The Satellite Industry Welcomes WRC-19 Decisions

The Global Satellite Coalition (GSC) welcomes the decisions taken at the ITU World Radiocommunication Conference 2019 (WRC-19), Sharm-el-Sheikh, which allow satellite services to continue to bridge digital, education, health and social divides and connect more and more citizens around the world. At the start of WRC-19, the GSC called for a practical approach to address both the world’s unresolved communications challenges and the technological imperatives of the future.

WRC-19 proved again the vigour and vitality of the satellite industry. Not only was the satellite industry able to effectively contain the persistent encroachments on spectrum allocated to satellite services, but also achieved big wins in terms of added flexibility and new spectrum allocations. The decisions of WRC-19 demonstrate that countries around the world recognize the important role that satellite communications plays in the development and growth of their economies and the provision of critical services to their citizens. The GSC praises the WRC-19 decision on Earth Stations in Motion (ESIM) in the Ka Band (28 GHz and 18 GHz bands) into which billions of dollars of investment have flowed over the last decade.

The decision unmistakably answers the need for more flexibility in the use of existing spectrum allocations to address increased demand for connectivity for users on planes, ships and trains. Of crucial importance to millions of satellite users at this Conference, was the decision to protect C-band downlinks in Africa and Asia using the 3.6 – 4.2 GHz range. Administrations in these regions can now be assured that their vital C-band services in this band will remain protected for years to come.

The GSC also praises the Conference decisions on defining a regulatory framework for non-geostationary (NGSO) satellites to operate in the Q/V bands, the new allocation of 1 GHz of spectrum for the fixed-satellite service (FSS) in the 51.4-52.4 GHz band for feeder links, and the decisions to make ample spectrum available to HAPS (High Altitude Platform Stations) and IMT, (International Mobile Telecommunications) which both acknowledge the need to protect incumbent services.―APSCC