FCC Chairman Investigates Space Regulation
Jessica Rosenworcel, Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), outlined the plan for integrating satellite and terrestrial networks during a meeting at MWC23 in Barcelona and proposed a new regulatory framework.
The base is that, through a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), satellite operators cooperating with terrestrial service providers will be required to obtain permission to operate space stations on the currently licensed flexible use of the spectrum granted to terrestrial services.
The FCC Chair said the NPRM was designed to promote closer collaboration between terrestrial mobile network operators and satellite service providers.
“By setting clear rules, I believe we can jump-start innovation in the space economy and expand wireless coverage in remote, unserved and underserved areas. We can make mobile dead zones a thing of the past,” Rosenworcel said at the Leadership for the Future of Connectivity session.
“But even better, we have the opportunity to take our spectrum policy into the future and think about how we can overcome the binary choice between mobile spectrum or satellite spectrum.”
NPRM also included the allocation of the mobile-satellite service to a class of flexible-use terrestrial bands that do not have primary, federal or non-federal satellite allocations, which would allow satellites to provide Supplementary Coverage from Space (SCS) to terrestrial networks.
