Attachment ex parte

This document pretains to SAT-PDR-20020425-00071 for Petition for Declaratory Ruling on a Satellite Space Stations filing.

IBFS_SATPDR2002042500071_371830

EX PARTE OR LATE FILED P A U L . WEISS. R I F K I N D . W H A R T O N 8 G A R R I S O N L L P ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ S S I D E H T ' NDALE SARRO W AMS H ' N G T o N PATRICK S CAMPBELL JOSEPH J SIMONS 1015 LSTREtT. NW I 285 AVENUE OF W E AMERICAS KENNEIH A GALL0 PHILLIP L SPECTOR w m .HI 1 0 0 1 ~ ROBERT P PARKER STUARTG STEINGOLD WASHINOTON. DC 2 0 0 3 6 - 5 6 0 4 WARREN B RUDMAN. OF COUNSEL TELEPHONE (2 12) 373-5000 TELEPHONE (2021 2237JOO FACSIMILE (2 I 2) 757-3oW PARTNERS NOT RESIDENT IN WASHINGTON FACSIMILE (202) 223-7420 RUBEN KRAIEM. NEALE M ALBERT. 6 2 . RUE DU FAUBOURG SAINT- HONOR^ MARK H ALCOlT DANIEL J KFUMER' LLOYD K. GARRISON ALLAN J ARFFA' DAVID K LAKHDHIR ( l w I W 1 ) 75008 PARIS, FRANCE ROBERT A ATKINS. JOHN E LANGE. RANDOLPH E. PAUL (IQ40-1056) TELEPHONE (33I ) 53 43 14 14 JOHN F BAUGHMAN* DANIEL J LEFFFLLL' SIMON H. RIFKIND (19501995) LYNN B BAYARD. MARTIN LONDON FACSIMILE (33I )53 43 00 23 DANIEL J BELLER JEFFREY D MARELk. LOUIS 5 . WEBS (1927-19501 MITCHELL L BERQ' MARC0 V M A S O m JOHN F. WHARTON (1927-1977) MARK S BERGMAN, EDWlN S MAYNARS). FUKOKU SElMEl BUILDING BRUCE BlRENBOlM TOBY S MYLRSOY 2 - 2 UCHISAIWAICHO 2-CHOME H CHRlSrOPHER BOEHNING' JOHN E NATHAN RICHARD S BORISOFF' KEVIN J O'BRIEN' CHIYOOA-KU. TOKYO 100-001I , JAPAN JOHN F BREQLIO. ALEX YOUNG K DH' XLEPHONE (81-31 3597-8 I O I RICHARD J BRONSTEIN' JOHN J O'NEIL J E A N m E K CHAN: KELLEY D PARKER' FACSIMILE (81-3) 3597-8 I 2 0 WDNNE Y F CHAY MARC E P E R L M W ? . DOUQLAS A ClFU MARK F POMERANlZ LEWlSR CLAYTON VALERIE E RADWANER. ORIENTAL P W . TOWER E 3 JAY COHEN CAREY R RAMOS WRITER'S DIRECT D I A L NUMBER RUSSELL E COLWELL' MICHAEL B REEDE. sum I205 KELLEY A CORNISH,. CARL L REISNE?' NO. I EAST CHANG AN AVENUE DOUGLAS R DAVIS WALTER RIEMAN JAMES M OUBlN SIDNEY S RDSDElTfHER DONG CHENQ DISTRICT LESLIE GORDON FAGEN RICHARO A ROSEN 202-223-7340 BEIJING. I00738 MARC FALCONE' PETER L FELCHFR. ANDREW N ROSENSERG. STEVEN B ROSENFELD W R I T E R ' S DIRECT F A C S I M I L E PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA PETER E FISCH PETER J ROTHENBERG' TELEPHONE (80-10) 85 18-2766 ROBERT C FLEOER' RAPHAEL M RUSSO' MARnN FLUMENBAUM JEFFREY D SAFERSTEIN. FACSIMILE ( 8 0 - 1 0 1 8518-27W61 ANDREW J FOLEY. JEFFREY B SAMUELS. 202-223-7440 HARRIS B FREIDUS' MICHAEL E GERTLYAN. TERRY E SCHIMEK. KENNETH M SCHNEIDER' W R I T E R ' S DIRECT E - M A I L A D D R E S S 12TH FLOOR, HONG KONG CLUB BUILDING PAUL D GINSBERG ROBERT B SCHUMER. ERIC S GOLDSFIN' JAMES H SCHWAB' 3 A CHATER ROAD. CENTRAL ERIC GOOOISON MICHAEL J SEGAL. HONG KONG CHARLES H GOOGE..JR * STEPHEN J SHIMS!iAK* ANDREW G GORDON DAVID R S I C U U R pspector@paulweiss.com TELEPHONE (852) 2 5 3 ~ 3 3 BRUCE A GUTENPLAN. GAINES GWATHMEY. Ill* MOSES SILVERYAN' FACSIMILE (852) 253-22 STEVEN SlMKlN ALAN S HALPERIN' MARILYN SOBEL. CLAUDIA HAMMERMAN. AIDAN SYNNOlT. GERARD E HARPE? ROBYN F TARNOFSKY. ALDER CASTLE ROBERTM HIRSH J U D W R THOYER' IO NOBLE STREET STEVEN R HOWAPD. DANIEL J XIAL. LONDON ECZV 7JU. U.K. JOYCE S HUANG MARK A UNDERBERG' JEH CHARLES JOHNSON MARIA M EODO TR VULLO. E V WELLS JR TELEPHONE (44 201 7 3 6 7 I600 MEREDlTH J KANE. FACSIMILE (44 2 0 ) 7 3 6 7 I 6 5 0 ROBERTA A K A P U N ' STEVEN LISA YANO' L WOLFRAM: B R A D S KARP. JOHN C KENNEDY. JORDAN E YAREiT. ALAN W KORNBERG ALFRED D YOUNGWOOD 'NOT AN ACTWE MEMBER OF T H E Dc BAR April 22,2004 RECEIVED Ms. Marlene H. Dortch, Secretary Federal Communications Commission 445 12th Street, N.W. Washington, DC 20554 Ex Parte Communication - Report No. SPB-196; SAT-PDR-20020425-0007 1 Dear Ms. Dortch: On April 2 1,2004, Nancy Eskenazi, Vice President and Associate General Counsel of SES AMERICOM, Inc. ("SES AMERICOM"); and the undersigned, attorney for SES AMERICOM, met in person with Sheryl Wilkerson, Office of Chairman Powell. On April 21 and 22,2004, Dean Olmstead, President of SES AMERICOM; and Scott Tollefsen, Senior Vice President and General Counsel of SES AMERICOM, had four meetings with the following persons: (1) Chairman Powell and Sheryl Wilkerson of his office; (2) Commissioner Abernathy and Jennifer Manner of her office; (3) Commissioner Adelstein and Anne Perkins of his office; and (4)Commissioner Martin. Each of these meetings was for the purpose of discussing matters identified in

PAUL. WEISS. RIFKIND. WHARTON a GARRISON LLP Ms. Marlene H. Dortch, Secretary 2 the attached documents, one of which was distributed at each meeting. We are filing an original and one copy of this letter and the attachments in each of the referenced dockets. Respectfully submitted, &&2/p Phill'p L. S ctor Attorney for SES AMERICOM, Inc. Attachments cc (via e-mail, with attachment): Chairman Michael Powell Sheryl Wilkerson Commissioner Kathleen Abernathy Jennifer Manner Commissioner Jonathan Adelstein Anne Perkins Commissioner Kevin Martin Qualex International

0

The U.S. DBS Environment D N FSS Ku-Ka DBS DTV DTV DISH DISH VOOM / Established DBS Neighborhoods / Voom’s High Def DBS Source Just Launched Americom2Home Opportunity Ku Ku & Ka AMC Filed April 2002 AMC-2 4 A M C - 1 5 Secured By Petition For Declaratory Ruling Echostar for Video and Expansion Capacity For Residential Broadband Local into Local, High Definition Americom Prepared to Invest ... Reduced Orbital Spacing Enables Access to SES AAMERICO M Higb Definition & Next Generation Sewices An SES GLOBAL Company

An SES GLOBAL Company Ex Parte, SPB-196 SAT-PDR-20020425-00071 April 21,2004 THE FCC SHOULD NOT INITIATE A RULEMAKING ON REDUCED ORBITAL SPACING OF DBS SATELLITES 0 The FCC rules already provide an effective mechanism for evaluating proposals for satellites at reduced spacing. o TheDBS bands are internationally planned, and governed by Appendices 30 and 30A of the ITU Radio Regulations. o Appendices 30 and 30A contain procedures for modifying the “BSS Plans,” including to accommodate satellites at reduced orbital spacing. These procedures prescribe international coordination to protect existing systems. o The FCC rules incorporate these international procedures. Compliance with these rules is essentially the only technical qualification imposed by the FCC on DBS applicants. (See 47 C.F.R. $4 25.11 l(c), 25.114(~)(22),25.148(f).) o In its 2002 revision of the DBS rules, the FCC explicitly held that these procedures ensure adequate protection of existing systems, while permitting new entry. With reduced-spacing scenarios fully in mind, the FCC declined to adopt other technical constraints. (2002 DBS Order, 7 130.) The FCC should continue to support the existing coordination procedures. o The FCC has consistently followed the international procedures in licensing U.S. DBS satellites. The modification procedures have been used for all U.S. DBS satellites in operation today. The FCC itself has undertaken to modify the BSS Plans to introduce satellites at locations that were not assigned in the original BSS Plans, not only for service to the Americas, but also to Europe and Asia. The FCC has required U.S. licensees to honor the ITU priority system. The FCC is currently participating in a number of coordinations involving DBS satellites at reduced spacing, including SES AMERICOM’s proposed satellite at 105.5’. o Coordination will result in more DBS capacity than a rulemaking. Coordination avoids imposing restrictive “one-size-fits-all” requirements. Technical rules cannot effectively take into account the differences in the sharing conditions at each individual DBS slot, and can preclude otherwise viable sharing arrangements. Coordination allows the sharing arrangement between operators to evolve as requirements change, for example, as new satellites are launched. Formal rulemakings cannot keep up with such changes. The acceptable range of values for many technical parameters (such as power levels) depends on the values of other system parameters. Rules of general applicability cannot take advantage of such flexibility.

Ex Parte, SPB-196 SAT-PDR-20020425-00071 April 2 1,2004 . A satellite designed to meet a one-size-fits-all requirement in all operational scenarios will necessarily result in degraded capacity at some or all orbital slots, resulting in lost capacity to the consumer. Innovations -- such as spot beams, higher order modulation and coding, and . HDTV -- can be, and routinely are, taken into account in coordination. All of these advantages of coordination have been exploited by U.S. DBS operators to date, to permit, for example, smaller dishes and spot-beam satellites. o Coordination has been used successfully for decades across many satellite bands. Even among potential competitors, agreements permitting new services have been developed in good faith. There is no reason why coordination will not function well in this case. o The FCC, via its participation in each coordination, and its ultimate responsibility for agreements reached, can fully pursue its policy objectives. 0 The FCC should reject Echostar’s proposal to tie the technical issues of reduced orbital spacing to the question of U.S. market entry by foreign-licensed satellites. o The two issues are not linked in any logical way. o There is no reason to re-open issues resolved by adoption of the ECO-Sat test. 0 Initiation of a rulemaking conflicts with key FCC policy objectives that require increased DBS capacity in the near-term. o The FCC has found that more competition is needed in multichannel video. o It has also encouraged DBS providers to offer more local-into-local and HDTV channels. o Authorization of new BSS satellites, consistent with ITU coordination procedures, will further these policy objectives within a two-year timeframe. o By contrast, a rulemaking will introduce more delay, in a process that has already been delayed unreasonably. 0 SES AMERICOM could have launched a BSS satellite for 105.5’ WL in 2004. o The SES AMERICOM Petition for Declaratory Ruling has been pending with the FCC for two years, despite the fact that the Petition complies with all FCC rules and policies and is ripe for grant. o When it filed this Petition in April 2002, SES AMERICOM indicated it could launch a new satellite, offering new DBS services, by 2004. o The FCC should focus on authorizing new services and promoting competition, resisting DirecTV’s self-serving attempt to introduce additional delay. 2


Document Created: 2004-05-05 15:50:20
Document Modified: 2004-05-05 15:50:20
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