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REPLY TO COMMENTS submitted by Inmarsat Ventures Limited

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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_506790

Before the FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION Washington, DC 20554 In the matter of Deere & Company ) ) File No. SES—STA—20060605—00922 REPLY OF INMARSAT VENTURES LIMITED Inmarsat Ventures Limited ("Inmarsat") replies to the comments of Mobile Satellite Ventures Subsidiary LLC ("MSV"). In this proceeding, Deere & Company ("Deere") seeks special temporary authority ("STA") for a period of 30 days to test a maximum of 20 receive only, non—common carrier, L—Band mobile earth terminals using the Inmarsat—3 ("I—3") satellite at 142° W.L. No one opposes Commission grant of Deere‘s application. MSV is the only party to comment and MSV requests that the Commussion include in its grant pronouncements that are of no relevance to this request for testing authority.‘ Specifically, MSV asks that the Commission "make clear that:" (i) Commission grant of the STA "should not be construed as a Commission endorsement" regarding the coordination status of I—3 at 142° W.L.; and (ii) "Inmarsat must coordinate the Inmarsat 3F4 with other L band operators before Deere can ‘ Inmarsat disagrees with MSV‘s characterizations regarding the ongoing L—Band spectrum dispute between Inmarsat and MSV. See MSV Comments at 2—5. Inmarsat has fully briefed this matter in prior pleadings and incorporates by reference a recent pleading that summarizes Inmarsat‘s positions on the issues involved. See Opposition of Inmarsat, File No. SES—MFS—20060118—00050, et al. (filed Mar. 16, 2006) (with Consolidated Opposition of Inmarsat, File No. File No. SES—MFS—20051207—01709, et al. (filed Feb. 2, 2006) attached thereto as Exhibit A).

provide commercial service in the United States with this satellite."" There is no basis for MSV‘s requests. As an initial matter, Deere‘s proposed testing operations do not raise any interference issues. Inmarsat has been successfully operating its I—3 spacecraft at 142° W.L. for approximately three months, since the time Inmarsat decommissioned the Inmarsat—2 spacecraft that had been successfully operating at that location for the previous four years. Nowhere does MSV allege that Inmarsat‘s operations at 142° W.L. have caused harmful interference. Moreover, Deere requests STA to use the very same limited portion of the L—Band that the Commission has authorized for Deere‘s use since 2001." Deere‘s proposed operationsin that frequency segment over I—3, therefore, cannot reasonably be expected to have an adverse effect on MSV. Furthermore, MSV‘s requests are superfluous and inconsistent with Commission policy regarding the authorization of L—Band services. First, it would be premature and prejudicial for the Commission to place a condition on Deere‘s future "commercial" operations that are not even the subject of this application, as MSV suggests. The Commission should not include language in Deere‘s STA based on the mere speculation that Deere might file an application for commercial authority at some future date. Second, granting MSV‘s requests regarding coordination would contravene longstanding Commission precedent, which provides that completion of coordination is not a condition precedent to (or a guid pro quo for) issuance of MSV Comments at 1. _ See File No. SES—LIC—20010112—00051 (authorizing Deere‘s provision of L—Band services over the Inmarsat—2 spacecraft at 98° W.L.).

an authorization to provide MSS in the United States." The Commission confirmed this policy in its recent grant of MSV‘s application to operate a new and uncoordinated L—Band MSS spacecraft at 63.5° W.L.* That application was granted just last year without any obligation being imposed on MSV to effectuate coordination with Inmarsat prior to launching or operating MSV‘s spacecraft. Here (as the Commission found in MSV‘s case)® no other L—Band system in the vicinity of the United States could use the L—Band spectrum currently used by Inmarsat (and for which Deere already holds an FCC authorization) to serve the United States. As a final matter, imposing a coordination condition on Deere‘s future operations would be fundamentally unfair, as it would provide MSV with sole control over whether Deere could ever provide commercial services over the I—3 satellite at 142° W.L. Contrary to what MSV implies, Inmarsat has repeatedly attempted to coordinate its North American fleet oper;ations with MSV, but MSV has rebuffed those efforts citing "other" business issues that MSV wishes to address prior to continuing such a dialogue.‘ Moreover, such conditions would unjustifiably treat Deere (and Inmarsat) differently than the Commission has treated other MSS applicants.® * Establishment ofPolicies and Service Rules for MSS in the 2 GHz Band, 15 FCC Red 16127, 16192 148—49 (2000); SatCom Systems, Inc., 14 FCC Red 20798, 20813 «[ 30 (1999) ("TML‘); Amendment ofthe Commission‘s Rules to Establish Rules and Policies Pertaining to MSS in the 1610—1626.5/2483.5—2500 MHz Frequency Bands, 9 FCC Red 5936, 6018 « 211 (1994); AMSC Sub. Corp., 8 FCC Red 4040, 4043 « 17 (1993). °* Mobile Satellite Ventures Subsidiary LLC, Application for Authority to Launch and Operate an L—band Mobile Satellite Service Satellite at 63.5° W.L., 20 FCC Red 479 (2005). MSV recently surrendered this authorization after making a business decision not to meet its licensed milestone schedule. © Id. at 482 § 8. ‘ See Inmarsat Consolidated Response, File No. SES—STA—20051216—01756 et al., at 9—11 (Jan. 6, 2006). iSee, e.g., cases cited, supra, notes 3 & 4.

* s o%k For the foregoing reasons, the Commission should grant STA to Deere without including the coordination pronouncements requested by MSV. Respectfully submitted, Diane J. Cornell P\Jhnka Vice President, Government Affairs Jeffrey A. Marks INMARSAT, INC. LATHAM & WATKINS LLP 1100 Wilson Blvd, Suite 1425 555 Eleventh Street, N.W. Arlington, VA 22209 Suite 1000 Telephone: (7O3) 647 4767 Washington, D.C. 20004 Telephone: (202) 637—2200 June 21, 2006

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I, Jeffrey A. Marks, hereby certify that on this 21" day of June, 2006, I caused to be served a true copy of the foregoing "Reply of Inmarsat Ventures Limited" 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 Eliot J. Greenwald Jennifer A. Manner Bingham McCutchen LLP Vice President, Regulatory Affairs 3000 K Street, N.W. Mobile Satellite Ventures Subsidiary LLC Suite 300 1002 Park Ridge Boulevard Washington, DC 20007—5116 Reston, Virginia 20191 Counselfor Deere & Company Bruce D. Jacobs David S. Konczal Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP 2300 N Street, NW. Washington, DC 20037—1128 Counselfor MSV yAAA *Via Electronic Mail Jefl eyV@ Marks


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Document Modified: 2019-05-16 20:50:11
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