Corrected Comments of Intelsat License LLC COMMENT by Intelsat License LLC SAT-AMD-20120913-00148 Intelsat Comments on

Intelsat Comments on

COMMENT submitted by Intelsat License LLC

Corrected Comments of Intelsat License LLC

2012-11-28

This document pretains to SAT-AMD-20120913-00148 for Amended Filing on a Satellite Space Stations filing.

IBFS_SATAMD2012091300148_976575

Before the
FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20554

In the Matter of )
)
DIRECTV Enterprises, LLC ) File No. SAT-A/O-20120817-00137
) (S2369)
)
Application as Amended ) File Nos. SAT-AMD-20120824-00142
for Authorization to Operate ) & SAT-AMD-20120913-00148
DIRECTV 1R at 55.8° E.L. ) (S2872)

COMMENTS OF INTELSAT LICENSE LLC

Intelsat License LLC (“Intelsat”)1 hereby comments in support of the above-referenced

amended application of DIRECTV Enterprises, LLC (“DIRECTV”) for authority to operate the

DIRECTV 1R satellite at 55.8° E.L.2 In response to DIRECTV’s application, New Skies

Satellites B.V. (doing business as “SES”) requests that the International Bureau (“the Bureau”)

impose conditions on the DIRECTV 1R grant to safeguard the rights of adjacent satellite

1
DIRECTV, the Russian Satellite Communications Company (“RSCC”), and Intelsat
License LLC, entered a commercial arrangement to mitigate an unexpected gap in service at the
nominal 56º E.L. orbital location. The RSCC operates Bonum 1 at the 56º E.L. orbital location.
In order to extend its useful life, Bonum 1 is being operated in an increasingly inclined orbit,
which has begun to compromise its ability to provide reliable service to RSCC’s subscribers.
The commercial arrangement between DIRECTV, RSCC, and Intelsat provides for the migration
of DIRECTV 1R to the 55.8º E.L. orbital location, and the transfer of some traffic from Bonum 1
to DIRECTV 1R to ensure continuity of service to RSCC’s subscribers at the nominal 56º E.L.
orbital location.
2
See DIRECTV Enterprises, LLC, File Nos. SAT-A/O-20120817-00137 (filed Aug. 17,
2012), SAT-AMD-20120824-00142 (filed Aug. 24, 2012), SAT-AMD-20120913-00148 (filed
Sept. 27, 2012). The original application for authorization to relocate to 56.16º E.L. was later
amended to request authorization at 55.8º E.L. See also DIRECTV Enterprises, LLC, File No.
SAT-AMD-20120913-00148 (filed Sept. 27, 2012).

operations.3 Intelsat urges the Commission to avoid imposing conditions that are unnecessary to

ensure operations on a non-interference basis and may be used to influence any operator-to-

operator coordination discussions that may be required.

Specifically, the Commission should reject SES’s request that the Commission impose a

condition requiring DIRECTV to comply with relevant PFD limits in Appendix 30 of the ITU

Radio Regulations unless higher levels have been successfully coordinated.4 As explained by

DIRECTV, from an ITU perspective, these limits are intended as a coordination trigger, not an

operating limitation.5 Indeed, the ITU permits operations pending the outcome of required

coordination provided there is no harmful interference (see No. 4.1.18 of Appendix 30 of the

ITU Radio Regulations). Moreover, from an FCC perspective, imposing the condition requested

by SES conflicts with the Commission’s long-standing precedent for operation of satellites with

lower ITU priority on an unprotected and non-harmful interference basis. 6 Thus, there is no

domestic or international requirement for the FCC to impose the condition SES requests.

In Intelsat’s experience, including the condition requested by SES in an FCC order

unnecessarily alters the coordination environment between private satellite operators. Intelsat

recently faced similar opposition from Al Yah Satellite Communications Company PrJSC

3
See Comments of New Skies Satellites B.V., IBFS File No. SAT-AMD-20120913-00148
(filed Oct. 31, 2012).
4
Id. at 8.
5
See Response of DIRECTV Enterprises, LLC, File Nos. SAT-A/O-20120817-00137,
SAT-AMD-20120824-00142, and SAT-AMD-20120913-00148 at 2 (filed Nov. 13, 2012).
6
Amendment of the Commission’s Space Station Licensing Rules and Policies, First Report
and Order, 18 FCC Rcd 10,760, 10,870-71 ¶ 296 (2003). See, e.g., Galaxy 26 50.0º E.L. Grant,
IBFS File No. SAT-MOD-20110420-00073, Attachment to Grant at ¶ 1 (Mar. 2, 2012)
(requiring all operations to be on an unprotected and non-harmful interference basis).

2

(“Yahsat”), in a joint venture with SES, to the non-interference/non-protected operational

parameters of a pending modification application.7 Yahsat claimed that Intelsat’s proposed

operations—regardless of the non-interference/non-protected requirement—would cause harmful

interference to Yahsat’s adjacent satellite operating under a higher ITU-priority filing. However,

after the FCC imposed upon Intelsat a condition limiting the satellite’s operation to the

coordination trigger levels in Appendix 30, Yahsat and Intelsat reached a coordination

agreement.8

The FCC should not impose upon applicants technical parameters that the ITU employs

as coordination triggers because by doing so, the FCC adversely influences the coordination

process to the detriment of the applicant. The ITU does not require operators to limit

transmissions to the trigger level; to the contrary, the ITU rules explicitly allow operation

pending the outcome of required coordination provided there is no harmful interference. Intelsat

urges the FCC not to allow its processes to be used to alter the coordination environment

established by the ITU’s rules. Intelsat therefore urges the FCC to grant DIRECTV’s pending

application without a condition requiring operations below the PFD coordination trigger set forth

in Appendix 30 of the ITU Radio Regulations.

7
See Comments of New Skies Satellites B.V., IBFS File No. SAT-MOD-20110420-00073
(filed June 6, 2011). See also Comments of Al Yah Satellite Communications Company PrJSC,
IBFS File No. SAT-MOD-20110420-00073 (filed June 6, 2011).
8
See Joint Letter of Intelsat and Yahsat, File Nos. SAT-STA-20120125-00012; SAT-STA-
20111219-00241; SAT-STA-20111207-00236; SAT-STA-20111123-00227; SAT-STA-
20110923-00185; SAT-STA-20110727-0037; SAT-STA-20110314-00053; SAT-MOD-
20110420-00073 (filed Feb. 24, 2012).

3

Respectfully submitted,

/s/ Susan H. Crandall

Susan H. Crandall
Assistant General Counsel, Intelsat Corporation

Jennifer D. Hindin
Colleen King
WILEY REIN LLP
1776 K Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20006

November 28, 2012

4

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I hereby certify that, on this 28th day of November, 2012, a copy of the foregoing Comments of

Intelsat License LLC was served by first class mail upon:

Karis A. Hastings Daniel C.H. Mah
SatCom Law LLC Regulatory Counsel
1317 F Street, N.W., Suite 400 for New Skies Satellites B.V.
Washington, DC 20004 1129 20th Street N.W., Suite 1000
Washington, DC 20036

William M. Wiltshire Yuri Prokhorov
Wiltshire & Grannis LLP Director General
1200 Eighteenth Street, N.W. Russian Satellite Communications Company
Washington, DC 20036 8, str. 6, 1-st Goncharny pereulok,
Moscow, 115172, Russia

/s/ Colleen King
Colleen King

Document Created: 2012-11-28 18:46:12
Document Modified: 2012-11-28 18:46:12

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