Attachment Deere resp to TMI re

This document pretains to SAT-ASG-20010302-00017 for Assignment on a Satellite Space Stations filing.

IBFS_SATASG2001030200017_935532

o Before the P FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION RECE'V Washington, D.C. 20554 In re Applications of N/ NZ/NZ/NZ N/ N/ N/ N/ N/ NNN NNN NNN NZZ OF ThE seopey f Motient Services Inc. File Nos.SAT—ASG—20010302—00017= and TMI Communications and Co., LP SES—ASG—20010116—00097 for Authority to Assign Their Earth Station, Space Station, 214, Special Temporary, and SES—ASG—20010116—00098 Pending Authorizations to Mobile Satellite Ventures Subsidiary LLC; SES—ASG—20010116—00099 and to Modify Their Earth Station and Space Station Authorizations as well as Their STAs and Pending Applications to permit MSV Sub to Use Canadian—Licensed Facilities; and to Launch and Operate a Next—Generation Mobile Satellite System. To: Chief, International Bureau CONSOLIDATED RESPONSE OF DEERE & COMPANY Deere & Company ("Deere"), by its attorneys, hereby responds to the "Reply to Deere Petition and KITComm Opposition" filed by TMI Communications and Company, Limited Partnership ("TMI‘) and the "Consolidated Opposition To Petitions to Deny and Reply to Comments" filed by Motient Services, Inc. ("Motient") on May 7, 2001.‘ In its Petition to Deny, Deere demonstrated that Commission consent to the proposed merger between Motient and TMI would result in a reduction from two to one of the number of L—Band Mobile Satellite Service 1 On May 11, 2001, the International Bureau granted the "Motion for Extension of Time" filed by Inmarsat Ventures ple ("Inmarsat") to change the response deadline from May 14, 2001 to May 21, 2001.

("MSS") providers and that such elimination of competition would be contrary to the public interest. In their pleadings, Motient and TMI argue that (1) Deere has no interest in TMI as a provider of competitive service because Deere is not interested in TMI‘s service; (2) there will be no reduction in the services offered from the current Motient and TMI satellites as a result of the merger; and (3) the merger is essential for the financial future of L—band MSS. For the reasons discussed below, Motient and TMI miss the mark with all three arguments. Deere agrees that in its Consolidated Opposition to Petitions to Deny," filed on March 22, 2001, Deere explained that the TMI satellite is not available as a back—up in the event of an outage, because of the need to reprogram all of the receivers to receive the TMI signal. Clearly, the time it would take to for Deere to contact each of its customers and have them reprogram their receivers would exceed even a prolonged service outage. On the other hand, it is not impossible for Deere to have each of its customers reprogram their receivers if necessary for cost: or quality reasons. It would merely take some time to get it done. In their pleadings Motient and TMI fail to address the fundamental competitive principle of incipient competition — the existence of a competitor and the theoretical ability of a customer to switch service to that competitor makes it essential for a service provider to respond to the customer‘s needs or eventually lose the customer. Therefore, although it would not be easy for Deere to switch service providers from Motient to TMI, that Deere theoretically can switch service providers is expected to have some influence on the quality and price of service offered by Motient. Here, Motient, which had vigorously opposed TMI‘s authorization to enter the market, now expects to merge with TMI. Because Motient does not view TMI as a competitor, there is no threat of potential competition to provide an incentive to Motient to be responsive to customer needs with respect to service, repair, or price. Thus, Motient sees itself as having a 2 Application of Deere & Company, File No. SES—LIC—20010112—00051.

monopoly, and its behavior is typical of a monopolist. Grant of the proposed TMI/Motient merger would perpetuaté this anti—competitive status quo. Similarly, Motient and TMI miss the point when they argue that even after their proposed merger, both the Motient and TMI satellites will continue to provide service, and, they assert, there will be no reduction in services offered by the combined entity. The critical issue missed by both Motient and TMI, however, is that there is a substantial difference between one service provider offering service over two different facilities and two unrelated service providers offering competitive service, each using a different facility. In the first case, the one service provider has a monopoly and is totally unresponsive to customer needs. In the second case, the two providers, although comprising a duopoly, can and likely would compete on rates, terms and service offerings, thereby providing better service to customers. Although anti—trust experts can differ over how many competitors are necessary to provide full competition in a market, there is no dispute that the reduction in the number of service providers from two to one is a substantial reduction in competition because it represents a change from some competition to no competition. Lastly, Motient and TMI assert that their continued viability is contingent on the merger. As in their original applications, Motient and TMI provide no substantiation for their assertions. Rather, they make the assertions because they savor and want to continue to enjoy the privileged position of a monopolist. However, the Commission is under an obligation to make a public interest determination as to the merits of the proposed merger, not to guarantee the viability of Motient or TMI. The Commussion‘s role is to protect competition and not to protect particular service providers. It cannot take at face value such unsupported assertions on the part of Motient and TMI when it is clear that the proposed merger would result in the elimination of competition and is thus contrary to the public interest.

Conclusion For the reasons stated above, the Commission should deny the proposed merger of Motient and TMI until after at least some competitive sérvice provider can offer L—Band MSS in the U.S. Such competition would be established when users are authorized to access Inmarsat for non—core services. Respectfully submitted, DEERE & COMPANY Z/@/ )tZL_\—z— elen E. Disemhaus Eliot J. Greenwald Ruth Pritchard—Kelly Its Attorneys SWIDLER BERLIN SHEREFF FRIEDMAN, LLP 3000 K Street, NW, Suite 300 Washington, D.C. 20007—5116 (202) 424—7500 May 21, 2001 377176.3

w ; CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE 1, Penny Jacksori, hereby certify that on this 21°" day of May 2001, I caused a copy of the foregoing Consolidated Response of Deere & Company to be sent served on the following by U.S. Mail or hand delivery to the attached list of reci?? t Penny Jackson

Michael K. Powell, Chairman Kelly Cameron Federal Communications Commission Robert Galbreath 445 12"" Street, S.W. Power Goldstein Frazer & Murphy, L.L.P. Washington, D.C. 20554 1001 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. 6"" Floor John Coles Washington, D.C. 20004 Satellite Policy Branch Satellite & Radiocommunication Division Rebecca Arbogast, International Bureau ChiefTelecommunication Division Federal Communications Commission International Bureau 445 Twelfth Street, S.W. Federal Communications Commission Washington, D.C. 20554 445 12" Street, S.W. Washington, D. C. 20554 Susan Ness, Commissioner Federal Communications Commission Karl Kensinger, Special Advisor 455 12‘" Street, S.W. Satellite & Radiocommunication Division Washington, D.C. 20554 International Bureau Federal Communications Commission Harold W. Furchtgott—Roth, Commussioner 445 12"" Street, S.W. International Bureau Washington, D.C. 20554 Federal Communications Commission 445 Twelfth Street, S.W. Claudia Fox Washington, D.C. 20554 Policy and Facilities Branch Telecommunications Division James L. Ball Federal Communications Commission International Bureau 445 12"" Street, S.W. Federal Communications Commission Washington, D.C. 20554 445 Twelfth Street, S.W. Washington, D.C. 20554 Ronald Repasi, Chief Satellite Engineering Branch Gloria Tristani, Commissioner Satellite & Radiocommunication Division Federal Communications Commission International Bureau 445 12"" Street, S.W. Federal Communications Commission Washington, D.C. 20554 445 12" Street, S.W. Washington, D.C. 20554 John I. Riffer Officer of General Counsel Sylvia Lam Federal Communications Commission Satellite Engineering Branch 445 12"" Street, S.W. Satellite & Radiocommunication Division Washington, D. C. 20554 International Bureau Federal Communications Commission Tom Tycz, ChiefSatellite & 445 12"" Street, S.W. Radiocommunication Division Washington, D.C. 20554 International Bureau Federal Communications Commission 445 Twelfth Street, S.W. Washington, D.C. 20554

Terrence Reideler _ Cheryl A. Tritt International Bureau — Charles Kennedy Federal Communications Commission Morrison & Foerster LLP 445 12"" Street, S.W. 2000 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20554 Suite 5500 Washington, D.C. Lon C. Levin Vice President and Regulatory Counsel Lawrence H. Williams Motient Services Inc. and Mobile Satellite Suzanne Hutchings Ventures Subsidiary LLC New ICO Global Communications 10802 Parkridge Boulevard (Holdings) Ltd. Reston, VA 20191 1730 Rhode Island Avenue, N.W. Suite 1000 Bruce D. Jacobs Washington, D.C. 20036 David S. Konczal Shaw Pittman Michael F. Altschul 2300 N Street, NW. Cellular Telecommunications Washington, DC 20037 & Internet Association 1250 Connecticut Avenue, NW International Transcription Services, Inc. Suite 800 455 12"" Street, SW Washington, D.C. 20036 Room CY—B402 Washington, D.C. 20554 Mary Ellen Warlow Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Tara K. Giunta, Esq. Criminal Division Timothy J. Logue Department of Justice Space & Telecommunications Analyst 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Courdert Brothers Washington, D.C. 20530 1627 I Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20006 Gregory C. Staple Vinson & Elkins L.LP. Thomas J. Sugrue, Chief 1455 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Wireless Telecommunications Bureau Washington, DC 20004—1008 Federal Communications Commission 445 12"" Street, S.W. Cassandra Thomas Washington, D.C. 20554 Satellite and Radiocommunication Division International Bureau Herbert Zeiler Federal Communications Commission. Wireless Telecommunications Bureau 445 12" Street, S.W. Federal Communications Commission Washington, D.C. 20554 445 12"" Street, S.W. Washington, D.C. 20554 Fern Jarmulnek, Senior Legal Advisor Satellite and Radiocommunication Division International Bureau Federal Communications Commission 445 12"" Street, S.W. Washington, D.C. 20554

Jennifer Gilsenan _ Kathleen O‘Brien Ham, Deputy Bureau Satellite and Radiocommunication Division Chief International Bureau Wireless Telecommunications Bureau Federal Communications Commission Federal Communications Commission 445 12"" Street, S.W. 445 12"" Street, S.W. Washington, D.C. 20554 Washington, D.C. 20554 Luisa L. Lancetti Jim Schlichting, Deputy Bureau Chief Jay C. Keithley Wireless Telecommunications Bureau Roger C. Sherman Federal Communications Commission Sprint Corporation 445 12"" Street, S.W. 401 9" Street, NW. Suite 400 Washington, D.C. 20554 Washington, D.C. 20004 Anna M. Gomez, Deputy Chief J.R. Carbonell International Bureau Carol L. Tacker Federal Communications Commission David G. Richards 445 12" Street, S.W. Cingular Wireless LLC Washington, D.C. 20554 5565 Glenridge Connector, Suite 1700 Atlanta, GA 30342 John T. Scott, III Verizon Wireless John L. Bartlett 1300 I Street, NW., Suite 400W Wiley, Rein & Fielding Washington, D.C. 20005 1776 K Street, NW. Washington, D.C. 20006—2304 Donald C. Brittingham Verizon Wireless John C. Smith, Esq. 1300 I Street, NW., Suite 400W Aeronautical Radio, Inc. Washington, D. C. 20005 2551 Riva Road Annapolis, MD 21401 Julius P. Knapp, Chief Policy and Rules Division Howard J. Symons Office of Engineering and Technology Sara F. Leibman Federal Communications Commuission Catherine Carroll 445 12"" Street, S.W. Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Washington, D.C. 20554 Popeo, P.C. 701 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Suite 900 Washington, D.C. 20004 Douglas I. Brandon David P. Wye AT & T Wireless Services, Inc. 1150 Connecticut Avenue, N.W. Fourth Floor Washington, D.C. 20036


Document Created: 2012-01-13 17:21:12
Document Modified: 2012-01-13 17:21:12
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