[Satellite Today – 08-07-08] The European Commission launched a competition Aug. 7 seeking satellite operators to provide mobile services across Europe.
    New regulations will allow the selected operators to provide their services over a specifically reserved spectrum without having to secure permission from individual countries.
    "Mobile satellite services have the tremendous advantage of being able to cover most of the EU’s (European Union) territory thereby reaching millions of EU citizens across borders. They represent an unprecedented opportunity for all Europeans to access new communication services, and this not only in metropolitan areas but also in rural and less populated regions," EU Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding, said in a statement. "However, these satellite services depend on substantial investment and therefore need simple and swift procedures as well as long-term legal certainty. This is why the Commission, in close cooperation with the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers, set up, in a record time of only 10 months, a single EU procedure for selecting interested operators of mobile satellite services. There is now one market, not 27 in Europe for mobile satellite services. Henceforth, the ball is in the camp of the industry.”
    Companies have until Oct. 7 to submit applications to the EC, which will assess the technical and commercial ability of the candidates to launch their systems. The criteria in the second selection phase include: the speed at which all member states will be covered; range of services, including in rural areas; and the number of end-users to be served and the capacity of the system to fulfil public policy objectives and spectrum efficiency.
    The first satellite launches are expected to take place in 2009.