Iridium To Get Partial Clarification in Inmarsat Earth Station Interference Question

The FCC International Bureau partially granted a petition by Iridium asking for clarification regarding a license granted to Inmarsat for operating in the 29.1-29.25 GHz band. Inmarsat in March received approval to build and operate a fixed-satellite service earth station at Lino Lakes, Minnesota, to be used for its Inmarsat-5 F2 satellite, as long as it does not interfere with other mobile satellite service (MSS) feeder link operations. Iridium then filed a petition for reconsideration on a condition of Inmarsat's use of the 29.1-29.25 GHz band, which it uses for its MSS operations. The International Bureau on Tuesday said it agreed to Iridium's request for clarification on whether the condition applies to future MSS feeder links as well as current, but rejected Iridium's request for a clarification that would say Inmarsat cannot claim protection for any reception of signals by the F2 satellite, limiting the condition to strictly between the satellite and the Lino Lakes facility.