Attachment Joint Reply

Joint Reply

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

Joint Reply

2006-09-20

This document pretains to SES-STA-20060906-01674 for Special Temporal Authority on a Satellite Earth Station filing.

IBFS_SESSTA2006090601674_530174

                                         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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