Orbcomm Counters Swarm Petition Opposition

That Orbcomm would have to shut down permissible operations outside the U.S. gives it standing in its application for review of an FCC International Bureau letter on its obligation to avoid interference with Swarm (see 2104120063), said an Orbcomm IB filing Monday in response to Swarm's opposition to the application (see 2104270003). Orbcomm said there's no merit to Swarm arguments the application for review is just a challenge to Swarm's initial license or the 2008 Orbcomm modification order because both those were silent on global applicability of the non-voice non-geostationary orbit mobile satellite service band-sharing plan. Orbcomm said “the best path forward” is an FCC-set deadline for negotiating a sharing agreement the parties can agree to on a global basis. Swarm emailed us Tuesday that the FCC was clear in its March letter that Orbcomm doesn't have the right to operate in Swarm's bands internationally.