Attachment ex parte

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

IBFS_SATPDR2002042500071_401268

EX PARTE OR LaTe FILED HaRais, 1200 csrenirsteeenow vesmmsron.ce o0 is Ge Int! Bureau expibelm mniid wnvonenswersuntcon SEP 1 5 2004 OSng anomersar uw Front Office September 9, 2004 RECEIVED BY HAND DELIVERY Marlene H. Dortch Int! Bureau S° ~5 * l?efn?::altE?,ZS’“Z'.Z';'.L.S Commission S8P 15 209 """CefgSeived Iastinginn He.sisse Front Office sE 59 im Re: Ex Parte Presentation im;{);:”Ehv‘m;u Report No. SPB—196; SAT—PDR—20020425—00071 Dear Ms. Dortch: On September 8, 2004, Romulo Pontual, Susan Eid, and undersigned counsel on behalf of The DIRECTV Group, Inc. (DIRECTV*), had separate meetings with Sam Feder, Legal Advisor to Commissioner Martin; Jennifer Manner, Senior Counsel to Commissioner Abemnathy; Paul Margie, Legal Advisor to Commissioner Copps; Barry Ohlson, Legal Advisor to Commissioner Adelstein; and Shery! Wilkerson, Legal Advisor to Chairman Powell, to discuss the enclosed materials (which were distributed at the mectings). In this presentation, DIRECTV discussed the impact that the short—spaced DBS slot proposed by SES Americom would have on DIRECTV‘s services and subscribers DIRECTV also summarized its recent study ofthe interference environment in which European DBS/DTH systems operate, which was undertaken in order to evaluate the claims made in recent ex partefilings by SES Americom. As demonstrated in the attached materials, that studyshows that the interference levels claimed by SBS are grossly overstated. Sincerely yours, William M. Wiltshire Enclosure No: ofCopies res > l skepismea_O+3 Pommemseans

Hamms, Wiursue & Growis cur Marlene H. Dortch September 9, 2004 Page 2 of2 ces Sam Feder Jennifer Manner Paul Margie Barry Ohison Shery! Wilkerson Phillip Spector (counsel for SES Americom)

Impact of Introducing Short— Spaced DBS Satellites September 8, 2004 P1 DIRECTV. pirEcrv September 2004

DIRECTV Continues to Enhance MVPD Competition 4 DIRECTV. * DIRECTV is a proven innovator with a large and growing subscriber base * Over the last six months: — DIRECTV has launched local—into—local services in 40 additional markets, and is in the process of launching at least 24 more — DIRECTV has ordered four new satellites and revised the design of two others in order to increase its capacity * Will create more capability for HD and local—into—local transmissions * Represents a significantcapital investment — DIRECTV hasstruck deals for the seamless integration of customers formerly served through NRTC and Pegasus * DIRECTV invested in developing advances in modulation and coding by Hughes Network Systems that provide an increase in spectrum efficiency of 30%, which can be used for additional channels/new services — if it is not needed to overcome new sources ofinterference pirecrv £ September 2004

MIREECTY Service Quality D DIRECTV * DIRECTV takes pride in ensuring that its customers receive the best possible service — Acquires superior and wide—ranging content — Employs high quality video encoding — Supplies state—of—the—art consumer equipment — Achieves highservice availability — Provides new services, such as mobile video to aircraft and cars * With this service comes a responsibility to our 13 million customers to maintain the best possible multi—channel video experience * Any change to the existing adjacent satellite spacing and power levels can potentially impact the consumer experience, and must be considered with great care DIRECTV £ September 2004

SES Proposes to Introduce New, . l Short—Spaced DBS Slots pirecrv * SES hasfiled at the ITU for new DBS slots at 105.5° WL and 114.5° WL — Spaced 4.5° from existing U.S. DBS assignments at 101° WL, 110° WL, and 119° WL — Current DBS operations based on I°spacing under original international plan — Other administrations have also filed for short—spaced slots * SES seeks to operate at power levels comparable to existing U.S. DBS operators * SES‘s ITU filings have international priority over U.S. DBS satellites already in operation — e.g., DIRECTV 48, DIRECTV 78 pimecry a September 2004

SES‘s European Comparison Is . ] Misleading — and Erroneous birecrtv * SES has submitted an analysis of DBS/DTH operations in Europe that purports to show sharing with 2.3° to 4.3° spacing between satellites * The analysis is misleading — No sharing among co—frequency, co—coverage services both operating at high power — which is the U.S. situation for DBS — Sharing scenario presented by SES is actually common for U.S. FSS — where 2° spacing and larger receive antennas are the norm * The analysis is also erroncous — Actual interference levels measured by Plenexis in European test are less than half the levels claimed by SES — In fact, almost all measured C/I levels are more favorable to SES than the protection levels proposed by DIRECTV in its petition for rulemaking DIRECTV s September 2004

Measured Interference vs. SES Claim -J DIRECTV. c o B 8 s s s 3 s s 8 Anterference Relative to SES Claim, & ses gos on rio on on ons on rzo ros bor doe m ma ons onr me Gam Astra 1G/IH Channel All measurements made by Plenexis in Hameln, Germany, August 3—4, 2004. Full report of Plenexis tests filed Sept. 7, 2004. DIRECTV 6 September 2004

SES‘s Proposal Would Harm . ] U.S. Consumers DIRECTV. SES‘s operations would preclude DIRECTYV‘s introduction of technological advances needed to support additional services — Most problematic for spot beams — local—into—local subscribers served by spot beams on DIRECTV 48 and DIRECTV 78 already at risk because of higher priority short—spaced filings at the ITU Satellites and technologies nearing deployment(e.g., additional spot beams, advanced. modulation) also would be affected, endangering DIRECTV‘s plans for increasing HD and local—into—local programming — Gives SES effective veto power over advancesin U.S. DBS satellitesat prime U.S. orbital assignments In order simply to maintain currentquality of service in the presence of SES‘s short—spaced satellites, many DIRECTV subscribers would need to replacecurrent dishes with larger ones — Current 45 cm U.S. standard supplanted by 60—90 cmEuropean standard — Service disruptions and significant inconvenience for consumers — Increased costs ultimately will be borne by consumers, further undermining MVPD competition pirecry September 2004

Far From Increasing Competition, SES Will Harm Competition P1 DIRECTV. * SES claims its proposal is pro—competitive * However, proposed short—spaced satellites will hobble technological advances by U.S. DBS operators, rendering DBS less competitive with cable — Because local—into—local service on spot beams would be most at risk, SES‘s proposal threatens single biggest factor driving DBS subscriber gains * Moreover, SES has already leased the capacity at 105.5° W.L. to EchoStar — not an avenue for new DBS entry — Merely redistributes existing capacity — Explains EchoStar‘s flip—flop on the issue Direcrv 8 September 2004

Conclusions DJ DIRECTYV. * DIRECTV is a proven leader in innovation with a large and growing subscriber base * Introduction of the short—spaced DBS slots proposed by SES would — Give SES effective veto power over technological advances and service innovations by U.S. DBS operators — Harm consumers — Relegate advances in spectrum efficiency to overcoming interference rather than increasing capacity to provide more services — Effectively hijack capacity currently available to U.S. operators * SES‘s claim that DBS/DTH operations in Europe validate its proposal is misleading and not supported by the evidence — The cases in U.S. vs. Europe are not comparable — In fact, SES operates with less than half theinterferenceit claims — SES‘s short—spacing proposal would cause much greaterlevels ofinterference to DIRECTV than SES currently faces in Europe pirectv o September 2004


Document Created: 2004-10-15 12:39:54
Document Modified: 2004-10-15 12:39:54
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