This morning, during the first Latam.Space Moment of the day, regulatory challenges for the deployment of Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN) and D2D were discussed, as well as the progress made at the 2023 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-23) and the points that remain open for 2027.

Moderated by Oscar González, a consultant and lawyer specializing in telecommunications, the panel included Jorge Ciccorossi, senior engineer at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU); Molly Gavin, VP of international regulation and spectrum policy at the U.S. mobile satellite services (MSS) company Omnispace; and from Enacom, Jorge Colletti, coordinator of ground stations in the Directorate of Satellite Affairs, National Directorate of Planning, Convergencia and Enacom Argentina.

Ciccorossi began by describing the inclusion of D2D and NTNs on the agenda of the ITU's WRC-23 held in December in Dubai. Based on three agenda items, specifically items 1.12, 1.13, and 1.14, the allocation of frequencies for low-capacity MSS in the S band (item 1.14) and S and L bands for IoT (item 1.12) was discussed. Although no specific frequency bands were assigned, item 1.13 included the D2D topic and a plan to study the bands between 694 and 2,700 MHz to evaluate their potential use for D2D applications. These studies involve assessing compatibility and the possibility of interference with adjacent bands over the four years until the next ITU summit in 2027.

Regarding the inclusion of the D2D item on the WRC-23 agenda, the Omnispace executive highlighted the advantages of MSS operators with D2D initiatives using satellite spectrum above 2 GHz. Unlike proposals using mobile operator spectrum (such as SpaceX, Lynk Global, and AST SpaceMobile), companies like Omnispace do not require any regulatory changes, as the frequencies they use are already allocated to mobile satellite services.