Attachment Joint Reply

Joint Reply

REPLY submitted by Stratos, Telenor, FTMSC, BT, MVS

Joint Reply

2006-09-20

This document pretains to SES-STA-20060905-01667 for Special Temporal Authority on a Satellite Earth Station filing.

IBFS_SESSTA2006090501667_530178

Before the Federal Communications Commission Washington, D.C. 20554 : In the matter of ) Stratos Communications, Inc. g File No. SES—STA—20060906—01674 (Call Sign EO50249) Telenor Satellite, Inc. % File No. SES—STA—20060830—01 580 (Call Sign EO50276) FTMSC US, LLC ; File No. SES—STA—20060905—01667 (Call Sign E050284) BT Americas Inc. % File No. SES—STA—20060907—01679 (Call Sign EO60076) MVS USA, Inc. % File No. SES—STA—20060905—01673 (Call Sign EO50348) JOINT REPLY Stratos Communications, Inc., Telenor Satellite, Inc., FTMSC US, LLC, BT Americas Inc., and MVS USA, Inc. (collectively, the "Licensees"), together with Inmarsat Ventures Limited ("Inmarsat"), oppose the "clarification," and imposition of additional conditions, sought by Mobile Satellite Ventures Subsidiary LLC ("MSV") on the renewal of special temporary authority ("STA") to provide BGAN service over the Inmarsat—4 spacecraft ("I—4"). The Licensees have successfully provided BGAN over I—4 pursuant to STAs for the last four months. MSV does not oppose renewal of the BGAN STAs. Rather, MSV asks the Commission to modify the conditions applicable to these authorizations, and attaches: (i) MSV‘s pending Petition for Clarification, which seeks modification of the Licensees‘ current BGAN STAs; and (ii) MSV‘s Reply to the June 19, 2006 Joint Opposition to that Petition. The

Licensees and Inmarsat fully responded to that pleading in their Joint Opposition, and incorporate the Joint Opposition by reference for inclusion in the record of these proceedings.‘ In addition, MSV requests that the Commission not extend the STAs beyond November 30, 2006, citing that date as the "official" end of this year‘s hurricane season. MSV‘s request is contrary to the facts and the law, and would disserve the public interest by removing a critical communications tool from the hands of the first responders, public safety officials, relief workers, and commercial users. As an initial matter, renewal of the STAs is consistent with Commission policy due to the considerable delay in processing of the underlying BGAN applications. It has been over a year since the "lead" BGAN application was filed. The Commission has long recognized that grant of the STAs is appropriate in cases, such as this, where the underlying earth station applications have remained pending for a long period of time." This "extraordinary circumstance" warranting grant of the STAs in the first place has only taken on greater force as delay has continued. Moreover, contrary to MSV s claims, the STA requests and subsequent pleadings never stated that the STAs should be granted solely because of the oncoming hurricane season. Rather, hurricanes are i//ustrative of the types of natural and other disasters for which BGAN is a powerful tool to support emergency preparedness and recovery. It is of critical importance that BGAN continue to be available to first—responders and relief organizations as part of their disaster preparedness and recovery programs, regardless of the nature of the disaster. \ Joint Opposition of the Licensees and Inmarsat, File Nos. SES—STA—20060310—00419 et al. (filed June 19, 2006) ("Joint Opposition"). * Amendment ofPart 25 ofthe Commission‘s Rules and Regulations to Reduce Alien Carrier Interference between Fixed—Satellites at Reduced Orbital Spacings and to Revise Application Processing Procedures for Satellite Communications Services, 6 FCC Red 2806, 2810« 27 (1991).

Furthermore, since the STAs issued, BGAN has begun to serve the daily needs of national security providers to, among other things, ensure the security of U.S. borders, ports, and other critical aspects of the United States infrastructure. Extension of the STAs is required to support those needs as well. As a final matter, and as further discussed in the Joint Opposition, by all accounts, each Licensee has complied with the conditions of its STA. Nowhere does MSV dispute this — neither in MSV‘s Comments, its Petition for Clarification, nor in its Reply. MSV again has failed to demonstrate that any of the current conditions has proved inadequate to constrain the potential for harmful interference to MSV. Simply stated, in contrast to the substantial public interest in ensuring that BGAN services continue to be available to U.S. government agencies, relief organizations, and industry, there are no countervailing harms to continued authorization of the provision of BGAN to the United States. * *# o# * x

For these reasons, and the reasons set forth in the Joint Opposition, the Commission should renew the STAs without granting MSV‘s request to "clarify," or add further conditions to, the renewal of the Licensees‘ STAs and without limiting the term to November 30, 2006. Respectfully submitted, Is/ Is/ Linda J. Cicco Alfred M. Mamlet BT AMERICAS Inc. Marc A. Paul 11440 Commerce Park Drive Brendan Kasper Reston, VA 20191 STEPTOE & JOHNSON LLP 703—755—6733 1330 Connecticut Avenue, NW Washington, D.C. 20036 (202) 429—3000 Counsel to Stratos Communications, Inc. Is/ Is/ Keith H. Fagan Lawrence J. Movshin Senior Counsel Robert G. Morse TELENOR SATELLITE, INC. WILKINSON BARKER KNAUER, LLP 1101 Wootton Parkway 2300 N Street, N.W., Suite 700 10th Floor Washington, D.C. 20037 Rockyville, MD 20852 (202) 783—4141 (301) 838—7860 Counsel to MVS USA, Inc. Is/ Is/ William K. Coulter Diane J. Cornell DLA PIPER RUDNICK GRAY CARY LLP Vice President, Government Affairs 1200 19th Street, N.W. INMARSAT, INC. Washington, DC 20036 1100 Wilson Blyd, Suite 1425 (202) 861—3943 Arlington, VA 22209 Counsel to FTMSC US, LLC (703) 647 4767 September 20, 2006

CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I, Jeffrey A. Marks, hereby certify that on this 20 day of September, 2006, I caused to be served a true copy of the foregoing "Joint 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, NW. 1002 Park Ridge Boulevard Washington, DC 20037—1128 Reston, Virginia 20191 J [4L4 *Via Electronic Mail Jeffiy arks


Document Created: 2006-09-20 16:05:29
Document Modified: 2006-09-20 16:05:29
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