Convergencia Research, Consultoría especializada en Latinoamérica y Caribe
Wednesday, November 02, 2022

New multiorbital business models call for regulatory changes in the satellite area

The current regulations date from the end of the last century and are not adequate to the new market demands, such as the disruptive leap of LEO and the provision of broadband in new frequencies.

The regulations currently in force for the operation of satellite systems in Argentina date back to the end of the last century. The transformation of the segment in the last two decades, due to the consolidation of operators, new services on satellite capacity and the irruption of fleets in low orbit, requires an update that is already being prepared at the draft level by the Directorate of Satellite Affairs.

Part I of the "Satellite Management and Services Regulation", referred to the "Provision of satellite facilities by geostationary satellites in the Fixed and Broadcasting Satellite Service", was established by Resolution 3609/99; and Part II, deals with the "Provision of Global Satellite Communications Services through Non-Geostationary Orbit Satellite Constellations", by Resolution 2325/97.

This regulation was drafted at a time when reciprocity agreements between countries were crucial elements for the operation of satellite systems, under concepts of sky protection and defense of domestic systems.

According to Oscar González, telecommunications consultant and lawyer and former Undersecretary of Regulation (served between 2016 and 2019), "the regulation has not been adapted to the new demands and needs of the market. It is associated with old business models and a market reality that no longer exists. In terms of spectrum, there are issues to be addressed regarding the coexistence between GEO and LEO satellites, the shared use of spectrum for different services in different bands and the authorization of earth stations, among others. The local regulatory framework must be decoupled from the development of the satellite industrial project. The national satellite system and the industrial project cannot be sustained in the local market; its development will only be possible with a broader vision of integration to the regional and global market within the framework of the current market reality."

In the last seven years there have been two unsuccessful attempts to advance with a new regulation for the sector. The Directorate of Satellite Affairs now contemplates, for the eventual modifications, changes that have been taking place in the sector, such as the development of the Ka-band broadband business and the future projection of IoT traffic over the S-band; and the disruptive leap of the LEO orbit.

In the latter case, there are plans to give specific treatment to large new constellations. After all, the market for low orbit services is advancing commercially. In March 2022, "Starlink Argentina S.R.L." was registered with the General Inspectorate of Justice under the name controlled by the Dutch firms Starlink Holdings Netherlands and Space X Netherlands. Arsat's coordination tasks for the operation of Starlink's fleet over the country are still pending, a task that was stalled in the framework of the change of authorities in the last weeks.

OneWeb is another of the operators with LEO fleets with ICT license in Argentina. In this case, coordination discussions for its eventual start of operations are more advanced. According to Convergencia, the firm came up with a different proposal and could have a presence in Arsat's facilities.

Starlink's landing in Argentina, scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2022, generates some urgency to address the issue of ground terminal authorizations. According to current regulations, each station must obtain an authorization, a process that would become unfeasible for the size of the new fleets. One of the possibilities under evaluation is the study of a block authorization system, for 50 to 100 terminals, with a notification of where they are located.

One of the regulations being looked at by the Directorate of Satellite Affairs is that of Canada. In May 2022, Canada's Department of Innovation, Science and Economic Development presented the "Decision on Updates to the Licensing and Fee Framework for Ground and Space Stations." There it established that the entity will authorize, under a single license, different models of earth stations operating in the same bands, if the stations are considered "identical". "ISED will issue, to a given licensee, a single generic earth station license for multiple sets of identical stations," it specifies.

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