July 27, 2021
Ofcom recently expressed concern about OneWeb, SpaceX’s Starlink and other low-Earth orbits (LEO) satellite broadband systems blocking each other’s signals.
The U.K. communications regulator has proposed new rules to change satellite licenses issued to SpaceX and OneWeb to require coordination of frequency use.
Ofcom said that without new requirements, the risk of interference could be reduced, excluding new players from the market.
Some things proposed by the authority include “an additional explicit license condition requiring NGSO licensees to cooperate so they can co-exist and operate within the U.K. without causing harmful radio interference to each other.”
Other ideas put forward were: ‘Introduce checks when we issue new NGSO licenses so that these are only granted if all systems (existing and new) are able to coexist and provide services to end-users” and also to implement new conditions that will let Ofcom “take action to resolve degradation to services if this were to occur at a particular location or location(s) in the U.K.”
For more information, read the original story in Arstechnica.
