Letter re E000696 DL

LETTER submitted by SES Americom, Inc.

Letter on Proposed Operations in 4500-4800 MHz

2015-11-02

This document pretains to SES-MFS-20130604-00470 for Modification w/ Foreign Satellite (earth station) on a Satellite Earth Station filing.

IBFS_SESMFS2013060400470_1113430

SatCom Law LLC 1317 F St. NW, Suite 400 Washington, D.C. 20004 T 202.599.0975 www.satcomlaw.com November 2, 2015 By Electronic Filing Ms. Marlene H. Dortch Secretary Federal Communications Commission 445 12th Street, S.W. Washington, D.C. 20554 Re: SES Americom, Inc. Application for Modification of E000696 Earth Station File No. SES-MFS-20130604-00470 Dear Ms. Dortch: SES Americom, Inc. (“SES”), by its attorney and pursuant to Section 1.65 of the Commission’s rules, 47 C.F.R. § 1.65, hereby updates the record with respect to the above-captioned earth station application to advise the Commission that SES is willing to operate on an unprotected, non-interfering basis for purposes of receiving signals in the 4500-4800 MHz band from the SES-6 satellite. The Netherlands-licensed SES-6 satellite has been granted U.S. market access at the 40.5° W.L. orbital location, 1 and the E000696 earth station in Bristow, VA is authorized to communicate with that spacecraft in specified bands. 2 However, in both the SES-6 Market Access Grant and the E000696 License, the Commission deferred action on SES’s request for 3 authority to use the Appendix 30B C-band spectrum at 4500-4800 MHz. SES was granted special temporary authority to use E000696 to receive signals in the 4500-4800 MHz band on an unprotected basis for a limited period during 2014 in order to permit SES to monitor the 1 See New Skies Satellites B.V., Call Sign S2870, File No. SAT-PPL-20120717-00117, grant- stamped Aug. 1, 2013 (the “SES-6 Market Access Grant”). 2 See SES Americom, Inc., Call Sign E000696, File No. SES-MFS-20130604-00470, granted March 14, 2014 (the “E000696 License”), Section D. 3 SES-6 Market Access Grant, Attachment to Grant at 1 n.1 (request to access the U.S. market in the 4500-4800 MHz band will be addressed as part of an earth station application to add SES-6 as a point of communication); E000696 License, Special and General Provisions, Condition 90120 (deferring action on the request to use the 4500-4800 MHz band).

Ms. Marlene H. Dortch -2- November 2, 2015 4 quality of services provided outside the U.S. The SES request for regular authority for E000696 to receive in this spectrum remains pending. SES recognizes that reception of downlink signals in the 4500-4800 MHz band in the U.S. is subject to coordination with the National Telecommunication and Information Administration (“NTIA”) in light of federal operations in this spectrum. To facilitate such coordination, SES confirms that it seeks authority in the 4500-4800 MHz band on a wholly unprotected basis and explicitly accepts the risk that interference from federal operations may disrupt reception of signals from SES-6 to the E000696 antenna. SES does not propose to use E000696 to provide customer services in the 4500-4800 MHz band. Instead, as with the E000696 STA, SES seeks to use E000696 for monitoring purposes only, in order to ensure the service quality of customer carriers that are all intended to be received outside the U.S. SES would not object to an express licensing condition that prohibits the use of E000696 to provide customer services in the 4500-4800 MHz band. SES emphasizes that it does not propose any alteration in the operations of SES-6 in the 4500- 4800 MHz band. As noted above, that satellite is currently being used to serve customers outside the U.S., and its downlink footprint covers portions of the U.S. Accordingly, grant of the requested earth station authority would not result in harmful interference to federal operations in the 4500-4800 MHz band. Nevertheless, SES agrees to operate on a non-interference basis and to cease use of the 4500-4800 MHz band in the U.S. if interference is reported. In addition, consistent with the terms of E000696 STA, SES will provide notification to the Mid-Atlantic Frequency Coordinator prior to commencing operations. Please address any questions regarding this matter to the undersigned. Respectfully submitted, /s/ Karis A. Hastings Karis A. Hastings Counsel for SES Americom, Inc. karis@satcomlaw.com cc: Jose Albuquerque Kathyrn Medley Paul Blais 4 See SES Americom, Inc., Call Sign E000696, File No. SES-STA-20140507-00339, granted May 21, 2014 (the “E000696 STA”).


Document Created: 2015-11-02 12:22:52
Document Modified: 2015-11-02 12:22:52
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