They were getting along pretty well, Sirius and the WCS Coalition. Then the subject of video came up again, and whether it qualifies as an "ancillary service" under FCC satellite radio rules.

Sirius radio has filed comments with the Federal Communications Commission responding to the WCS wireless communications lobby's objections to the satellite radio service getting into the video business.

The WCS Coalition has "gratuitously wandered" into "unrelated topics," Sirius charges, in its filed opposition to Sirius' bid to launch "Sirius Backseat TV." The proposed service will stream three channels of children's programming from the Cartoon Network, the Disney Channel, and Nickelodeon.

The latest snafu comes as both parties struggle to reconcile broadcasting rules for satellite Digital Audio Radio Service (DARS or SDARS) repeaters and Wireless Communications Service (WCS) transmitters.

Both Sirius and XM satellite radio use DARS repeaters to reach customers whose receivers cannot receive a direct satellite signal. But WCS broadcasts, used to pinpoint the location of cell phone users, can sometimes interfere with satellite repeaters, used to extend satellite service to hard to reach areas.

Sirius and XM have presented the Commission with a united front on rules to fix the DARS/WCS problem. And in public filings, Sirius has even praised WCS's most recent response to Sirius/XM's proposals.

But now this. Plus, Sirius and WCS cite the exact same FCC sentence to make their point about satellite video.

The WCS case against Sirius TV

The WCS Coalition's April 17th filing raises doubts that the DARS service, launched in 1997, authorizes video programming. WCS says that FCC rules describe DARS as "a radiocommunication service in which audio programming is digitally transmitted by one or more space stations [emphasis added by WCS]."

WCS concedes that the rules permit DARS broadcasters to provide ancillary, or secondary, services, but claims the FCC limited these services to "high speed broadcast data, location based geographic information, electronic graphic/visual information, voice mail and alpha numeric messages."

"Conspicuously missing from this list of ancillary services," WCS comments, "is the provision of multiple channels of video programming such as Sirius Backseat TV will offer."

The Coalition also claims that Sirius has never responded to FCC queries as to whether video qualifies as an ancillary service, and that letting Sirius go into video could "prejudice" the agency's ability to resolve the DARS/WCS conflict.

"The Commission should not let Sirius get the proverbial camel's nose under the tent - " WCS concludes, "until final rules are adopted to govern WCS and DARS coexistence, Sirius should be precluded from offering Sirius Backseat TV."

Sirius responds

Sirius' April 25th response delves into the identical 1997 FCC language that WCS cites, and finds ancillary permission to stream video.

"The [WCS] Coalition provides neither logic nor law why 'electronic graphic/visual information' fails to include video," Sirius writes. "Indeed, the WCS Coalition's claim is flatly at odds with decades of FCC decisions favoring flexibility in the scope of permissible service offerings."

Sirius' filing assures the FCC that its video will use less than a fifth of the firms' licensed spectrum and will use the same emissions standards as its audio channels, avoiding interference with other systems.

"Thus, because satellite radio will use most of the spectrum and the new video offering will not increase harmful interference to other properly authorized systems . . . " Sirius says, "Sirius' backseat video is properly ancillary to satellite radio."

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