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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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