The 46th meeting of WG FM project team 44 (PT44) on satellite communications met last 16-18 January in Copenhagen, chaired by France. The session was attended by 21 participants, encompassing a total of 12 administrations, as well as various industry representatives, namely from Avanti, Airbus, DJCSL, Eutelsat, Hispasat, JSC (Russian Space Systems), Intelsat, Panasonic, Roscomos, SES, Thales Alenia Space and ViaSat, and also the European Communications Office (ECO).
The following stand out among the various issues dealt with at the meeting:
- Earth stations in motion operating in the Ku band with non-geostationary satellite systems (FM44_28);
- Land-based in-motion Earth stations operating in the Ku band with geostationary satellites (FM44_31);
- Satellite solutions for 5G (FM44_32);
- Operations via satellite for machine-to-machine/internet of things (M2M/IoT) (FM44_33).
Regarding the first point, the ECC draft report on regulatory questions concerning the use of Earth stations in motion (ESIMs) operating in the Ku band with non-geostationary (NGSO) satellites was discussed and finalised. That document will be presented at the next WG FM meeting in February for submission to public consultation. On the other hand, the preliminary version of the draft ECC decision on free movement, use and licence exemption of ESIMs in the Ku band operating with NGSO satellites was discussed and revised; it will be presented at the next WG FM meeting.
Also discussed and finalised was the ECC draft decision on free movement, use and licence exemption of land-based in-motion Earth stations operating in the Ku band with geostationary satellites. That document will be presented to WG FM for adoption and submission to the ECC (for public consultation).
Lastly, the ECC draft reports on satellite solutions for 5G and on operations via satellite for M2M/IoT were discussed and revised. It is notably expected that the first document will be revised at the next WG FM meeting, depending on the comments from ECC PT1.
Next meetings of PT44:
47th, 21 March, web-meeting;
48th, 24-26 April in Copenhagen.
