TerreStar Europe ‘Optimistic’ on EC Action, Attorney Says
TerreStar Europe is “encouraged” after receiving word from the Court of First Instance in Luxembourg that it intends to deal in an “expedited fashion,” with the lawsuit the TerreStar subsidiary filed against the European Commission, Doug Brandon, TerreStar general counsel, said in an interview.
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On Monday, TerreStar Europe brought legal action against the EC seeking the annulment of a decision to award Inmarsat and Solaris pan-European spectrum rights to provide mobile services over S-band. TerreStar Europe and ICO Global had competed to operate on the band before being passed over in early May.
TerreStar Europe said it believes it was excluded on a technicality at a preliminary stage of the selection process. TerreStar Europe argues the EC misread its submission, finding an inconsistency “where none existed.” The EC “failed” to investigate the supposed inconsistency before making its decision, TerreStar Europe said.
ICO Global has also filed suit over concerns with the EC’s decision. ICO has spent years clearing the S-band worldwide, and has an operational satellite using this frequency band and is registered in the International Telecommunications Union Master International Frequency Register, said ICO acting CEO Michael Corkery. His comments came in a written statement after the decision was announced earlier this month. ICO spokesman Christopher Doherty said Thursday that there have been no updates since the company filed its case in September 2008. He said the only reason it bid was because ICO knew that the court process would continue beyond the EC’s bidding process. Doherty said ICO seeks to invalidate the entire EC S-band process as opposed to just an aspect of it like TerreStar Europe.
It could be difficult for ICO to convince European agencies to honor previous S-band licences because of the company’s recent bankruptcy filing, said Tim Farrar, a mobile satellite expert.
Martin Selmayr, a spokesman for the EC, said the selection process was done in accordance with the requirements set by European Parliament and the EU Council of Ministers. Ultimately, “TerreStar Europe did not demonstrate the required level of technical and commercial development of their satellite system,” Selmayr said.
The lawsuits aren’t the only bump in the road that the EC has faced in allocating the S-band, analysts said. Shortly after being selected, Solaris said it detected an anomaly on its satellite that houses the S-band payload. It said more tests are needed to “fully assess the extent of the S-band payload’s capability to provide mobile satellite services to the European marketplace.” Selmayr said the EC is confident Solaris will be able to begin to offer services by its deadline of Summer 2011, and it doesn’t now plan to select another company to step in. “At this point we don’t have major concerns regarding the timing,” he said. “A new selection procedure is not envisaged.” - Virgil Dickson