Attachment comment

comment

COMMENT submitted by SES Americom

comment

2003-08-07

This document pretains to SAT-LOA-20030611-00115 for Application to Launch and Operate on a Satellite Space Stations filing.

IBFS_SATLOA2003061100115_719390

                                                         ORIGINALpeceivep
                                   Before the
                    FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION                           AuG — 7 2003
                             Washington, D.C. 20554
                                                                         FEDERAL Communications commusston
                                                )                              OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY
In the Matter of                                )
                                                )
DIRECTV Enterprises, LLC                        )            SAT—LOA—20030611—00115
                                                )
For Authority to Launch and Operate             )        R@% o
DIRECTV 78 (USABSS—18)                          )       au        Veq
                                                n            C518 on,     IntiBureau
                                                       Pog
To:                  20                             ’"’eme;foynf,'g”fi      AUG 1 2 2003
           Sefjelife.NVs IOn                                      Teay    Front Office
                          COMMENTS OF SES AMERICOM, INC.

                 SES AMERICOM, Inc. ("SES AMERICOM"), by its attorneys and

pursuant to Section 25.154 of the Rules of the Federal Communications Commission (the

"Commission"),‘ hereby submits these comments in response to the application of

DIRECTV Enterprises, LLC ("DIRECTV") for authority to launch and operate a direct

broadcast satellite service ("DBS") satellite referred to as "DIRECTV 78" at the 119°

W.L. orbital location."     As the Commission is aware, SES AMERICOM has filed a

Petition with the Commission to provide DBS capacity from a Gibraltar—licensed satellite




1     47 C.F.R. § 25.154.
2     See DIRECTV Enterprises, LLC, Application for Authority to Launch and Operate
      DIRECTV 78 (USABSS—18), SAT—LOA—20030611—00115, June 11, 2003 (the
      "DIRECTV 78 Application"); Public Notice, Report No. SAT—00156 (July 8, 2003).
      The DIRECTV 78 Application indicates that the satellite will carry a backup payload
      for the DIRECTV 48 satellite at 101° W.L., but does not request authority to operate
      at that location at this time. DIRECTV 78 Application at 9. The instant comments
      therefore consider operation of DIRECTV 78 only at 119° W.L.


JAVIOIRNO


at 105.5° W.L.* SES AMERICOM does not oppose the DIRECTV 78 Application, but

seeks clarification on aspects of DIRECTV‘s technical showing for the proposed satellite.

                The Commuission‘s technical rules for DBS space stations include a

requirement, contained in Section 25.111(c) of the Commission‘s Rules, that an analysis

be performed with respect to the sharing criteria in Annex 1 of Appendices 30 and 30A of

the ITU Radio Regulations, in order to determine if the services of other Administrations,

or other U.S. systems, are affected by the proposed system." One component of this

analysis assesses the potential impact of a new space station on BSS Plan assignments

and pending modifications to the Plans. If the results of the analysis indicate that a space

station having ITU priority over the new space station is affected by the new space

station, coordination is required.

                The DIRECTV 78 Application states that analysis with respect to the

sharing criteria in Appendices 30 and 30A of the ITU Radio Regulations has been

performed." However, the Application provides no details of that analysis. With respect

to the Appendix 30 analysis (for service links), the Application states only that "the




3    SES AMERICOM, Inc., Petition for Declaratory Ruling To Serve the U.S. Market
     Using BSS Spectrum from the 105.5° W.L. Orbital Location, SAT—PDR—20020425—
     00071, April 25, 2002.

4    47 CFR. § 25.111(c). Appendices 30 and 30A of the ITU Radio Regulations contain
     the Region 2 "BSS Plan" and associated "Feeder Link Plan" (collectively, the
     "Plans") that assign orbital slots and frequencies for broadcasting—satellite service
     ("BSS") satellites. BSS is the terminology used by the ITU and internationally to
     describe what is referred to in the United States as "direct broadcast satellite" or
     "DBS"service. Appendices 30 and 30A include procedures for modifying the Plans
     to accommodate systems, such as DIRECTV 78, whose technical parameters differ
     from the planned assignments.

°*   DIRECTV 78 Application at 4.




administration of Canada is affected."" With respect to the Appendix 30A analysis (for

feeder links), the Application states only that "the administrations of Canada and Mexico

are affected.""

                  The DIRECTV 78 Application provides no indication which assignments

or pending modifications of these Administrations are affected, or the degree to which the

sharing criteria is exceeded. More importantly, the Application does not specify which

assignments and pending modifications were included in the analysis.

                  As the Commission has acknowledged, Appendices 30 and 30A require

Administrations to coordinate with any other Administration having an affected Region 2

Plan assignment or prior—filed Plan modification, in order to gain entry into the Region 2

BSS Plans.©       To determine the coordination requirements for DIRECTV 78 (USABSS—

18 for ITU purposes), the interference analysis for USABSS—18 must assess the impact of

that satellite on all prior pending modifications." From the information contained in the

DIRECTV 78 Application, it is not clear whether all pending modifications have been

considered. For example, it is not clear whether the analysis included a proposed

modification filed by the United Kingdom for the USAT—S2 satellite at 114.5° W.L.




°   DIRECTV 78 Application, Technical Annex at 27.

‘   Id. at 34.

8   EchoStar Satellite Corporation, Order and Authorization, DA 02—1455 (June 20,
    2002) (the "EchoStar VIII License"), [ 7.

    The Radiocommunication Bureau of the ITU (the "BR") is experiencing a significant
    backlog in publishing proposed modifications to the Plans, and, until recently, data on
    pending modifications having a higher priority than a new proposed modification was
    often unavailable. However, the BR now makes publicly available information on the
    proposed modifications to the Plan that have not yet been processed and officially
    published by the BR. Therefore, it is now generally possible to perform analysis that
    includes all pending modifications having priority over a proposed new ITU filing.
                                             3




              For the above reasons, the Commission should require DIRECTV to

provide an Appendix 30/30¢ analysis that specifies the impact on all assignments and

pending modifications having higher priority than DIRECTV 78 (USABSS—18). The

Commission should also clarify in any license for DIRECTV 78 that coordination will be

required with all Administrations having affected assignments or higher—priority pending

modifications. Such action is necessary to ensure that the DIRECTV 78 satellite

complies with both ITU and Commission Rules.

                                            Respectfully submitted,

                                            SES AMERICOM, INC.




                                            o Ml,/fot
                                                 PhillipL. Spectof
                                                 Diane C. Gaylor
                                                 PAUL, WEISS, RIFKIND,
                                                  WHARTON & GARRISON LLP
                                                 1615 L Street, NW
                                                 Suite 1300
                                                 Washington, DC 20036
                                                 202—223—7300

                                                 Attorneys for SES AMERICOM, Inc.

August 7, 2003




                            CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

               I hereby certify that on August 7, 2003, a copy of the foregoing Comments

of SES AMERICOM, Inc., was served via first class United States mail, postage prepaid,

on the following:


Gary Epstein
James H. Barker
Arthur S. Landerholm
Latham & Watkins
555 11‘" Street, N.W.
Suite 1000
Washington, D.C. 20004
Counselfor Hughes Electronics Corporation


                                                   LAbeW loudt
                                                      Kathleen W. Arnold





Document Created: 2019-04-18 13:49:49
Document Modified: 2019-04-18 13:49:49

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