The U.K. Office of Communications proposed to authorize...
The U.K. Office of Communications proposed to authorize the use of earth stations on mobile platforms (ESOMPs) for broadband services on board aircraft, ships and trains. There has been growing interest in the use of ESOMPs in recent years, and…
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several satellite operators are planning to start commercial satellite networks this year and next that support transmitting in the 27.5-30 GHz band and receiving in the 17.3-20.2 GHz band, said Ofcom Thursday in a consultation document (http://xrl.us/bpofb8). It categorized ESOMPs into those mounted on aircraft, those placed on ships and vessels, and those mounted in a land-based vehicle. It proposed to approve all three kinds in U.K. territory that transmit in the frequencies 27.5-27.8185 GHz, 28.4545-28.8265 GHz and 29.4625-30 GHz. The bands aren’t used by terrestrial radio systems in the U.K. and are available for other kinds of satellite earth stations, including permanent earth stations and high-density fixed satellite service, it said. The main proposals are: (1) Radio equipment for land-based ESOMPs should be exempt from licensing. (2) Radio equipment for aircraft and ship ESOMPs should be licensed rather than license-exempt. (3) Aircraft-mounted ESOMPs should be licensed via a variation of the license issued on Ofcom’s behalf by the Civil Aviation Authority, at no extra charge, and licensing of ship-mounted ESOMPs should be done through variation of the ship radio license with no additional fee. Ofcom said it will publish a statement in December, with licensing available for aircraft- and ship-mounted ESOMPs potentially available in early 2014. Comments are due Oct. 10.