OneWeb’s low-earth-orbit (LEO) broadband satellite systems to airlines worldwide in tandem with Intelsat's existing geostationary service.

It is being billed as a “multi-orbit solution” to airline broadband that will reduce significant gaps in coverage and/or capacity at hubs and on transoceanic and polar routes for Internet browsing, texting, streaming, cellphone service and email.

The companies say that multi-orbit hybrid coverage should be ready to take off in 2024.

According to a report earlier this month from Verified Market Research, the in-flight connectivity and entertainment market — including hardware and content — is projected to reach over $12 billion by 2030, growing at a rate of over 8% per year. ■

Satellite broadband company OneWeb and French satellite operator Eutelsat, which is already an investor in the company, have proposed a $3 billion-plus merger that will help OneWeb better compete with Elon Musk’s Starlink in the satellite broadband space.

The companies are branding the deal as “creating a genuine global leader in satellite connectivity, future-proofing the company and the U.K.’s asset in a highly competitive market where there is considerable consolidation.”

The deal is subject to regulatory approval and includes both U.S. and European licenses.

They suggested the urge to merge was critical to their future success. “The space industry is moving towards consolidation, and we have acted to ensure we have the right scale, funding and business proposition to enhance our long-term future,” the companies said. “We are guaranteeing the development of our Gen2 satellite network and our ability to go head-to-head with the biggest players across new markets, working with customers and governments in new geographies.”

The all-stock transaction would see shareholders of both companies holding 50% of the newly combined operators under the Eutelsat name.

Eutelsat said it will provide funding to expand OneWeb's low Earth orbit (LEO) constellation of broadband satellites.

Eutelsat initially invested in OneWeb in April 2021. 

The Federal Communications Commission approved OneWeb’s satellite broadband service in 2017, one of several such companies, including SpaceX’s Starlink service, that the FCC hopes will provide competition to terrestrial broadband operators.

OneWeb filed for bankruptcy in March 2020 but reorganized later in the year with help from the British government, which took a 33% stake. ■

Only a week after SpaceX's latest launch of satellites for its Starlink broadband service was decimated by a geomagnetic (solar) storm, OneWeb said it had successfully launched its latest batch of broadband-delivering low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites.

SpaceX said earlier in the week that up to 40 of its 49 satellites launched February 3 from Cape Kennedy in Florida had been prevented from making their way to higher orbits due to the storm's affect on atmospheric density and were reentering the atmosphere, where they were designed to "demise" while creating no orbital debris and with no satellite parts hitting the ground.

Also: OneWeb Beefs Up Broadband Delivery System

On the upside for constellations of LEOS deployed to create a satellite broadband service, OneWeb said Thursday (February 10) that it had deployed 34 satellites from French Guiana, its first launch in 2022 and brining its constellation of broadband satellites to 428, or 66% of its planned total fleet of 648.

OneWeb said at press time signal-acquisition had been confirmed for all 34 satellites.

Also: OneWeb Strikes Deal for Launch in India

OneWeb said that came on the heels for new distribution partnerships with Hughes Network Systems and others to "help ensure connectivity is delivered to the most hard-to-reach places globally." ■

OneWeb, which is launching a global low-Earth-orbit (LEO) satellite-delivered broadband service, said it has struck a long-term deal to deliver service to India, contingent on securing the "appropriate" licenses and regulatory approvals.

The company said Thursday it has a six-year agreement with Hughes (EchoStar), a OneWeb investor through the latter's Hughes Communications India Private Ltd. (HCIPL), a joint venture between Hughes and Bharti Airtel Limited, which already delivers satellite broadband to the company.

OneWeb has yet to launch its service, but said it now has almost 400 LEOs deployed of a planned 648 and said it plans to begging that service by the end of the year.

Also: OneWeb Beefs Up Broadband Delivery

OneWeb is among a number of such LEO-based satellite broadband efforts the FCC has given its regulatory approval as a way to promote broadband price and service competition, advance IoT and 5G for all, and help close the digital divide in this country.

OneWeb's stated goal is to get broadband to some of the hardest-to-reach areas of the world.

In June 2017, the FCC unanimously approved OneWeb's request to deliver its service in the U.S. market, including particularly hard-to-reach and expensive-to-reach rural areas.

Pai's successor, chairperson Jessica Rosenworcel, also supports LEOs as a way to provide broadband competition.

OneWeb filed for bankruptcy in 2020, suggesting it was on the verge of getting financing when the pandemic hit. It had already invested billions of dollars in the enterprise.

It was able to get new funding from, among others, the British government, and emerged from bankruptcy late last year. It secured over $1 billion in launch insurance back in September 2021. ■

OneWeb says it has successfully launched three dozen more low-earth-orbit satellites, upping the number of in-orbit satellites to 394 for its high-speed broadband delivery service.

The satellites were riding a Russian Soyuz 2-1B rocket that lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

That 394 total to date (since 2019) represents more than 60% of OneWeb's planned 648-satellite fleet.

It is the 12th launch, and 10th in the past 12 months.

OneWeb secured over $1 billion in launch insurance back in September.

In June 2017, the FCC unanimously approved OneWeb's request to deliver its service in the U.S. market (as part of a global operation), including particularly hard-to-reach and expensive-to-reach rural areas, after FCC chairman Ajit Pai proposed approving it as a way to help close the digital divide and promote private sector investment.

His successor, Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, also supports LEOs as a way to provide broadband competition.

OneWeb filed for bankruptcy in 2020, suggesting it was on the verge of getting financing when the pandemic hit. It had already invested billions of dollars in the enterprise. 

It was able to get new funding from, among others, the British government, and emerged from bankruptcy late last year. ■

OneWeb, one of the companies looking to use constellations of satellites to provide competition to terrestrial and wireless broadband providers, is teaming with military communications contractor Leonardo DRS to offer broadband connectivity services to the Department of Defense, competing with the federal government systems businesses of cable broadband operators.

The companies will target “naval and maritime systems, ground combat mission command and network computing, global satellite communications and network infrastructure, avionics systems and intelligence and security solutions.”

Back in June 2017, the Federal Communications Commission unanimously approved OneWeb's request to use its constellation of low-earth-orbit satellites to deliver brodaband service in the U.S. (as part of a global operation), including particularly hard-to-reach and expensive-to-reach rural areas. That came after FCC chairman Ajit Pai proposed approving it as a way to help close the digital divide and promote private-sector investment.

The FCC subsequently approved similar plans by SpaceX, SpaceNorway, Kepler and Theia Holdings.

OneWeb, which filed for bankruptcy in 2020, earlier this year said it has more than $1 billion in launch insurance as it continues to build out its low-earth-orbit (LEO) satellite system.

OneWeb investors have included Qualcomm, Virgin Group and Hughes Electronics — Virgin Group founder Richard Branson and Qualcomm executive chairman Paul Jacobs were initially members of the board.

OneWeb, one of the companies looking to use constellations of satellites to provide competition to terrestrial and wireless broadband providers, said it has gotten over $1 billion in launch insurance as it continues to build out a low-earth-orbit (LEO) satellite system.

The insurance, secured by insurance uber-broker Marsh, covers physical loss or damage to the remaining satellites and vehicles yet to launch. The company has already delivered enough of the satellites to cover Canada, the UK, and Northern Europe, saying it can begin commercial service later this year.

It has a launch of 34 more satellites planned for later this week.

Back in June 2017, the FCC unanimously approved OneWeb's request to deliver its service in the U.S. market (as part of a global operation), including particularly hard-to-reach and expensive-to-reach rural areas, after FCC chairman Ajit Pai proposed approving it as a way to help close the digital divide and promote private sector investment.

The company filed for bankruptcy in 2020, suggested it was on the verge of getting financing when the pandemic hit. It had already invested billions of dollars in the enterprise. It was able to get new funding from, among others, the British government, and emerged from bankruptcy late last year. 

Alaskan cable and telecom provider GCI said it has entered into a $150 million partnership with Intelsat to expand its geosynchronous satellite capacity to meet growing demand in rural areas across the state.

According to GCI, the deal provides continued access to Intelsat’s C-band and Ku-band capacity -- already part of GCI’s portfolio -- but also provides new access to Ka-band spectrum across the state. 

As part of the deal Intelsat will supply a multiple-satellite solution over an enhanced managed earth station platform and a tri-band (C, Ku, and Ka) network that will cover the entire state of Alaska.

In a press release, GCI CEO Ron Duncan said the Intelsat deal will nearly quadruple the company’s available satellite capacity and is part of a much broader rural connectivity strategy that also includes its ambitious AU-Aleutians Fiber Project. 

“Today’s announcement is another example of GCI’s continued commitment to our rural customers and our willingness to make the investment necessary to serve small, remote communities across the state,” Duncan said in the press release.

Also Read: GCI Targets 17 Rural Communities for 2021 Broadband Upgrades 

GCI is Alaska’s largest telecommunications company and has delivered satellite-based connectivity for 35 years. The company said the Intelsat deal will ensure it has sufficient capacity to meet the needs of rural customers like regional tribal health care providers, school districts, government agencies, and businesses.

“What sets GCI’s satellite service apart is that we manage the network from end to end, combining Intelsat’s satellite capacity with GCI’s satellite engineering and remote logistics know-how,” GCI SVP of corporate development Billy Wailand said in a press release.

Also Read: GCI Commits to Deploy 2 Gbps Service in Alaska in 2022 

The agreement also adds another tool in GCI’s broadband service approach, which includes a mix of fiber, microwave, GEO satellites and eventually low earth orbit (LEO) satellites. GCI has been actively engaged in talks with LEO providers including SpaceX, OneWeb, and Telesat. 

Also Read: Cable’s Last Frontier 

“We are confident that LEOs will become an important part of GCI’s toolkit over time,” Wailand said in the release. “But before we begin encouraging some of our customers to consider a move to LEO satellites, we need to be confident in their performance and ability to meet our customers’ current and future demands. Our partnership with Intelsat provides GCI and our customers with an immediate solution that addresses capacity needs today, as well as the ability to integrate future technologies like LEOs when they become ready.”

OneWeb, one of the companies looking to use constellations of satellites to provide competition to terrestrial and wireless broadband providers, has filed for bankruptcy and will try to sell the company. 

OneWeb suggested it was on the verge of getting financing when the pandemic hit.  It had already invested billions of dollars in the enterprise.

"Since the beginning of the year, OneWeb had been engaged in advanced negotiations regarding investment that would fully fund the Company through its deployment and commercial launch," OneWeb indicated. "While the company was close to obtaining financing, the process did not progress because of the financial impact and market turbulence related to the spread of COVID-19." 

The bankruptcy filing was made in the Southern District of New York. The company said it will try to sell the operation to "maximize the value" of the company. It has launched 74 (of its planned 600-plus satellites) and has 44 ground stations completed or in development. 

Back in June 2017, the FCC unanimously approved OneWeb's request to deliver its service in the U.S. market (as part of a global operation), including particularly hard-to-reach and expensive-to-reach rural areas, after FCC chairman Ajit Pai proposed approving it. 

The FCC subsequently approved similar plans by SpaceX, SpaceNorway, Kepler and Theia Holdings. 

Closing the rural digital divide is one of the FCC's priorities, even more so in the age of social distancing. 

OneWeb investors included Qualcomm, Virgin, and Hughes--Virgin Group founder Richard Bransom and Qualcomm executive Chairman Paul Jacobs were initially members of the board. 

The goal was to blanket the planet with non-geostationary satellites. 

“OneWeb has been building a truly global communications network to provide high-speed low latency broadband everywhere," said CEO Adrian Steckel. "Our current situation is a consequence of the economic impact of the COVID-19 crisis. We remain convinced of the social and economic value of our mission to connect everyone everywhere." 

February was a busy month in the world of satellite broadband as a new speedy service was launched, a pair of demo satellites were slung into low earth orbit, and another high-capacity bird took a step toward the launch pad.

-The most significant of these was this week’s launch of a new 100 Mbps (downstream) service from Viasat that enters play roughly nine months after the satellite that is beaming that capacity, ViaSat-2, was launched from Kourou, French Guiana, aboard Arianspace’s Ariane 5 heavy-lift launch vehicle and placed into geosynchronous orbit.

While the new offering will provide unlimited data (customers could see slower speeds in period of congestion after they exceed a monthly soft data ceiling), it’s not cheap either – offered at a promotional price of $150 per month that rises to $200 per month after three months.

-EchoStar’s Hughes Network Systems division said it has reached the preliminary design phase on Jupiter 3 (EchoStar XXIV), another high-capacity satellite that will be capable of delivery 100 Mbps or more. Service on Jupiter 3 isn’t expected to start until 2021.

-A week ago (February 22), Elon Musk’s SpaceX launched two “demonstration” Starlink satellites that are part of an effort to eventually offer broadband using a constellation of thousands of LEO satellites.

Musk also tweeted an update as those two satellites – called Tintin A and Tintin B -- were deployed, later joking that the WiFi passwords for them is “martians”:

First two Starlink demo satellites, called Tintin A & B, deployed and communicating to Earth stations pic.twitter.com/TfI53wHEtz

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 22, 2018

In addition to providing extensive broadband coverage, the LEO approach aims to also cut down one of the issues that’s typical of satellite broadband: latency.

Despite SpaceX’s high-flying ambitions,The Wall Street Journal reported recently that the complexities of the project could play a role in extending the timetable, and that SpaceX still doesn’t have a good fix on what the ultimate costs will be.

Though SpaceX hasn’t announced a new schedule, the current, tentative goal is to start “limited service by 2020 now appears unrealistic,” the paper added, also citing documents from 2015 suggesting that Musk & Co. had projected that the satellite broadband biz is in position to have more than 40 million subs and pull down more than $30 billion in revenues by 2025.

-OneWeb, another LEO-focused satellite broadband initiative backed by investors such as Intelsat, Virgin Qualcomm, SoftBank and Hughes, hasn’t broken any news lately, though Hughes did note that it’s providing gateway equipment for OneWeb’s ground network under a contract currently worth $300 million, and that it might pursue rights to offer service on OneWeb’s network. OneWeb, which has plans to launch hundreds of light, mass-production satellites, plans to support more than 7 Tbps of total capacity in the first phase of the system.

Given the launch of a new 100-meg consumer broadband service, Viasat CEO Mark Dankberg was making the rounds in the media. And, as you might expect, he was asked to weigh in on the competitive threat posed by projects like SpaceX’s.

Speaking on CNBC’s Squawk on the Street, he said SpaceX will present competition “eventually…if they can build a few hundred or a thousand more of them and get them into space.”

Though LEO constellations promise to deliver lower latencies, he also held that Viasat’s use of satellites in geosynchronous orbit bring other benefits.

Larger, geosynchronous satellites like Viasat’s, he said, are placed into fairly safe orbits that don’t change with respect to the Earth or to other GEO satellites. By comparison, LEO systems will be more complex – there will be many more of them, and they will be constantly moving irrespective to each other and to the Earth.

Dankberg agreed there’s some sorting out needed with respect to security and privacy issues when asked what would happen if international law fell behind the pace of technology.

“That is a big issue, and there’s really no global agency that’s dealing with that,” he said.

He also shed some light on the economics of Viasat’s business. Though people make a big deal about launch prices, it’s not the most expensive part of the equation, compared to the satellite itself and the extensive ground fiber network that underpins the system.

[Images: Top (left to right): Renderings of the ViaSat-2 satellite and OneWeb low-earth orbit satellite. Bottom (left to right): The Arianspace Ariane 5 launch vehicle, and SpaceX's Falcon 9 two-stage rocket.]

The FCC has unanimously approved global satellite-delivered broadband service OneWeb's request to deliver its service in the U.S. market, but with some conditions and caveats.

Agency chair Ajit Pai had proposed granting the permission.

The FCC said OneWeb's petition prompted another potential satellite web service to also ask for access.

The declaratory ruling grants access by 720 satellites to a low-earth orbit satellite system that can reach everywhere in the country. That grant includes access to bands used by other networks.

The grant is conditioned on the outcome of a pending proceeding updating rules for fixed satellite systems, which will establish the final sharing criteria, and another pending item on spectrum sharing.

OneWeb board members include Virgin Group founder Richard Branson and Qualcomm executive chair Paul Jacobs. Investors include Qualcomm, Virgin and Hughes.

Commissioner Michael O'Rielly called the OneWeb plan ambitious, with some questions remaining about the scope of issues like in-line interference and orbital debris. He said he generally agreed with the item, but had concerns about those issues.

He called this a first step and said that the wireless and satellite industries are on a collision course.

Pai said the item was an effort to harness high-speed access for everyone via the non-geostationary plan that could reach the hardest-to-reach areas.

He said the FCC's International Bureau is reviewing those additional asks for spectrum for other satellite broadband efforts and hoped to be able to approve more low-earth geostationary broadband services.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai has scheduled a number of broadband and cable-related items for the June 22 public meeting including paving the way for a new satellite broadband effort.

That is according to the chairman's blog and a summary of the agenda released Thursday, June 1.

Pai is proposing the approval of a declaratory ruling that grants OneWeb's request to target the U.S. market as part of a global satellite-delivered broadband service. OneWeb board members include Virgin Group founder Richard Branson and Qualcomm executive Chairman Paul Jacobs. Investors include Qualcomm, Virgin and Hughes.

RELATED: Pai Pushes FCC Agenda at FSF Telecom Policy Conference

"One of our top priorities remains promoting broadband competition and deployment," said Pai. "Accordingly, we will vote on an order paving the way for the company OneWeb to provide broadband services using satellite technology that holds unique promise to expand internet access in remote and rural areas."

OneWeb plans on using a constellation of non-geostationary satellites (648 of them at last count) to blanket the planet.

Rural broadband deployment is one of Pai's signature issues.

RELATED: Top Pai Aide: FCC Will Protect Free, Open Internet

The FCC is also scheduled to vote on a notice of inquiry (NOI) seeking input on "ways to facilitate greater consumer choice and enhance broadband deployment in broadband deployment in multiple-tenant environments (like Shopping malls) and multiple dwelling units (MDUs) like apartments and condos and shopping malls.”

The notice seeks comment on "the current state of broadband competition in such locations and whether additional Commission action in this area is warranted to eliminate or reduce barriers faced by broadband providers that seek to serve the occupants of multiple tenant environments."

In addition, the commission will vote on a declaratory ruling--requested by NCTA-The Internet & Television Association and the American Cable Association--allowing cable operators to provide annual subscriber notices via e-mail, clarifying that "written information" doesn't require killing any trees. Pai called that "consistent with our work to streamline outdated and unnecessary rules."