12.6.2009 Official Journal of the European Union L 149/65 COMMISSION COMMISSION DECISION of 13 May 2009 on the selection of operators of pan-European systems providing mobile satellite services (MSS) (notified under document number C(2009) 3746) (2009/449/EC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to Decision No 626/2008/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 June 2008 on the selection and authorisation of systems providing mobile satellite services (MSS) (1), and in particular Article 5 thereof, Whereas: 1) () ) ) In order to facilitate the development of a competitive internal market for mobile satellite services (MSS) across the Community and to ensure gradual coverage in all Member States, Decision No 626/2008/EC creates a Community procedure for the common selection of operators of mobile satellite systems that use the 2 GHz frequency band in accordance with Commission Decision 2007/98/EC (), comprising radio spectrum from 1980 to 2010 MHz for earth to space commu- nications, and from 2 170 to 2 200 MHz for space to earth communications. The Commission published a call for applications for pan-European  systems providing mobile satellite services (MSS) (2008/C 201/03) on 7 August 2008 (3). The deadline of 7 October 2008 was set for the submission of applications. Applications from ICO Satellite Limited, Inmarsat Ventures Limited, Solaris Mobile Limited and TerreStar Europe Limited were received within the deadline. On 24 October 2008 requests for additional information regarding the fulfilment of admissibility requirements were sent to ICO Satellite Limited, Inmarsat Ventures Limited and TerreStar Europe Limited. All the three applicants responded by 7 November 2008. 172, 2.7.2008, p. 15. 0] L 0] L 43, 15.2.2007, p. 32. 0] C 201, 7.8.2008, p. 4. ©) By Decision C(2008) 8123 of 11 December 2008 on the admissibility of applications submitted in response to the call for applications for pan-European systems providing mobile satellite services (MSS) (2008/C 201/03) the Commission  decided that the four applications submitted by, respectively, ICO Satellite Limited, Inmarsat Ventures Limited, Solaris Mobile Limited and TerreStar Europe Limited are admissible. The Decision was forthwith notified to the applicants, and the list of admissible applicants was published on the Commission website (4). Information regarding the completion of the critical design review was provided, in addition to the appli- cation, by ICO Satellite Limited, Inmarsat Ventures Limited and TerreStar Europe Limited no later than 80 working days after the submission of their application (by 6 February 2009), in accordance with the Annex to Decision No 626/2008/EC. Moreover, correspondence including additions to the technical or operational content of the application was provided by TerreStar Europe Limited and ICO Satellite Limited after the deadlines for submission of the appli- cation and for submission of information regarding the completion of the critical design review, and could therefore not be taken into account. In the first selection phase the Commission should assess, within 40 working days following publication of the list of admissible applicants, whether applicants have demon- strated the required level of technical and commercial development of their respective mobile satellite systems. Such assessment should be based on the satisfactory completion of milestones one to five as set out in the Annex to Decision No 626/2008/EC. The credibility of applicants and the viability of the proposed mobile satellite systems should be taken into account throughout the first selection phase. To facilitate the implementation of the comparative selection procedure, and in particular in order to assist the Commission in preparing decisions connected with the selection procedure, a working group of the Commu- nications Committee on the comparative selection procedure for pan-European systems providing mobile satellite services (MSS) was established. (%) http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/policy/ecomm/current/ pan_european/index_en.htm