APSAT-2013

A New Era of The Spectrum Management

And Its Impact on Satellite Operators

Ali Shoamanesh

APSAT-2013 Conference

(June 12-13, 2013)

Jakarta, Indonesia Asia Pacific Satellite Communication System

International Conference

APSAT

APSAT-2013

Table of Contents

Theme: Regulation And Policy on Frequency Spectrum Management - How Regulation On Frequency Spectrum Can Affect Satellite Business

Background

Trends in Spectrum Management

Frequency Allocation Approach

Near Term Threat to Satellite Operators

Summary/Conclusion?

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BACKGROUND

Countries consider RF spectrum as an exclusive property of the state. The RF spectrum is a national resource, much like water, land, gas and minerals. Unlike these, however, RF is reusable.

The ITU constitution fully recognises the sovereign right of each State to regulate its telecommunication.

While it is up to sovereign Member States to manage the radio-frequency spectrum nationally within the ITU's international regulatory framework, the Member States are required to observe their internal obligations not to cause harmful interference to the authorized radio services of other Member States which operate in accordance with the Regulations.

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Trends in Spectrum Management

Effective spectrum management requires regulation at national, regional and global levels. Frequency spectrum has been assigned through administrative licensing. The objective has been to mitigate radio spectrum pollution and maximize the benefit of usable radio spectrum.

Limited by technology, signal interference was once considered as a major problem of spectrum use. Therefore, exclusive licensing was established to protect licensees' signals.

However, the advances in digital technology have allowed spectrum to be used more efficiently and increased the possibility of sharing spectrum.

As a result of this advancement, and the boom in personal communications, some are now pushing for further relaxation on spectrum access.

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Trends in Spectrum ..., Contd.

A number of countries have started using a "spectrum auction" model that is intended to gain revenue for the government, to speed technological innovation, and improve the efficiency of spectrum use. Then, other approaches have surfaced; lotteries, and unlicensed access.

In recent years, however, demand for spectrum use has grown significantly, specially for mobile communications. Two mostly advertized spectrum management policies are liberalization and flexibility:

Liberalization is the extent to which spectrum usage rights can be managed through market-based mechanisms. Spectrum management agencies in this situation have less say in the practiced regulations.

Flexibility involves the relaxation of constraints on usage and technologies, as well as the possible expansion of licence-exempt frequencies. Very few countries have opened up large parts of the spectrum with full flexibility.

The rational is that spectrum resources should be treated like land. The spectrum owners would be able to use their bands in any way they want through any technology they prefer (service and technology neutrality), or be able to sell it to a third party.

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Frequency Allocation Approach

Allocating certain frequency spectrum to a given service has been based on assigning guard bands (wasting bandwidth) between the new allocation and incumbent services, and limiting the signal levels in the new allocation. However, limiting signal level of the transmitters represents only half of a transmission system.

The other half of a transmission system is the receiver and the receivers performance, such as the receivers ability to filter out signals from undesired transmitters, can also affect interference and spectrum efficiency.

However, this is not an easy task; well thought plan should be undertaken (e.g., collecting information on the practical effects to improve receiver performance, understanding stakeholders opinion).

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Near Term Threat to Satellite Operators

The market surveys suggest a strong demand for terrestrial broadband communications and terrestrial industries (service providers and equipment manufacturers) have been putting significant pressures on regulators to change their spectrum policies.

There was a push in WRC-07 to get access to the FSS C-band spectrum. A well coordinated opposition by the operators thawed that attack, though the broadcaster were not as successful.

There is another well organized assault by the same entities to secure access to a number of frequency bands, including the FSS C-band spectrum. Agenda 1.1 of WRC-15 gives the Conference the power to make a decision on it.

The terrestrial proponents forecast that their market demand will require close to 2000 MHz in certain Regions!

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Near Term Threat to Satellite

Operators (contd)

Regulars in majority of countries are apparently supporting the principle of Agenda 1.1 since it could make broadband access more feasible, create jobs, and bring revenue to the government. However, there should be a balance between the demand and protecting adequately the incumbent.

We note that what works for some countries such as Japan, South Korea, and many European countries regarding FSS C-band may not work for other countries such as Indonesia. the use of C-band in Japan et al. are apparently limited to a small number of large C-band antennas, whereas C-band in Indonesia is the backbone of connectivity with thousands of remotely located islands.

The spectrum demand forecasted by terrestrial proponents are prepared by them & enough scrutiny has not been yet given to the methodology used to arrive at the demand.

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Summary/Conclusion?

Satellite communications are critical infrastructures, which contribute to citizens' needs in a number ways such as education, commerce, entertainment, health as well as the security of the citizens. It also contributes to the digital broadband, a strong pretext used by terrestrial proponents to ask for more spectrums.

Thus, satellite must be protected against risks impacting the integrity of the services they provide.

Any new regulatory framework for a new spectrum policy must seriously consider the competitiveness and sustainability of the satellite industry.

The satellite operators and users of their services need to put their forces together to maintain the ability to use C-band for satellite services. This need a well orchestrated effort in pre WRC-15 activities as well as in the Conference itself.

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References: Further consideration of Options to Improve Receiver Performance Needed, US Government Accountability Office, Report to Congressional Committees, February 2013

Managing Shared Access to a Spectrum Commons, William Lehr and Jon Crowcroft

An Integrated Industrial Policy for the Globalisation Era Putting Competitiveness and Sustainability at Centre Stage, EUROPEAN COMMISSION, COM(2010) 614

The Path to Market Success for Dynamic Spectrum Access Technology, John M. Chapin, and William H. Lehr, IEEE Communications Magazine, May 2007

Policy Framework for the Auction for Spectrum Licences for Advanced Wireless Services and other Spectrum in the 2 GHz Range, Industry Canada, November 2007

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Thank You

for your attention!

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