Nov 12, 2008 12:13 PM, By Lynnette Luna

Another thing worth noting is that we signed an agreement with Inmarsat, giving us the ability to access up to 46 megahertz of spectrum—40 for ATC and MSS, and six for MSS only. That is extraordinarily amount of spectrum, about the size of the 700MHz auction earlier this year.

Tech Talk: What role do you see MSV playing in a nationwide 700 MHz public-safety network?

Gates: The FCC has, in its prior rulings on the public-safety/private shared broadband wireless network, required the implementation of one device with integrated satellite capability. We believe it should be extended to a greater number of devices.

MSV’s ultimate role would be as a service provider, side by side with the D Block provider, delivering satellite coverage.

Would we potentially be the only satellite provider? Maybe, but there is certainly an opportunity and a variety of players that could participate. We think that the integration of satellite for public-safety and dedicated use is vital--it is vital to provide coverage and from a network-hardening perspective.

Think about a terrestrial network and how it is vulnerable to hurricanes, tornadoes and other disasters. I would note that we don’t stand alone in that view, based on comments filed with the FCC. It’s also important to note that a terrestrial network will have a greater throughput as a matter of physics, but we can provide significant coverage continuity where terrestrial networks are reduced. We can’t deliver tens of [megabits per second], but we can provide 3G capability and smaller portable devices.

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