Before the FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION Washington, D.C. 20554 In the Matter of Expanding Flexible Use of the 3.7 GHz to 4.2 GN Docket No. 18-122 GHz Band Eligible Satellite Operator Transition Plans for GN Docket No. 20-173 the 3.7-4.2 GHz Band REVISED TRANSITION PLAN OF EUTELSAT S.A. Pursuant to Section 27.1412(d) of the Commission’s rules,1 Eutelsat S.A. (“Eutelsat”) hereby submits this Revised Transition Plan incorporating updated information and feedback from the Commission staff in describing the process it intends to follow to effect the relocation of its fixed-satellite service customers out of the 3.7-4.0 GHz band in the contiguous United States (“CONUS”), as required by the Commission’s C-band Order in the above-captioned proceeding. Eutelsat has separately filed a Petition for Expedited Reconsideration or Clarification, in which it has requested that the Commission confirm that eligible replacement satellite costs are limited to satellites operating only in the 4.0-4.2 GHz band (and corresponding uplink band) and covering only the CONUS. Eutelsat further requested that the Commission requires each such subsidized satellite to serve the CONUS for the duration of its useful life, and that the Commission specifically clarifies that the costs of spare satellites and “backup” launches are ineligible.2 Eutelsat continues to urge the Commission to act on that Petition, in order to bring greater clarity and consistency to the process under which C-band satellite operators are developing these Transition Plans. 1 47 C.F.R. § 27.1412(d); see Expanding Flexible Use of the 3.7 to 4.2 GHz Band, GN Docket No. 18-122, Report and Order and Order of Proposed Modification, FCC 20-22, 35 FCC Rcd 2343 (2020) (“C-band Order”), appeals pending. 2 Eutelsat Petition for Expedited Reconsideration or Clarification, GN Docket No. 18-122 (filed May 26, 2020), at 6-8; Eutelsat Notice of Ex Parte Communication, GN Docket No. 18-122 (filed June 8, 2020), at 1. Eutelsat S.A. Revised Transition Plan GN Docket Nos. 18-122, 20-173 August 14, 2020 This Transition Plan reflects Eutelsat’s best current estimate of the path of its relocation effort. Nevertheless, significant variables remain that could affect the scale or scope of Eutelsat’s anticipated relocation effort, the anticipated demand for C-band services, or the economics of utilizing a new C-band satellite to complete the relocation. These factors include: • Satellite earth station elections of the lump sum relocation amount. The Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (the “Bureau”) has set August 31, 2020 as the deadline for satellite earth station operators to make their lump-sum elections.3 While Eutelsat has been in contact with many of its customers to discuss their plans, few have made a definite decision. The number of satellite earth station customers that choose the lump sum is likely to affect the scale and scope of Eutelsat’s relocation effort, and the level of the associated costs. • Refinement of the list of earth stations served by Eutelsat’s C-band space stations. In its initial Transition Plan, Eutelsat filed a list of approximately 1,000 satellite earth stations operated by its customers that were potentially or actually communicating with Eutelsat C-band satellites. As a result of updates to the FCC’s International Bureau Filing System (“IBFS”) database, that number grew to approximately 1,250 satellite earth stations. Eutelsat has been working apace to contact its customers and confirm which of those satellite earth stations are actually using Eutelsat services. • Commission action on Eutelsat’s Petition for Reconsideration or Clarification. Eutelsat has planned the relocation of its customers as well as it is able in the face of continued uncertainty surrounding the issues raised in Eutelsat’s Petition for Reconsideration or Clarification. The Commission’s resolution of those issues could necessitate additional changes to this Revised Transition Plan. To the extent that these or other factors create the need for Eutelsat to update or amend this Revised Transition Plan, Eutelsat requests that the Bureau permit it to do so, as contemplated under the Commission’s rules.4 This Revised Transition Plan covers the elements discussed below, as required by the Commission’s rules or otherwise specified in the C-band Order:5 3 Public Notice, “Wireless Telecommunications Bureau Releases Final Cost Category Schedule for 3.7-4.2 GHz Band Relocation Expenses and Announces Process and Deadline for Lump Sum Elections,” GN Docket No. 18- 122, IB Docket No. 20-205, DA 20-802 (rel. July 30, 2020). 4 C-band Order at ¶ 306. 5 47 C.F.R. § 27.1412(d)(1). Section 27.1412(d) requires the Transition Plan to include a description of the seven specific categories of activities and infrastructure needed to accomplish the relocation of C-band services out of 2 Eutelsat S.A. Revised Transition Plan GN Docket Nos. 18-122, 20-173 August 14, 2020 1. All Existing Space Stations with Operations that Will NeeD to be TransitioneD to Operations Above 4000 MHz The four Eutelsat space stations to be transitioned to operations above 4000 MHz are as shown in Exhibit A. Eutelsat operates a total of six satellites that serve the United States through its subsidiaries, Satelites Mexicanos, S.A. de C.V. (d/b/a Eutelsat Americas) and ES 172 LLC. Four of those satellites serve the CONUS in the C-band frequencies of 3.7-4.2 GHz and 5.925-6.425 GHz, including three (Eutelsat 113 West A, call sign S2695; Eutelsat 115 West B, call sign S2938; and Eutelsat 117 West A, call sign S2873) licensed in Mexico that Eutelsat Americas operates through Commission grants of U.S. market access, and one (Eutelsat 172B, call sign S3021) that ES 172 LLC operates under a license issued by the Commission. Eutelsat 174A (call sign S2610), which ES 172 LLC operates under a Commission-issued license, serves portions of the United States, but does not offer C-band services in the CONUS. One additional satellite, Eutelsat 117 West B (call sign S2926) operated by Eutelsat Americas under a Commission grant of U.S. market access, uses a limited portion of the C-band for downlink beacons near the upper edge of the band to facilitate antenna alignment and tracking a payload used for the Federal Aviation Administration (“FAA”) Wide Area Augmentation System (“WAAS”) program. Eutelsat 113 West A (call sign S2695) is expected to reach the end of its useful life during the transition. As a result, earth stations in the CONUS currently served by Eutelsat 113 West A will need to be re-pointed to another Eutelsat C-band space station, in addition to being relocated to the 4.0-4.2 GHz band. Eutelsat currently expects the majority of those customers to be relocated to Eutelsat 117 West A (call sign S2873). the 3.7-4.0 GHz band. The text of the C-Band Order, at ¶ 302, states that the Transition Plan should additionally include “a range of estimated costs for the transition, with appropriate itemization.” 3 Eutelsat S.A. Revised Transition Plan GN Docket Nos. 18-122, 20-173 August 14, 2020 2. The Number of New Satellites, If Any, that the Space Station Operator Will NeeD to Launch in OrDer to Maintain Sufficient Capacity Post-Transition, incluDing DetaileD Descriptions of Why Such New Satellites Are Necessary; All C-band satellite operators must manage their transition costs as careful stewards of funds that will otherwise accrue to the U.S. Treasury in Auction 107. Launching an excessive number of new satellites would not meet that obligation, nor comport with the Commission’s requirement to “complete this transition in a careful, fair, and cost-effective manner.”6 Since filing its initial Transition Plan on June 19, 2020, Eutelsat has continued to refine its plans for relocating its CONUS customers out of the 3.7-4.0 GHz portion of the C-band, while carefully heeding the Commission’s admonishment in the C-band Order for satellite operators to be “prudent and efficient in their expenditures.”7 With that directive in mind and after careful consideration of all scenarios, Eutelsat now expects that prudent management of capacity and demand for C-band satellite services during and after the transition will allow it to provide “substantially the same or better service to incumbent earth station operators”8 without launching any new C-band satellites. 3. The Specific Grooming Plan for Migrating Existing Services Above 4000 MHz, incluDing the Pre- anD Post-Transition Frequencies that Each Customer Will Occupy Eutelsat has prepared a grooming plan containing the required information, which is attached as Exhibit B. The grooming plan reflects more complete utilization of Eutelsat’s C- band transponders in the 4.0-4.2 GHz band than is the case today. This enables Eutelsat to 6 C-band Order at ¶ 160. 7 Id. at ¶ 195 (“Let us be clear: Incumbents will not receive more reimbursement than necessary, and we require that, to qualify for reimbursement, all relocation costs must be reasonable. This requirement should give incumbents sufficient incentive to be prudent and efficient in their expenditures. If a particular expenditure is unreasonable, the incumbent will only receive compensation for the reasonable costs that the incumbent would have incurred had it made a more prudent decision”). 8 Id. at ¶ 194. 4 Eutelsat S.A. Revised Transition Plan GN Docket Nos. 18-122, 20-173 August 14, 2020 reduce the total number of transponders used in serving CONUS customers being relocated out of the 3.7-4.0 GHz band.