Communication
The satellite companies can provide services such as high- speed Internet access, mobile television and radio or emergency communications over a specifically reserved spectrum, the European Commission, the EUs executive arm in Brussels, said in a statement today.
The commissions pan-European licenses will break national monopolies on radio spectrum management. Satellite operators now need licenses from each of the 27 EU member states. The licenses may boost investment in the EUs 250 billion-euro ($340 billion) radio spectrum services market, the commission said.
“Mobile satellite services have huge potential: they can enable Europeans to access new communication services, particularly in rural and less populated regions,” Viviane Reding, the EUs telecommunication commissioner, said in the statement.
SES Global, based in Luxembourg, is the worlds largest satellite broadcaster, followed by Intelsat of the U.S. Paris- based Eutelsat Communications SA is the worlds third-largest satellite company.
EU governments must now ensure that Inmarsat and Solaris have the right to use the specific radio frequencies identified in the commissions decision and the right to operate their respective mobile satellite systems. The services are scheduled to start within two years of the commissions decision.
Mobile satellite services will offer wireless communications via portable terminals carried by a person or mounted on a car or a ship, the commission said.