Eutelsat Reply NSS-1

REPLY submitted by Eutelsat S.A.

Reply of Eutelsat S.A.

2018-12-14

This document pretains to SAT-PPL-20180815-00062 for Permitted List on a Satellite Space Stations filing.

IBFS_SATPPL2018081500062_1591080

                                          Before the
                               Federal Communications Commission
                                     Washington, D.C. 20554

In the Matter of                                       )
                                                       )
SES Americom, Inc.                                     )      File No. SAT-PPL-20180815-00062
                                                       )      Call Sign S3037
Request to Add NSS-11 to the Permitted                 )
Space Station List for Ku-band Operations              )


                                    REPLY OF EUTELSAT S.A.

           Eutelsat S.A. (“Eutelsat”) replies to the response of SES Americom, Inc. (“SES”)1 to

Eutelsat’s comments2 on the above-referenced petition in which SES seeks authority for the

NSS-11 satellite to serve the U.S. market.3

           The SES Response clarifies that the NSS-11 Petition should have sought U.S. market

access in the 12.25-12.75 GHz band rather than inclusion of the satellite on the Permitted Space

Station List.4 As requested by Eutelsat, it also provides a more comprehensive compatibility

analysis with respect to the operations of EUTELSAT 174A.5 Eutelsat appreciates this

supplemental information and believes the SES Response adequately addresses these issues.

           The bulk of the SES Response challenges Eutelsat’s understanding that use of the 12.7-

12.75 GHz band segment in the United States is limited to mobility services. As discussed in the

Eutelsat Comments, this understanding is based on the licensing history of EUTELSAT 172B,




1
 See Response of SES Americom, Inc., File No. SAT-PPL-20180815-00062, Call Sign S3037 (filed Dec.
4, 2018) (the “SES Response”).
2
 See Comments of Eutelsat S.A., File No. SAT-PPL-20180815-00062, Call Sign S3037 (filed Nov. 19,
2018) (the “Eutelsat Comments”).
3
  See SES Americom, Inc., File No. SAT-PPL-20180815-00062, Call Sign S3037 (filed Aug. 15, 2018)
(the “NSS-11 Petition”).
4
    SES Response at 3-4.
5
    Id. at 4.


including Eutelsat’s commitment to limit use of that spectrum to mobility operations and

Commission grant of the Petition for Clarification or Reconsideration of License Conditions

relating to use of the 12.7-12.75 GHz band segment.6

        Eutelsat acknowledges that there is no specific limitation on use of the 12.7-12.75 GHz

band segment in the reissued EUTELSAT 172B grant despite the notion that Eutelsat would use

the band for mobility applications.7 As suggested in the Eutelsat Petition, such a use limitation

minimizes the potential for interference and possible end-user claims for protection of earth

station receivers from terrestrial transmissions. Eutelsat further acknowledges, however, that

such a limitation may have been considered unnecessary because operations in this spectrum

must be authorized pursuant to earth station-specific licensing.8 Therefore, the Commission

would have an opportunity to consider and rule on each earth station request to communicate

with NSS-11 in the band.

        Nonetheless, considering the non-conforming status of satellite downlink operations,

additional guidance regarding use of the 12.7-12.75 GHz band segment in United States would

be helpful to satellite operators and earth station applicants alike. If the Commission does not

provide such guidance in granting the NSS-11 Petition, then it will have an opportunity to do so


6
 See Eutelsat Comments at 3-4; see also ES 172 LLC, Petition for Clarification or Reconsideration of
License Conditions, and Request for Stay, File No. SAT-RPL-20170927-00136, Call Sign S3021
(September 5, 2018) (“Eutelsat Petition”).
7
  See ES 172 LLC, Satellite Space Station Authorization, File No. SAT-RPL-20170927-00136, Call Sign
S3021 (reissued Sept. 5, 2018). Of course, the absence of such a limitation may well be because
Commission license grants are limited by the representations made in underlying applications and related
submissions. See, e.g., SES Americom, Inc., File No. SAT-MOD-20170518-00073, Call Sign S2135
(granted June 31, 2017) at Attachment to Grant, p. 1 (in granting the AMC-4 satellite license, as it does in
the ordinary course, the Commission incorporated the contents of the underlying application into the
grant: “... operations under this grant must comport with the legal and technical specifications set forth by
the applicant or petitioner....”).
8
 See SES Response at 3 (acknowledging that the NSS-11 Petition should have stated that SES was
seeking U.S. market access, rather than inclusion on the Permitted Space Station List).

                                                      2


in each earth station application seeking to add NSS-11 as an authorized point of communication

in these frequencies.

                                            Respectfully submitted,




                                            Carlos M. Nalda
                                            LMI Advisors, LLC
                                            2550 M Street, NW, Suite 345
                                            Washington, D.C. 20037
                                            On behalf of Eutelsat S.A.

December 14, 2018




                                               3


                                CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

I, Jennifer White, do hereby certify that on December 14, 2018, I served a true and correct copy
of this Reply of Eutelsat S.A. by first-class mail on the following:

Petra A. Vorwig
Senior Legal and Regulatory Counsel
SES Americom, Inc.
1129 20th Street NW, Suite 1000
Washington, D.C. 20036

Karis A. Hastings
SatCom Law LLC
1317 F Street, NW, Suite 400
Washington, D.C. 20004




                                                      Jennifer White
                                                      LMI Advisors, LLC




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Document Created: 2018-12-14 17:16:48
Document Modified: 2018-12-14 17:16:48

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