Notice No. Notice No.

SMSE-011-14
Canada Gazette, Part 1, Vol. 148, No. 22
(published May 31, 2014)

Consultation on a Policy, Technical and Licensing

Framework for Use of the Bands 2000-2020 MHz and
2180-2200 MHz

Reply Comments of

Omnispace, LLC

Tuesday, 22 July 2014

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Notice No. SMSE-011-14 Page 2 of 13

TABLE OF CONTENTS

A. Omnispace System – Continuous and Complete Canadian Coverage .............................. 3

B. Positions of Other Parties ................................................................................................... 5

(i) 400525 Ontario and TCC: Re-allocation of S-band for terrestrial uses alone ...... 6

(ii) Rogers and Regional ILECS: Nominal support for maintenance of MSS, but
after five years, allow spectrum transfer to a national or regional incumbent..................... 7

(iii) TerreStar Solutions, HOOPP and SSi: Provision of ATC should not be
conditional on MSS ............................................................................................................. 8

C. Omnispace Will Be Instrumental in Achieving the Government’s Two-Fold Policy

Goals 9

APPENDIX A PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO S-BAND LICENSING FRAMEWORK

(Proposals C-1 to C-10, 2 GHz MSS Consultation) ....................................................................... 12
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A. Omnispace System – Continuous and Complete Canadian Coverage

1. Omnispace, LLC (“Omnispace”) provides herein its reply to the comments provided by
other parties in response to Industry Canada’s (the “Department”) Consultation on a
Policy, Technical and Licensing Framework for Use of the Bands 2000-2020 MHz and
2180-2200 MHz, Notice No. SMSE-011-14 (the “2 GHz MSS Consultation”).

2. In its initial comments in this proceeding, Omnispace demonstrated its support for the
Department’s proposed band plan,1 policy framework,2 and technical rules,3 as set out in
the 2 GHz MSS Consultation.

3. In particular, Omnispace unreservedly supported the Department’s proposal that the

requirement to provide MSS be maintained in the S-band. Indeed, Omnispace proposed
to strengthen RP-0234 and the conditions of licences to be issued to make the provision of
terrestrial services contingent throughout the entire licence term on the launch and
maintenance of MSS services in the band.5

4. In Omnispace’s view, the proposed policy framework represents a fine balance between
the challenges and opportunities of providing mobile broadband services throughout
Canada. In essence, the Government of Canada proposes to grant Tier 1 national
licences for the provision of both terrestrial and mobile satellite services, contingent on
providing and attaining specific deployment obligations in both the terrestrial and mobile
satellite services. In this regard, Omnispace appreciated the Department’s recognition that
in order to achieve commercial deployment of broadband telecommunications services in
Canada’s rural, remote, and farthest northern areas, service providers must be able to
leverage MSS services with other commercial terrestrial services. In its initial comments,
Omnispace has demonstrated the integral nature of MSS services to its overall global,
business plan:

1
2 GHz MSS Consultation, paragraphs 18 – 22; see Omnispace comments, paragraphs 4 – 8.
Note : all references to parties’ comments are to be filed on or about June 23, 2014 in response to
the 2 GHz MSS Consultation as posted at : http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/smt-gst.nsf/eng/sf10842.html .
2
2 GHz MSS Consultation, paragraphs 23 – 30; see Omnispace comments, paragraphs 9 - 34.
3
2 GHz MSS Consultation, paragraph 99; see Omnispace comments, paragraphs 80 - 82.
4
Omnispace comments, paragraph 32.
5
Omnispace comments, paragraph 67 – 73.
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(a) Omnispace demonstrated its unique ability and intent to provide MSS services on a
global scale, and in particular to the farthest northern (and southern) latitudes of the
globe.6

(b) Omnispace described the technical limitations of geostationary (GEO) satellite

systems and explained the distinct advantages of mid-earth orbit (MEO) non-
geostationary orbit (“NGSO”) systems such as Omnispace’s system.7

(c) Omnispace demonstrated how its MEO system, designed to fully exploit a globally
diversified business plan, serving a range of countries, has a greater immediate
prospect for creating an attractive user device ecosystem, both for MSS terminals
and MSS/terrestrial terminals, than a GEO operator serving a single market. 8

(d) Omnispace dispelled the apparent misapprehension that all devices operating in the
S-band will use 20 MHz + 20 MHz by demonstrating that the current standard for
Band 23 (the LTE profile of this band) supports 5 MHz and 10 MHz channels, but
not 20 MHz channels.9

(e) Omnispace further dispelled the Department’s misapprehension that from a

technical perspective, there cannot be more than two MSS operators in the band.10
On the other hand, Omnispace outlined its concerns with the Department’s proposal
to issue an MSS licence and a MSS/ATC authorization to two different entities within
the same 10 MHz x 10 MHz blocks of the band.11

5. Several other parties to the proceeding have assumed that the only system capable of
providing MSS services in Canada is a geostationary system.12

6
Omnispace comments, paragraphs 9 – 18 and 26 - 29.
7
Omnispace comments, paragraphs 19 - 25
8
Omnispace comments, paragraphs 35 – 47.
9
Omnispace comments, paragraphs 48-53
10
Omnispace comments, paragraphs 57 – 62. In this regard, Omnispace is concerned that some
parties to the proceeding appear to be confused and wrongly believe that licensing of more than one
operator in the band is impossible: see for example, Bell, paragraph 7.
11
Omnispace, paragraphs 55 – 56.
12
400525 Ontario Limited (“400525 Ontario”) comments at 3. See also SSi Group of Companies
(“SSi”) comments, paragraph 35.
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6. By way of reply, Omnispace notes that the quality of coverage provided by GEO MSS
systems suffers from latency and line-of sight problems, particularly in latitudes above
60˚N or below 60˚S.13 The continuity of coverage provided by GEO systems suffers from
quality problems or worse still, the sheer unavailability of service at relatively high northern
(and southern) latitudes.

7. Conversely, the non-continuous nature of coverage of a single MEO NGSO satellite over
any given location on the Earth is readily remedied by the build-out of a full complement or
constellation of NGSO satellites. Omnispace already has a fully operational satellite and
is poised to provide MSS services immediately, including to critical constituencies in the
northern territories of Canada that GEO systems cannot effectively serve. Omnispace also
intends to launch additional satellites within four (4) years and maintain a constellation of
satellites to provide enhanced continuity.

B. Positions of Other Parties

8. For the most part, parties other than Omnispace espouse one aspect or other of the
Department’s proposed policy framework but their support is usually couched with caveats
that actually contradict the Department’s stated policy goals in a significant way.

9. Outlined below are the principal submissions of other parties to this proceeding, grouped
as follows:

(a) parties that are openly skeptical of the viability of MSS services in Canada and
advocate for immediate re-allocation of the entire S-band for terrestrial uses alone;

(b) Canadian mobile terrestrial incumbents that seek to diminish or hamper the viability
of MSS services and seek to preserve for themselves the opportunity to acquire the
spectrum within five or less years of licence issuance;

(c) TerreStar and its supporters, who are seeking important amendments to the policy
and licensing framework in order to first, decouple the provision of MSS from that of

13
Omnispace comments, paragraphs 19 – 20.
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ATC and second, leave open the possibility of transferring the terrestrial licence to
Canadian mobile terrestrial incumbents.

(i) 400525 Ontario and TCC: Re-allocation of S-band for terrestrial uses
alone

10. Certain parties question the Department’s stated policy objective of enabling broadband in
the North through the S-band. This first camp is openly skeptical that MSS services will
materialise in the United States, and by extension, in Canada:

400525 Ontario Limited:

… the FCC has removed the need for DISH to actually provide MSS
services … this means that while terrestrial use for LTE is viable, there
will be a much smaller ecosystem for any dual mode (MSS and ATC)
handset development. In the USA the spectrum will in all likelihood be
solely used for terrestrial services by DISH and its eventual wireless
14
carrier partner.

Existing license holders for the “T1” satellite have provided no benefit for
Canada, and the satellite owners for “G1” have never had an operating
15
license.

SaskTel:

… the recent decision by the FCC to remove the requirement for DISH
Networks to deploy an MSS service using this spectrum has left the
deployment of the MSS service by DISH Networks in doubt. There is
speculation that DISH Networks may only deploy a terrestrial network
using this spectrum. The chances of an MSS service being deployed
16
[by DISH] in Canada without a US counterpart MSS would be very low.

11. The parties in this first camp are openly critical of the Department’s proposal to double the
spectrum holdings of TerreStar Solutions Inc. (“TerreStar Solutions”) and Gamma

14
400525 Ontario comments. at 8.
15
400525 Ontario comments at 11.
16
SaskTel comments, paragraph 24. Although SSi supports TerreStar Solutions in this proceeding it
is interesting to note that it openly countenances the possibility that MSS will not be deployed in the
United States and the “complications” that the Department’s S-band policies could lead to in Canada: See
SSi comments, paragraph 20.
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Acquisition Canada ULC, a subsidiary of DISH Network Inc. (“DISH”), given that they have
held MSS licences that have remained unused since 2001 (over 13 years).17

12. Parties in the first camp advocate for the abandonment of broadband deployment by
means of MSS in favour of full and immediate conversion of the S-band to terrestrial uses
alone and allocation by way of auction18 or by way of a comparative selection process.19
Consistent with the first camp’s view that the S-band should in essence be converted to
terrestrial uses, they advocate for the licensing of the ATC licences on a Tier 2 basis,
rather than on a national, Tier 1 basis.20

(ii) Rogers and Regional ILECS: Nominal support for maintenance of

MSS, but after five years, allow spectrum transfer to a national or
regional incumbent

13. A second camp of parties evince at least nominal support for the maintenance of MSS
services in the band for a short period of time, but if after this initial period, MSS services
are not launched, these parties advocate for the possibility of transfer, depending on their
own vantage point, to either large national or smaller regional incumbents.21

14. MTS and Rogers are particularly vocal about their support for maintenance of the
provision of MSS in the band, at least for an initial period. In addition to their calls for
maintaining MSS in the band, MTS and Rogers insist that the provision of MSS in the
band continue to remain handicapped by the requirement that only dual mode handsets
be permitted.22 In doing so, MTS and Rogers are calling for amendments that appear to

17
Telus Communications Company (“TCC”) comments, paragraphs 29, 30 and 42; see also 400525
Ontario comments at 4 and throughout.
18
400525 Ontario comments at 11 and 14; TCC comments, paragraphs 16, 19 and 20.
19
Axia NetMedia Corp. comments at 13 of 14. Axia proposes that this comparative process be
determined based on a qualitative assessment of the coverage, service variety and service pricing
promises made by prospective applicants.
20
400525 Ontario comments at 12; and TCC comments, paragraph 36. MTS Inc. (“MTS”) and
SaskTel are not as openly skeptical of the requirement to maintain MSS in the S-band but their position
on tier sizing and the transferability of the terrestrial licence to regional incumbents belies their desire to
convert the S-band to terrestrial uses: see MTS, paragraph 9; SaskTel, paragraph 21.
21
See MTS comments, paragraph 12; SaskTel comments, paragraphs 16, 26, 35 and 43; Rogers
comments at 1; and XploreNet comments, paragraph 6.
22
MTS comments, paragraph 6. Rogers comments at 1 and 2.
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be designed to make the business case more difficult and thereby decrease the chances
of MSS deployment in Canada.

15. Interestingly TCC also argues, in the alternative, that if MSS is maintained in the band, the
conditions of licence attendant on MSS should become more onerous. In particular, TCC
argues that “[i]f the Department retains the requirement for the provision of MSS, TELUS
believes that the proposed MSS deployment requirement should be enforced by March
31, 2017 (i.e., two years from proposed license re-issue).”23

(iii) TerreStar Solutions, HOOPP and SSi: Provision of ATC should not
be conditional on MSS

16. A third camp of parties that commented on the 2 GHZ MSS Consultation consist of
TerreStar Solutions, the current holder of both an MSS and ATC authorization, as well as
an investor in TerreStar Solutions (Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan or “HOOPP”) and
SSi, a commercial partner of TerreStar Solutions (collectively, “TerreStar and its
supporters”).

17. In their comments, TerreStar and its supporters requested two significant changes to the
Department’s policy framework. First, these parties requested the removal of proposed
condition of licence C-9, which reads as follows: “Industry Canada proposes that the ATC
licensee be required to demonstrate that, within 5 years, MSS is available and being
offered in the Tier 1 area; this condition would apply for the term of the licence provided
that the EchoStar T1 satellite or its replacement is operational.”24

18. Added to this is the secondary request, which, not unlike the position espoused by the
second camp, referred to above, that TerreStar not be restricted in transferring its ATC
authorization to a large (or regional) mobile terrestrial incumbent.

19. TerreStar and its supporters are seeking a terrestrial licence of 40 MHz for TerreStar, free
and clear of any obligation, by way of licence condition or contractual obligation, to ensure

23
TCC comments, paragraph 42.
24
2 GHz MSS Consultation, Proposal C-9, paragraph 80.
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the initiation and maintenance of MSS service across the Tier 1 serving area. The stated
intent behind these requests is to facilitate financing and commercial arrangements.25

C. Omnispace Will Be Instrumental in Achieving the Government’s Two-Fold

Policy Goals

20. Having reviewed the comments of other parties, in Omnispace’s view, it is the only
respondent to the Department’s 2 GHz MSS Consultation that fully embraces the
proposed policy framework with its focus on maintaining the provision of MSS in the S-
band in return for a national terrestrial licence.

21. No other party has come forward with a position that seeks to achieve the dual policy
objectives of the Government of Canada in this band, namely (i) the Government of
Canada’s long-standing but as yet elusive public policy goal of bringing all of Canada’s
citizens, particularly those in underserved rural, remote, and farthest northern areas, into
the digital broadband age and (ii) enabling sustainable entry into the national mobile
wireless telephony market. Added to this is Omnispace’s unique proposal to serve the
strategic and advanced communications needs of Canada’s polar defence and research
communities.26

22. As discussed above, all other parties are intent on either having the Government abandon
MSS as a way forward in the North, or harvesting the terrestrial spectrum after an initial
period if, as they expect, DISH does not launch MSS services in the United States and
Canada. Still others seek to simply sever or de-couple the policy linkage between
provision of MSS in the North and terrestrial services in the South.

23. While the positions of the parties in the second and third “camps” do differ in material
respects, they both fail to recognise the fine balance that the Department is seeking to
achieve through the policy framework proposed in its 2 GHZ MSS Consultation.27 The

25
TerreStar comments, paragraph 24; HOOPP, paragraph 5.
26
Omnispace comments, paragraph 26.
27
TCC and 400525 Ontario, on the other hand, appear to recognize that without MSS, there is no
rationale for handing 40 MHz of terrestrial spectrum without a competitive licensing process. What these
and other parties have perhaps not taken into consideration is the fact of the Omnispace system and its
unique ability to provide MSS services to the entire Canadian land mass.
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positions of the second and third group disrupt the sole policy rationale behind granting,
as proposed, a Tier 1, national terrestrial licence to a party in the absence of a competitive
or comparative selection process. The sole rationale for awarding spectrum for terrestrial
uses in this manner, in Omnispace’s view, is a party’s acceptance of and commitment to
achieving the Government of Canada’s long-standing and important public policy objective
of enabling the introduction of much-needed broadband data services in the North.

24. Given the positions espoused by the other parties in this proceeding – be it to abandon
MSS or to de-couple the provision of ATC from the provision of MSS – it is clear that no
other party intends to ensure the achievement of the Department’s policy objectives.

25. If the Government of Canada intends to deliver broadband data services to rural and
remote northern reaches of Canada on a ubiquitous basis, Omnispace will be instrumental
in achieving this objective. With its global and diversified business case and its
commitment to launching additional satellites to serve the entire Canadian land mass,
Omnispace is uniquely positioned to fulfil this important and pressing policy objective.

26. Omnispace, therefore, respectfully reiterates its request that the Department reconsider
the proposed licensing framework to achieve its two-fold policy objectives. In particular,
and as submitted in its initial comments in the 2 GHz MSS Consultation, the Department
should amend its proposed licensing framework to:

(a) permit the licensing of two combined MSS/ATC licensees in the S-band;28

(b) ensure that, in each case, the same entity hold both the MSS and terrestrial
authorizations;29 and

(c) ensure that the retention of the terrestrial authorization remain at all times
contingent on the launch and maintenance in Canada of MSS in the S-band.30

27. Omnispace’s suggested changes to the Department’s licensing framework proposals C-1
to C-10 are attached at Appendix A.

28
Omnispace comments, paragraphs xii – xiv and 40.
29
Omnispace comments, paragraphs 55 – 56.
30
Omnispace comments, paragraphs 32 (b), (c) and (d) and 69.
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28. Omnispace thanks the Department for the opportunity to participate in this important
public consultation.
July 22, 2014 Omnispace, LLC
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APPENDIX A
PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO S-BAND LICENSING FRAMEWORK
(Proposals C-1 to C-10, 2 GHz MSS Consultation)

C-1 Industry Canada proposes to issue combined MSS and ATC authorizations for 10 MHz by
10 MHz each to two licensees.extend the spectrum assigned in existing 2 GHz MSS
licences and ATC authorization to 2000-2020 MHz and 2180-2200 MHz.

C-2 Industry Canada proposes to issue two new combined spectrum licences to applicants
that demonstrate their ability and commitment to fulfill Proposals B-1 through B-4.
Assuming that the Department receives only a single compliant application, Industry
Canada has the option to award a single 20 MHz by 20 MHz combined spectrum licence.
To incumbent 2 GHz licensees, with terms commencing on April 1, 2015, that reflect the
proposed revisions to the band plan and new conditions of licence if a letter indicating
interest is received from both incumbents.

C-3 Industry Canada proposes that the ATC licensee be allowed to decide if the use of the
band 2000-2020 MHz will be for uplink or downlink operations. and notify Industry Canada
by May 20, 2016; and further proposes that the decision apply to all of Canada and for the
rest of the licence term.

C-4 Industry Canada proposes a Tier 1 Service Area for the MSS and ATC spectrum licences.

C-5 Industry Canada proposes that spectrum licences in the 2 GHz band have a licence term
of 20 years.

C-6 Industry Canada proposes that the licensees not be permitted to transfer any of the ATC
spectrum to a large wireless service provider for the term of the licence. For any other
transaction, the transferability and divisibility provisions outlined in Section 5.6.4 ofCPC-
2-1-23 will apply to any ATC spectrum transfers.
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C-7 Industry Canada is proposing deployment obligations for MSS licensees, within 5 years,
to ensure that MSS is available and being offered throughout Canada. Licensees of S-
band spectrum will not be entitled to deploy terrestrial services until such time as they
demonstrate that (i) MSS handheld devices are being actively marketed and purchased by
Canadians. These handheld devices must support voice and data transmissions; (ii)
Canadians can subscribe to the MSS; and (iii) MSS service is operational over the entire
licensed service area. Terrestrial mobile service will be required to cease operation,
within a reasonable period, should the mobile-satellite service or network be
discontinued.

C-8 In case of an emergency leading to the lack of availability of the satellite for the provision
of the MSS, Industry Canada proposes to give the satellite operator 48 months to replace
the satellite in order to continue MSS operations.

C-9 Industry Canada proposes that the ATC licensee be required to demonstrate that, within 5
years, MSS is available and being offered in the Tier 1 area. ; this condition would apply
for the term of the licence provided that the EchoStar T1 satellite or its replacement is
operational.

C-10 Industry Canada is proposing deployment obligations for ATC licensees, within 5 years
and 10 years, as specified in Annex C.

C-11 Industry Canada proposes that an interim site licensing procedure be used for radio
stations operated by the ATC licensees until a spectrum licence fee is finalized.

*** End of document ***