Attachment ViaSat Filing

ViaSat Filing

LETTER submitted by ViaSat

ViaSat 9/24-08 Filing

2008-09-24

This document pretains to SES-STA-20080811-01049 for Special Temporal Authority on a Satellite Earth Station filing.

IBFS_SESSTA2008081101049_666828

                                                                     555 Eleventh Street, N.W., Suite 1000
                                                                     Washington, D.C. 20004—1304
                                                                     Tel: +1.202.637.2200 Fax: +1.202.637.2201
                                                                     www.lw.com

                                                                     FIRM / AFFILIATE OFFICES
L AT H A M &WAT K l N S LLP                                          Barcelona          New Jersey
                                                                     Brussels           New York
                                                                     Chicago            Northern Virginia
                                                                     Dubai              Orange County
                                                                     Frankfurt          Paris
                                                                     Hamburg            Rome
                                                                     Hong Kon           San Diego
      September 24, 2008                                                 o       nong           0o
                                                                     London             San Francisco
                                                                     Los Angeles        Shanghai
                                                                     Madrid             Silicon Valley
      Ms. Marlene H. Dortch                                          Milan              Singapore
                                                                     Moscow             Tokyo
      Secretar
               Y                                                     Munich             Washington, D.C.
      Federal Communications Commission
      445 12th Street, SW
      Washington, DC 20554


             Re:    Application of Row 44, Inc. for Authority to Operate up to 1,000 Technically—
                    Identical Aeronautical—Mobile Satellite Service Transmit/Receive Earth Stations
                    Aboard Commercial and Private Aircraft
                    FCC File Nos. SES—LIC—20080508—00570; SES—AMD—20080619—00826; SES—
                    AMD—20080819—01074; SES—AMD—20080829—01117; Call Sign: E080100

                    Application of Row 44, Inc. for Special Temporary Authority
                    FCC File No. SES—STA—20080811—01049; Call Sign EQO80100

      Dear Ms. Dortch:

             ViaSat, Inc. ("ViaSat") submits into the record of these proceedings the enclosed letter
      dated September 18, 2008, which ViaSat has filed in a related proceeding (SES—STA—20080711—
      00928).

              The application and STA proceedings captioned above rely on technical information
      contained in two substantive amendments that currently are on Public Notice for comment (until
      October 10, 2008). See Public Notice, Report No. SES—01066 (Sep. 10, 2008). The Commission
      has required these amendments because Row 44‘s prior submissions have been deficient.
      ViaSat‘s forthcoming comments will detail the continuing technical problems and deficiencies
      with Row 44‘s new amendments.

              ViaSat urges the Commission to consider the information contained in the enclosed letter,
      and, before taking any further action in these matters, including granting STA, to allow members
      of the public to scrutinize fully Row 44‘s recent amendments.


     Ms. Marlene H. Dortch
     September 24, 2008
     Page 2


LATHAMsWATKINSu

                                                   Sincerely yours,


                                                              4C
                                                         P. Janka
                                                   Jarrett S. Taubman

                                                   Counselfor ViaSat, Inc.


     CC.       Helen Domenici
               Robert Nelson
               Fern Jarmulnek
               Karl Kensinger
               Andrea Kelly
               Scott Kotler
               Sophie Arrington
               Jeanette Spriggs
               David S. Keir, Counsel for Row 44, Inc.


ATTACHMENT A


                                                                            555 Eleventh Street, N.W., Suite 1000
                                                                            Washington, D.C. 20004—1304
                                                                            Tel: +1.202.637.2200 Fax: +1.202.637.2201
                                                                            www.lw.com

        *                                                                   FIRM / AFFILIATE OFFICES
L AT H A M &WAT K l N S LLP                                                 Barcelona       New Jersey
                                                                            Brussels        New York
                                                     ED L FCC               Chicago         Northern Virginia
                                      RECE|V                                Oubai           Orange County
                                                                            Frankfurt       Paris
                                                                            Hamburg         Rome
                                            SEP 1 8 2008                    Hong Kong       San Diego
      September 18, 2008                                           .        Lona            gan Franc
                                                     n\catlons ccmm‘ss‘on    ondon           an     Francisco

                                      FederatCommu      | office            Los Angeles     Shanghai
                                              Bursali                       Madrid          Silicon Valigy
      Ms. Helen Domenici                                                    Milan           Singapore
      Chief,
         :
             International
                     i
                           Bureau                                           Municn
                                                                            Moscow
                                                                                            Washington, D.C.
                                                                                            Tokyo

      Federal Communications Commission
      445 12th Street, SW
      Washington, DC 20554


             Re:     Row 44, Inc. Request for Special Temporary Authority and Expedited Action;
                     ECC File No. SES—STA—20080711—00928; Call Sign E080100

      Dear Ms. Domenici:;

              On behalf of ViaSat, Inc. ("ViaSat"), we are responding to the letter sent to you by Row
      44, Inc. ("Row 44") on September 11, 2008 ("September 11 Letter"). In that letter, Row 44
      urges the Bureau to act on Row 44‘s pending request for special temporary authority ("STA") to
      operate acronautical—mobile satellite service ("AMSS") terminals on commercial and private
      aircraft —— even though the public comment period with respect to two substantive technical
      amendmelnts on which its STA request relies has not yet closed, and will not close until October
      10, 2008.

             As detailed below, action on the STA request at this time would be premature at best:

                     1.     Row 44‘s prior submissions have been deficient, and ViaSat‘s
                            forthcoming comments on Row 44‘s recent amendments will detail
                            continuing technical problems and deficiencies that should be considered
                            before any STA issues; and

                    2.      Two independent sources confirm that Row 44 has in fact conducted some
                            of the proposed operations within the United States without having
                            obtained the STA from the Commission that Row 44 seeks.

              As an initial matter, Row 44 is mistaken when it asserts that Row 44‘s two recent
      substantive amendments provide the Commission with "all of the data necessary to permit grant
      of the limited interim authority that Row 44 has sought in the pending STA request[.]"


             See FCC File Nos. SES—LIC—20080508—00570; SES—AMD—20080819—01074; SES—AMD—
             20080829—01117 ("Application"). The amendments wereplaced on public notice on
             September 10, 2008.


     Ms. Helen Domenici
     September 18, 2008
     Page 2

LATHAMeWATKINSur

     September 11 Letter at 2. Although Row 44 made essentially the same claim in submitting the
     initial Application, and in response to ViaSat‘s pleadings identifying the deficiencies in that
     Application, the Commission (i) has twice noted the incomplete nature of the initial
     Application," (ii) has required Row 44 to file corrective amendments or face dismissal, and (iii)
     has sought further public comment on the two recent technical amendments filed by Row 44. By
     the October 10, 2008 comment deadline, ViaSat will address the continued technical deficiencies
     in Row 44‘s amendments, which should be taken into account if and when the Commission gives
     further consideration to Row 44‘s pending request to test its nascent technology on aircraft."

              More troubling, however, are recent reports that Row 44 has been operating at least one
     of its terminals on an aircraft without having received Commission authority to do so." While
     Row 44‘s September 4, 2008 letter to the Bureau ("September 4 Letter") acknowledged that Row
     44 needed STA to conduct demonstrations in connection with the recent World Airline
     Entertainment Association trade show in California,® it appearsthat Row 44 went ahead with
     those very demonstrations even in the absence of Bureau action on the pending STA request. At
     least two independent sources confirm that Row 44 transmitted signals to and from spacecraft
     over a Row 44 terminal mounted on a Row 44 sea plane. Mary Kirby, author of the Runway
     Girl blog published by Flight, the world‘s leading provider of aerospace news and data, notes
     that she sent herself an email while aboard a seaplane "equipped with Row 44‘s in—flight
     connectivity service," which "floated happily on the waters off of Long Beach before our
     flight."" KNBC(TV) reports that tests were conducted from the Van Nuys, California airport,
     and in fact includes footage of a demonstration of Row 44‘s technology.‘ Thus, the "initial


              See Letter from Scott A. Kotler, Chief, Systems Analysis Branch, Satellite Division,
              International Bureau to Counsel for Row 44 (Aug. 7, 2008); Letter from Scott A. Kotler,
              Chief, Systems Analysis Branch, Satellite Division, International Bureau to Counsel for
              Row 44 (Aug. 25, 2008).
              Row 44 mischaracterizes ViaSat‘s position when Row 44 suggests that its STA request
              should be granted because ViaSat has "expressed as a key concern that ‘transmit/receive
              flight testing of [Row 44‘s] proposed antenna‘ should be conducted prior to grant,"
              September 11 Letter at 2. While the lack of guch testing is problematic, a more
              fundamental problem is that the analysis Row 44 has presented to the Commission is
              incomplete and internally inconsistent. Row 44 should not receive any authority to
              operate on aircraft unless and until it has presented a cogent and complete written
              technical analysis that withstands Commission scrutiny.
              Row 44‘s existing STA is limited to a single terminal at a manufacturer‘s facility in
              Amherst, New Hampshire. See FCC File No. SES—STA—20071121—01610.
              September 4 Letter at 2.
              See Mary Kirby, A whale ofa good time aboard Row 44‘s Albatros seaplane (Sep. 8,
              2008) available at http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/runway—girl/2008/09/a—whale—of—a—
              good—time—aboard.html (attached as Exhibit 1).
     7        KNBC News, Wireless Access at 35,000 Feet (Sep. 10, 2008), available at
              http://video.knbc.com/player/?id=645225 (screen shot attached as Exhibit 2).


     Ms. Helen Domenici
     September 18, 2008
     Page 3

LATHAMsWATKINSu

     stage" of testing using "one to two aircraft—mounted antenna," which Row 44 represents would
     follow grant of STA, appears already to have occurred.*

               Row 44‘s history of presenting incomplete and internally inconsistent information to the
     Commission highlights the need for public comment on Row 44‘s recent technical amendments,
     before the Commission may even consider authorizing the proposed STA operations.
     Particularly considering that Row 44 already has conducted demonstrations, without
     authorization, it is entirely appropriate to wait just a few more weeks (until the October 10, 2008
     pleading deadline) before taking any further action on this STA request. Indeed, Row 44‘s
     unauthorized operations of a terminal on its own sea plane raise material issues about Row 44‘s
     compliance with the Commission‘s rules and its candor before the Commission that can and
     should be examined in the meantime.

             For these reasons, ViaSat urges the Bureau to allow the public to comment on Row 44‘s
     recent technical amendments, and to allow its own staff the opportunity to scrutinize those
     comments, as well as the information provided in this letter, before acting on either Row 44‘s
     STA request or the amended Application.




                                                         et}f—
                                                    Sincerely yours,




                                                    Jarrett S. Taubman

                                                    Counselfor ViaSat, Inc.

     ce:       Robert Nelson
               Fern Jarmulnek
               Karl Kensinger
               Andrea Kelly
               Scott Kotler
               Sophie Arrington
               Jeanette Spriggs
               David S. Keir, Counsel for Row 44, Inc.




               September 11 Letter at 2.


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 Search this blog                A whale of a good time aboard Row 44‘s Albatros
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http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/runway—girl/2008/09/a—whale—of—a—good—time—aboard.htm19/18/2008


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                                   That‘s the email | sent to myself today while the seaplane floated happily on the waters off of
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                                  Categories: Air Transport, In—flight Entertainment/Communications

                                  Tags: Aircraft Interiors Expo, Alaska Airlines, Boeing 737, Dynon, Garmin, Grumman Albatros,
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Document Created: 2008-09-30 09:36:49
Document Modified: 2008-09-30 09:36:49

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