Attachment Comments

Comments

COMMENT submitted by EchoStar

Comments

2004-07-30

This document pretains to SES-MOD-20040623-00864 for Modification on a Satellite Earth Station filing.

IBFS_SESMOD2004062300864_386580

ST E P T O E silo H N s o N ATTORNEYS AT LAW LLP ORlGlNAL ‘Todd Bradley Lantor 1330 Connecticut Avenue, NW 202.429.6482 tIantor@steptoe.com RECEIVED Washington. DC 20036-1795 Tel 202.429.3000 Fax 202.429.3902 steptoe.com July 30,2004 VIA HAND DELIVERY Marlene H. Dortch Secretary Federal Communications Commission 445 Twelfth Street, S.W. Washington, DC 20554 Re: File No. SES-MOD-20040623-00S6gb;FCC Call Sign E990323 Dear Ms. Dortch: EchoStar hereby comments on the above-referenced earth station modification application, filed by PanAmSat Licensee Corporatiui! (“PanAmSat”). PanAmSat seeks authority io add DIRECTV 3 at Canada’s 82” W.L. and 91“ W.L. orbital locations as points of communication for pixposes of feeder link and Telemetry, Tracking and Command communication in the 12.2-12.7 GEIz and the 17.3-17.8 GHz bands.’ PanAmSat’s earth station modification request was preceded by an application by DIRECTV for Special Temporary Authority (“STA”) to move its DIRECTV 3 satellite to 82” W.L.2 On June 23, 2004, the International Bureau’s Satellite Division granted DTRECTV’s See File No. SES-MOD-210040623-00864(FCC Call Sign E990323); see also Public Notice, Report No. SES-00619 (rel. June 30,2004j. 2 In the Matter of DIRECTV Enterprises, LLC, Request for Special Temporary Authority to Relocate DIRECTV 3 to 82” W.L. and to Conduct Telemetry, Tracking and Command Operations for an Interim Period, File No. SAT-STA-20030903-00300 (Sept. 3, 2003) (“STA Application”); see also Public Notice, Report No. SAT-00168 (rel. Sept. 26,2003). As explained in the Order granting DIRECTV’s STA Application, Telesat Canada and DIRECTV arranged to lease the DIRECTV 3 satellite to Telesat Canada for use at the 82” W.L. and 91” W.L. orbital locations. Telesat reportedly plans, after testing DIRECTV 3 at the 82” W.L. orbital location, to co-locate DIRECTV 3 with Nimiq 1 at 91” W.L. WASH INCTO N PHOENIX LOS ANCELES LONDON BRUSSELS

STEPTOE &JoH N S O NLLP Marlene H. Dortch July 30,2004 Page 2 application for STA to relocate DIRECTV 3 to the 82” W.L orbital location pursuant to the agreement between DIRECTV and Telesat Canada.3 DIRECTV 3 operates (or will operate) at these locations as a Canadian-licensed satellite. In addition, the Direct Broadcast Satellite service, for which PanAmSat requests authority, is not covered under the World Trade Organization Basic Telecommunications Agreement. Therefore, the authorization requested by PanArnSat requires a Commission finding that the “ECO-Sat” test has been sati~fied.~ Indeed, the Commission has not authorized any communications between the DIRECTV 3 satellite and any U.S. earth station, and DIRECTV has stated that “the satellite will be used exclusively for service by Telesat or Telesat’s customers to facilitate service to Canadian BSS subscribers, and will not be used to provide U.S. service from a Canadian orbital p~sition.”~ Finally, EchoStar respectfully requests that you associate EchoStar’s pleadings already filed in connection with DIRECTV’s proposals to move its DIRECTV 3 satellite to 82” W.L. and its DIRECTV 5 satellite to 72.5” W.L. with the above-referenced file number. See Application of DIRECTV, Inc. , Qrder, DA 04-1761, File No. SAT-STA-20030903~-00300 (rel. June 23, 2004) (Int’l Bur.) (“DIRECTV 3 Order”). See 47 C.F.R. 0 25.137 (“Earth station applicants or [other entities] requesting authority to operate with a non-U.S. licensed space station to serve the United States must . . . demonstrat[e] that U.S.-licensed satellite systems have effective competitive opportunities to provide analogous services in . . . the country in which the non-U.S. licensed space station is licensed . . . .”); Amendment of the Commission’s Regulatory Policies to Allow Non-U.S. Licensed Space Stations to Provide Domestic and International Satellite Service in the United States, et al., 12 FCC Rcd. 24094, at 4[ 7 (1997) (“DISCO II”) (“Specifically, today we adopt a framework under which we will consider requests for access by non-U.S. licensed satellites into the United States.”); id. at ¶ 98. The proposed communication between the earth station in question and the DIRECTV 3 satellite would constitute service to the U.S. for purposes of this standard. See STA Application at 2.

S T EP T O E &loH N S O N LLP Marlene H. Dortch July 30,2004 Page 3 Respectfully submitted, Todd B. Lantor Steptoe & Johnson LLP 1330 Connecticut Avenue, N.W. Washington, DC 20036-1795 (202) 429-3000 Counsel for EchoStar Satellite LLC cc: Joseph A. Godles, Counsel for PanAmSat Licensee Corporation James H. Barker, Counsel for DIRECTV Enterprises, LLC William M. Wiltshire, Counsel for DIRECTV Enterprises, LLC


Document Created: 2004-08-05 08:57:43
Document Modified: 2004-08-05 08:57:43
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