18. 1. 97 Official Journal of the European Communities No L 16/87 (Acts whose publication is not obligatory) COMMISSION COMMISSION DECISION of 18 December 1996 relating to a proceeding under Article 85 of the EC Treaty and Article 53 of the EEA Agreement (Case IV/35.518 — Iridium) (Only the English text is authentic) (Text with EEA relevance) (97/39/EC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to the Agreement on the European Economic Area, Having regard to Council Regulation No 17 of 6 February 1962, First Regulation implementing Articles 85 and 86 of the Treaty ('), as last amended by the Act of Accession of Austria, Finland and Sweden, and in particular Article 2 thereof, Having regard to the application for negative clearance and the notification for exemption submitted pursuant to Articles 2 and 4 of Regulation No 17, on 11 August 1995, Having regard to the summary of the application and notification published pursuant to Article 19 (3) of Regu- lation No 17 and to Article 3 of Protocol 21 of the EEA Agreement (%), After consultation with the Advisory Committee for Restrictive Practices and Dominant Positions, Whereas: () OJ No 13, 21. 2. 1962, p. 204/62. () OJ No C 255, 3. 9. 1996, p. 2. M I. THE FACTS A. Introduction The Iridium system was conceived by the United States company Motorola Inc. in 1987 to provide global digital wireless communications services using a constellation of low earth orbit (LEO) satel- lites. Services will include voice telephony, paging and basic data services (such as facsimile) and will be provided via portable hand-held (dual mode or single mode) telephones, vehicle mounted tele- phones, pagers and other subscriber equipment. Iridium expects to be the first operational provider of global satellite personal-communications services (S-PCS). The system is expected to become commercially operational by 1 October 1998. For that purpose, 66 satellites will have to be launched and placed in orbit during the next 24 months. B. Parties Motorola Inc., is a US provider of wireless com- munications and electronic equipment, systems, components and services for worldwide markets. Motorola is the originator of the Iridium concept and is the primary contractor to Iridium for the procurement of the space segment and a major supplier for other components of the Iridium systern.