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REPLY TO COMMENTS submitted by Deere & Company

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2006-06-21

This document pretains to SES-STA-20060605-00922 for Special Temporal Authority on a Satellite Earth Station filing.

IBFS_SESSTA2006060500922_506788

Before the FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20554 ) In the Matter of ) ) File No. SES—STA—20060605—00092 ) Deere & Company ) Application for Special Temporary Authority to ) Operate Receive—Only Mobile Earth Stations with ) Inmarsat IIIF4 at 142° ) ) REPLY COMMENTS OF APPLICANT Deere & Company ("Deere"), by its attorneys, hereby files these Reply Comments in response to Comments filed by Mobile Satellite Ventures Subsidiary LLC ("MSV") in the above captioned matter on June 6, 2006.‘ As set forth in greater detail below, Deere respectfully submits that MSV‘s Comments pertain solely to the commercial use of the Inmarsat IIIF4, and fail to raise any material issues that require additional International Bureau ("Bureau") review prior to the grant of Special Temporary Authority ("STA") for technical testing purposes requested by Deere." Accordingly, Deere reiterates its request that the Bureau grant the aforementioned STA using its streamlined review process. ‘ See Comments of Mobile Satellite Ventures Subsidiary LLC, at 1, FCC File No. SES—STA—20060605— 00922 (June 6, 2006) ("MSY Comments"). * See Deere & Company, Application, File No. SES—STA—20060605—00922 (June 3, 2006) ("Deere Application").

Introduction Since 2001, Deere has equipped domestic agricultural equipment with its GreenStar‘" precision farming system ("GreenStar‘" system" or "GreenStar ”).3 This system uses transmissions from Global Positioning Satellites ("GPS") and the Inmarsat geostationary satellite at 98° west longitude to help farmers pinpoint their locations. It helps to both improve domestic crop yields and reduce harmful soil pollution resulting from overfertilization. On June 3, 2006, Deere submitted an STA application to conduct receive—only testing using a downlink carrier from the Inmarsat IIIF4 in order to test routine upgrades to hardware and software associated with the GreenStar‘" system, but unrelated to the RF equipment. On June 6, 2006, MSV filed comments in response to the STA application "urg[ing] the [International] Bureau to make clear that (i) grant [of the STA] should not be construed as a Commission endorsement of Inmarsat‘s failure to coordinate the Inmarsat IIIF4 satellite at its new location with other L—band operators; and (ii) Inmarsat must coordinate the Inmarsat IIIF4 with other L—band operators before Deere can provide commercial service in the United States with this satellite.* Discussion The Bureau should reject the conditions that MSV seeks to impose upon Deere‘s STA. The conditions proposed by MSV represent an improper and transparent attempt to involve Deere in an ongoing dispute between MSV and Inmarsat involving frequency coordination between their respective satellites. Furthermore, neither of the proposed conditions address issues related to the STA, or the STA‘s underlying merits. Rejecting * See Deere & Company, FCC File No. SES—LIC—20010112—00051 ("Deere License"). * See MSYV Comments at 1.

these conditions avoids entangling Deere in a longstanding dispute properly resolved in another forum. The first condition sought by Inmarsat is a Bureau instruction that "make[s] clear that [an STA] grant should not be construed as Commission endorsement of Inmarsat‘s failure to coordinate the Inmarsat IIIF4 at its new location with other L—band operators."" This condition is totally unrelated to the merits of Deere‘s STA application. Deere requested a short—term STA to conduct experimental testing on a non—interference only basis, not an endorsement of Inmarsat‘s frequency coordination efforts. The Commission should reject this proposed condition both as a transparent attempt to involve Deere in the above referenced conflict, and as improper relief unrelated to the underlying application. MSV also asks the Bureau to "explain that use of the Inmarsat IIIF4 satellite for commercial service in the United States will not be permitted unless and until Inmarsat coordinates this satellite at its new location with other L—band operators."" Deere, however, has not requested use of the Inmarsat IIIF4 for commercial service. Instead, Deere seeks the short—term use of a receive—only transmission from Inmarsat IIIF4 to test improvements with no more than twenty (20) GreenStar‘" systems nationwide.‘ Thus, this proposed condition is also unrelated to the merits of Deere‘s STA application and improper. * See MSV Comments at 4. © See MSYV Comments at 4. ‘See Deere Corrected Supplemental Letter, File No. SES—STA—20060605—00922 (June 6, 2006) ("Deere Supplemental Letter")

Conclusion For the reasons stated above and in the pending STA application, Deere respectfully requests that the Bureau reject the conditions proposed by MSV, and expeditiously grant Deere‘s requested STA authority. Respectfully submitted, Eliot J. Greenwald Timothy L. Bransford BINGHAM McCUTCHEN LLP 3000 K Street, Suite 300 Washington, DC 2007 202.373—6009 202.424.7645 fax eliot.greenwald@bingham.com timothy.bransford@bingham.com Attorneys for Deere & Company Dated: June 21, 2006

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I, Timothy L. Bransford, hereby certify that on this 21" day of June, 2006, I caused to be served a true copy of the foregoing "Reply" by first class mail, postage pre— paid (or as otherwise indicated) upon the following: James Ball* Stephen Duall* International Bureau International Bureau Federal Communications Commission Federal Communications Commission 445 12"" Street, S.W. 445 12" Street, S.W. Washington, DC 20554 Washington, DC 20554 JoAnn Ekblad* Richard Engelman* International Bureau International Bureau Federal Communications Commission Federal Communications Commission 445 12"" Street, S.W. 445 12"" Street, S.W. Washington, DC 20554 Washington, DC 20554 Gardner Foster* Howard Griboff* International Bureau International Bureau Federal Communications Commission Federal Communications Commission 445 12"" Street, S.W. 445 12"" Street, S.W. Washington, DC 20554 Washington, DC 20554 Fern Jarmulnek* Andrea Kelly* International Bureau International Bureau Federal Communications Commission Federal Communications Commission 445 12"" Street, S.W. 445 12" Street, S.W. Washington, DC 20554 Washington, DC 20554 Karl Kensinger* Scott Kotler*® International Bureau International Bureau Federal Communications Commission Federal Communications Commission 445 12"" Street, S.W. 445 12" Street, S.W. Washington, DC 20554 Washington, DC 20554 John Martin* Robert Nelson* International Bureau International Bureau Federal Communications Commission Federal Communications Commission 445 12"" Street, S.W. 445 12"" Street, S.W. Washington, DC 20554 Washington, DC 20554

Roderick Porter* Cassandra Thomas* International Bureau International Bureau Federal Communications Commission Federal Communications Commission 445 12"" Street, S.W. 445 12"" Street, S.W. Washington, DC 20554 Washington, DC 20554 Bruce D. Jacobs Jennifer A. Manner David S. Konczal Vice President, Regulatory Affairs Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP Mobile Satellite Ventures Subsidiary LLC 2300 N Street, N.W. 1002 Park Ridge Boulevard Washington, DC 20037—1128 Reston, Virginia 20191 Counselfor MSV Diane J. Cornell John P. Janka Vice President, Government Affairs LaTHAM & WaATKINS LLP INMARSAT, INnc. 555 Eleventh Street, N.W. 1100 Wilson Blyvd, Suite 1425 Suite 1000 Arlington, VA 22209 Washington, D.C. 20004 Telephone: (703) 647 4767 Telephone: (202) 637—2200 Jeffrey A. Marks LATHAM & WATKINS LLP 555 Eleventh Street, N.W. Suite 1000 Washington, D.C. 20004 Telephone: (202) 637—2200 *Via Electronic Mail %/JM /’ / (}{mo‘t}v L. Bransford


Document Created: 2006-06-21 16:01:05
Document Modified: 2006-06-21 16:01:05
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