Request for Confidential Treatment

0039-EX-CN-2018 Text Documents

Ericsson

2018-01-19ELS_203574

                                                                1-18-2018


To the Office of Engineering and Technology:


          Re: Request for confidential treatment for information within STA Application,
          File. No. 0039-EX-CN-2018

        Ericsson respectfully requests that, pursuant to Sections 0.457 and 0.459 of the
Commission’s rules, 47 C.F.R. §§ 0.457 and 0.459, the Commission withhold from public
inspection and accord confidential treatment to the antenna parameters from our experimental
license application and related exhibits, File Number 0039-EX-ST-2018. This information
qualifies as trade secrets and commercial information that falls within Exemption 4 of the
Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”).1

        Exemption 4 of FOIA provides that the public disclosure requirement of the statute
“does not apply to matters that are . . . (4) trade secrets and commercial or financial
information obtained from a person and privileged or confidential.”2 Ericsson is providing the
trade secrets and commercial information “of a kind that would not customarily be released to
the public” because such disclosure is necessary to obtain an STA. Therefore, this information
is “confidential” under Exemption 4 of FOIA.3 Moreover, Ericsson would suffer substantial
competitive harm if the antenna information for our research program were disclosed.4

       In support of this request and pursuant to Section 0.459(b) of the Commission’s rules,5
Ericsson hereby states as follows:


1.        IDENTIFICATION OF THE SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR WHICH CONFIDENTIAL
          TREATMENT IS SOUGHT6

      Ericsson seeks confidential treatment of the antenna parameters for the demo, which are
      contained in the application exhibit. We have provided a public version of the exhibit in
      which we have redacted this information.




1
          5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(4).
2
          Id.
3
          See Critical Mass Energy Project v. NRC, 975 F.2d 871, 879 (D.C. Cir. 1992).
4
          See National Parks and Conservation Ass’n v. Morton, 498 F.2d 765 (D.C. Cir. 1974).
5
          47 C.F.R. § 0.459(b).
6
          47 C.F.R. § 0.459(b)(1).




    Ericsson 1776 Eye St. NW, Suite 240 Washington, DC 200006 Ph: +1 202.824.0103
    www.ericsson.com


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2.     DESCRIPTION OF CIRCUMSTANCES GIVING RISE TO THE SUBMISSION7

      Ericsson is submitting an application for authorization for an experimental license to
conduct 5G testing at our facility in Santa Clara, California.

3.     EXPLANATION OF THE DEGREE TO WHICH THE INFORMATION IS COMMERCIAL OR
       FINANCIAL, OR CONTAINS A TRADE SECRET OR IS PRIVILEGED8

        The information for which Ericsson seeks confidential treatment contains sensitive
trade secrets and commercial information “which would customarily be guarded from
competitors.”9 Ericsson has invested finances, planning and expertise into developing this
“secret commercially valuable plan” that is the program of research into 5G, and we have
previously been granted confidential treatment for antenna information when applying for
experimental licenses to conduct 5G trials and demos.10 Ericsson will use this research to
develop 5G products. The antenna parameters and diagrams are at the core of what and how
we will research and it is not information we would disclose outside of Ericsson except for the
need to obtain the experimental license.

4.     EXPLANATION OF THE DEGREE TO WHICH THE INFORMATION CONCERNS A
       SERVICE THAT IS SUBJECT TO COMPETITION11

       Developing network products is the core of Ericsson’s business and 5G is the next
generation of network technology, which is still in the research and development stage.
Ericsson faces competition in the US and globally to develop the best 5G products.

5.     EXPLANATION OF HOW DISCLOSURE OF THE INFORMATION COULD RESULT IN
       SUBSTANTIAL COMPETITIVE HARM12

        The release of the plan we are using to research and develop 5G products could result
in competitive harm to Ericsson to the extent it became available to competitors. Disclosing
the information would enable competitors to use and benefit from the investment Ericsson has
made to develop the 5G program of research and to shortcut their own research processes. It
would unjustly benefit our competitors to gain this insight into our research.




7
       47 C.F.R. § 0.459(b)(2).
8
       47 C.F.R. § 0.459(b)(3).
9
       47 C.F.R. § 0.457.
10     See, e.g., File Nos. 0808-EX-ST-2015, 0806-EX-ST-2015, and 1253-EX-ST-2015.
11
       47 C.F.R. § 0.459(b)(4).
12
       47 C.F.R. § 0.459(b)(5).


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6.     IDENTIFICATION OF ANY MEASURES TAKEN BY THE SUBMITTING PARTY TO
       PREVENT UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE13

       The information has been kept within Ericsson and disclosed only to personnel
working on the 5G research, except as discussed in the next section. We have provided a
redacted public exhibit to the application to keep the information confidential.

7.     IDENTIFICATION OF WHETHER THE INFORMATION IS AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC
       AND THE EXTENT OF ANY PREVIOUS DISCLOSURE OF THE INFORMATION TO THIRD
       PARTIES14

       The information is not available to the public. As referenced above, antenna
information has been disclosed to the FCC (and at times, NTIA) when we previously have
applied for experimental licenses to conduct 5G research or demos. The FCC has granted
confidential treatment to the information each time. To the extent this information has been
shared with customer partners as we conduct 5G research, it has been done under a
nondisclosure agreement. Accordingly, Ericsson requests that the Commission accord the
information covered by this Request confidential treatment under Sections 0.457 and 0.459 of
the Commission’s rules.

8.     JUSTIFICATION OF THE PERIOD DURING WHICH THE SUBMITTING PARTY ASSERTS
       THAT MATERIAL SHOULD NOT BE AVAILABLE FOR PUBLIC DISCLOSURE15

        Ericsson requests that the antenna information be treated as confidential for a period of
5 years. We request this time period so that competitors cannot benefit from our research as
the industry develops 5G technology. By the end of 5 years, research into 5G should have
developed to an extent where disclosing this information to the public would not be a
competitive risk.

9.     OTHER INFORMATION THAT ERICSSON BELIEVES MAY BE USEFUL IN ASSESSING
       WHETHER ITS REQUEST FOR CONFIDENTIALITY SHOULD BE GRANTED16

       Granting this request for confidentiality is consistent with a policy of supporting
innovation and the investment necessary to conduct research.




13
       47 C.F.R. § 0.459(b)(6).
14
       47 C.F.R. § 0.459(b)(7).
15
       47 C.F.R. § 0.459(b)(8).
16
       47 C.F.R. § 0.459(b)(9).


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Respectfully submitted,

___/s/__________
Kelley A. Shields
Director, Government Affairs and Public Policy



Document Created: 2018-01-18 15:50:52
Document Modified: 2018-01-18 15:50:52

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