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2008-05-20

This document pretains to SES-AMD-20070907-01253 for Amended Filing on a Satellite Earth Station filing.

IBFS_SESAMD2007090701253_643413

                                      Before the
                       FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
                                Washington, D.C. 20554

In the matter of                       )                     |
                                       )   File No. SES—AMD—20070723—00978
TerreStar Networks Inc.                )   File No. SES—AMD—20070907—01253

                                               REPLY
                Inmarsat Global Limited ("Inmarsat") replies to the Consolidated Response and

Opposition ("Opposition") of TerreStar Networks Inc. ("TerreStar").

                As Inmarsat explained in its Comments, TerreStar‘s brief description of its ground

spare plans does not provide certainty that TerreStar will satisfy the ATC gating requirement that

it have a ground spare fully constructed within one year of commencing ATC operations.

Moreover, "[g)ranting ATC authority before TerreStar has fully satisfied the ground spare

requirement would undermine the fundamental policy rationale for this gating criterion

(providing redundancy to ensure continuous service to the public), and would call into question

whether TerreStar‘s planned ATC operations are in fact ancillary to its planned MSS service."‘

                TerreStar responds by incorporating by reference the information about its ground

spare contained in its recent Form 10—K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission."

                                                                   393
TerreStar is mistaken that this cross—reference renders "moot‘""         the issues raised in Inmarsat‘s

Comments.

                Commussion policy is clear that the limited information TerreStar provides in its

Opposition is not dispositive of whether TerreStar has satisfied the ground spare requirement.

Specifically, in developing its ATC licensing frémework, the Commission rejected the


‘   Comments of Inmarsat Global Limited at 4.
*   Consolidated Response and Opposition of TerreStar Networks Inc. at 4—5.
    Id. at 5.


suggestion that providing a copy of a construction contract for a spare satellite, or certifying to

the scheduled completion date, would be a "conclusive demonstration" of compliance with the

ground spare gating criterion." Indeed, the Commission expressly "reserve[d] the right to require

additional detail and certainty. ° Consistent with Commission precedent in the milestone

context, the Commussion should look beyond the assertions made by TerreStar and carefully

review a complete, unredacted copy of the construction contract® in order to make its own

conclusions about the adequacy of TerreStar‘s efforts toward satisfying the ground spare gating

criterion. Furthermore, the Commission should re\}iew the actual progress made by the

manufacturer toward completing construction in a timely fashion (not just information on

payments made). In this way, the Commission can confirm whether TerreStar will in fact soon

satisfy the ground spare gating criterion.

                                                    Respectfully submitted,




Diane J. Cornell                                    Jokn PUJanka
Vice President, Government Affairs                  Jeffrey A. Marks
INMARSAT, INC.                                      LATHAM & WATKINS LLP
1101 Connecticut Avenue, NW                         555 Eleventh Street, N.W.
Suite 1200                                          Suite 1000
Washington, DC 20036                                Washington, D.C. 20004
Telephone: (202) 248—5155                           Telephone: (202) 637—2200

May 20, 2008




     Flexibilityfor Delivery of Communications by Mobile Satellite Service Providers in the 2
     GHz Band, 20 FCC Red 4616, 4649—50, € 88—90 & n.211 (2005).
°_   1d
     The version of the contract that TerreStar cross—references is heavily redacted, omitting
     literally hundreds of pages in the aggregate.


                                CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE

       I, Jeffrey A. Marks, hereby certify that on this 20day of May, 2008, I caused to be

served a true copy of the foregoing Reply by first class mail, postage prepaid, upon the

following:

Henry Goldberg                                    Douglas I. Brandon
Joseph A. Godles                                  Vice President for Regulatory Affairs
Laura A. Stefani                                  TerreStar Networks Inc.
Thomas S. Tycz                                    12010 Sunset Hills Road, 9°" Floor
Goldberg, Godles, Wiener & Wright                 Reston, VA 20191
1229 Nineteenth Street, NW
Washington, DC 20036
Counselfor TerreStar Networks Inc.

Suzanne Hutchings Malloy                          Cheryl A. Tritt
Peter Corea                                       Morrison & Foerster LLP
ICO Global Communications G.P.                    2000 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Suite 5500
815 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite 610             Washington DC 20006
Washington, DC 20006                              Counselfor ICO Global Communications G.P.

Lawrence R. Krevor                                Regina M. Keeney _
    Vice President—Spectrum                       Charles W. Logan
Trey Hanbury                                      Stephen J. Berman
    Director, Government Affairs                  Lawler, Metzger, Milkman & Keeney, LLC
Sprint Nextel Corporation                         Washington, DC 20006
2001 Edmond Halley Drive                          Counselfor Sprint Nextel Corporation
Reston, VA 20191

David L. Donovan                                  Marsha J. McBride
Bruce Franca                                      Lawrence A. Walke
Assoc. for Maximum Service Television, Inc.       National Association of Broadcasters
4100 Wisconsin Ave., NW                           1771 N Street, NW
Washington, DC 20016                              Washington, DC 20036

Jonathan D. Blake
Brandon D. Almond
Covington & Burling LLP
1201 Pennsylvania Ave, NW
Washington, DC 20004—2401
Counselfor MSTV and NAB

                                                      M% (aA
                                                     Jfre. Marks



Document Created: 2008-05-21 12:09:53
Document Modified: 2008-05-21 12:09:53

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