The mobiles satellite services (MSS) sector of the satellite industry posted some gains and losses at the World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC 2000).

Tallies in the victory column included gains in three efforts to obtain additional spectrum. But these gains were considered mild compared to what the MSS sector hoped to achieve at the bi-annual meeting sponsored by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

The biggest loss this year for MSS came when the sector lost its opportunity to share spectrum bands with global navigation systems.

…In Search Of Spectrum

At the end of the conference, Little LEO companies such as LEO One and Financial Analysis were left without any spectrum allocations for the data services they intend to offer. The systems were seeking outright spectrum allocations but walked away from the conference only with a vote to continue studying the systems to determine spectrum needs.

Little LEO companies were not the only ones snubbed for spectrum allocations. Inmarsat also was looking to obtain spectrum allocation in the 1518-1525 MHz band for a downlink. That band is contiguous with the existing 1525-1559 MHz band currently used by Inmarsat and others for MSS services.

Conference delegates did not support the outright allocation of spectrum to Inmarsat primarily due to concerns regarding interference with aeronautical telemetry in the United States and the lack of sharing studies with other existing services in that band, which is used right now for testing new U.S. military and commercial aircraft applications and for fixed communications services in other countries.

In another Inmarsat bid, the company did receive support from conference delegates to for uplink applications. Delegates rejected Inmarsat’s request for an uplink in the meteorological band, but will seek alternatives to meet Inmarsat’s needs.

Two resolutions were passed to identify an MSS uplink and a downlink for Inmarsat below 3 GHz, excluding the GPS bands.

A third MSS issue led to approval of an item for the next WRC agenda to consider granting a secondary MSS allocation in the 14-14.5 GHz band. Such an allocation would be used by The Boeing Co. [BA] for its planned program to provide wideband data services to commercial aircraft in flight. Airline passengers would be able to download and watch movies, send and receive e-mails, gain access to their office servers and search the Web.

MSS systems generally lost out to the U.S. Global Positioning System (GPS) and Europe’s proposed Galileo positioning system, which were among the big winners at the WRC 2000.

The decisions at WRC clearly showed the representatives from countries around the world valued satellite navigation services and were willing to defend their use of spectrum at the expense of other services. As a result, mobile satellite services (MSS) will need to look elsewhere to accommodate their future spectrum needs.

An attempt by MSS companies to obtain an allocation between 1559 to 1567 MHz now used for radionavigation satellite service (RNSS) failed when Resolution 220 was suppressed by the WRC.

The defeat will prevent that band segment and any part of the GPS spectrum through 1610 MHz to be used by MSS. In addition, any future studies to identify additional MSS spectrum will exclude 1559 to 1610 MHz, WRC attendees said.