Request for Confidential Treatment

0759-EX-ST-2017 Text Documents

Ericsson

2017-06-09ELS_193385

                                                                6-9-2017


To the Office of Engineering and Technology:


          Re: Request for confidential treatment for information within Experimental License
          Application, File. No. 0759-EX-ST-2017

        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 details of our LAA trials outlined in our
Exhibits to File Number 0759-EX-ST-2017. 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 identified information in 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 for the testing details, which are contained in the
      Exhibit to the application. 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 20006 Ph: +1 202.824.0103
    www.ericsson.com


                                                                                                 2 (3)
                                                        :




2.     DESCRIPTION OF CIRCUMSTANCES GIVING RISE TO THE SUBMISSION7

       Ericsson is submitting an application for authorization for special temporary authority
to conduct LAA trials.

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 the
“secret commercially valuable plan” that is the program of research into LAA, and we will
use this research to develop our LAA products. The testing details are part of this plan and
that is not information we would disclose except for the need to obtain the STA.

4.     EXPLANATION OF THE DEGREE TO WHICH THE INFORMATION CONCERNS A
       SERVICE THAT IS SUBJECT TO COMPETITION10

        Developing network products is the core of Ericsson’s business and LAA is highly
competitive product offering. There is competition between us and our direct competitors, as
well as competition between major operators seeking to launch LAA.

5.     EXPLANATION OF HOW DISCLOSURE OF THE INFORMATION COULD RESULT IN
       SUBSTANTIAL COMPETITIVE HARM11

        The release of the plan we are using to research and develop LAA 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 current program of research, to shortcut their own research
processes and to undermine our position with customers. It would unjustly benefit our
competitors to gain this insight into our research. The information could also cause
substantial competitive harm our customers, as their competitors would get unfair competitive
insight into our technology and investment.




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
       47 C.F.R. § 0.459(b)(4).
11
       47 C.F.R. § 0.459(b)(5).


                                                                                                   3 (3)
                                                         :




6.     IDENTIFICATION OF ANY MEASURES TAKEN BY THE SUBMITTING PARTY TO
       PREVENT UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE12

       The information has been disclosed only to Ericsson personnel as needed, and when it
has been necessary to disclose any of this information for joint customer research, that has
been done under a Nondisclosure Agreement. We have provided a redacted narrative 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
       PARTIES13

       The information is not available to the public. Ericsson has shared some of the
technical information with a limited number of customer personnel for joint research pursuant
to a Nondisclosure Agreement. Per the NDA, all the information will remain confidential.
Accordingly, Ericsson requests that the Commission accord the information covered by this
Request for 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 DISCLOSURE14
        Ericsson requests that the requested information be treated as confidential for a period
of 1 year. The next 6 months are a highly competitive time for LAA, and we anticipate most
of the competitive risk will be during the next 6 months to 1 year.

9.     OTHER INFORMATION THAT ERICSSON BELIEVES MAY BE USEFUL IN ASSESSING
       WHETHER ITS REQUEST FOR CONFIDENTIALITY SHOULD BE GRANTED15
       Granting this request for confidentiality is consistent with a policy of supporting
innovation and the investment necessary to conduct research.

                                              Respectfully submitted,

                                              /s/ Kelley A Shields

                                              Kelley A. Shields
                                              Director, Government Affairs and Public Policy


12
       47 C.F.R. § 0.459(b)(6).
13
       47 C.F.R. § 0.459(b)(7).
14
       47 C.F.R. § 0.459(b)(8).
15
       47 C.F.R. § 0.459(b)(9).



Document Created: 2017-06-09 16:36:12
Document Modified: 2017-06-09 16:36:12

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