On Fri, 21 Sep 2001, Rowland, Alan D wrote:
Or you could pony up for a non-preemptable circuit. Much more expensive. Your choice. Live with it.
There are several levels of preemption. At the highest level, which to my knowledge has *not* been activated, every carrier with an FCC license (including cable landing and satellite earthstation licenses) are subject to preemption by the US Government. Its in the FCC rules and regulations, but I don't have the citation with me. Even so-called "Irrevocable Right to Use" are subject to preemption under this condition. The only limitiation is in the US Constitution, 5th Amendment, which means US Carriers still get preempted, but also get a big check from the US Treasury in compensation. Lower levels of pre-emption work much like the electrical grid or advertisers on the television networks. You get a discount, in return the carrier is able to turn off your circuit if they need the transponder for something else, or just a better paying customer. For example, if PanAmSat lost a satellite and re-routed traffic over PAS-2, people who took the discount also accepted the risk they could be pre-empted on PAS-2. Or if a higher paying customer, e.g. US Military needs bandwidth, people getting the discount are the first ones booted off the satellite. I suspect the PAS-2 pre-emption is of the second variety. Which means you aren't entitled to compensation except as called out in your contract with PanAmSat.