Pro-Active Radiocommunication Bureau Measures Aim to Eliminate Non-Existent Satellites

GENEVA -- The ITU Radiocommunication Bureau (BR) has begun consultations with countries and satellite companies over discrepancies found between satellite networks logged in the master register and their actual use. The BR also started to enforce certain regulatory provisions by removing unused frequency assignments from the register when their use hasn’t been suspended as required. A BR study showed about 10 to 15 percent of geostationary positions with satellite networks recorded in the register may not be in regular operation.

The bureau began consultations with eight administrations and three intergovernmental satellite organizations on the operation of 41 satellite networks, according to information obtained by Communications Daily. The notifying administrations provided clarifications and confirmed regular use for eight of the networks, the information said. The administrations for six networks said they would be brought into use within two years, it said.

Twelve networks were wholly or partially suppressed at the request of the administration, the information said. The BR canceled 11 satellite networks because of a lack of information about bringing the networks into use and the continuity of operation, it said, and information and decisions are pending on four remaining networks.

"It’s a very significant development that the BR is finally taking pro-active measures to look at non-existent satellites,” said an attorney dealing with satellite matters. “That could cause countries and companies to think twice about trying to file for satellites that aren’t there,” the lawyer said, noting the expense. Maintaining the “integrity of the master registry” is “good,” he said.

"Past practice has been reactive,” the attorney said. When companies said countries weren’t putting satellites in the proper place or with the proper frequencies, nothing was done because it quickly became a political and diplomatic matter, he said

Pushback from administrations or others so far isn’t very loud, the attorney said. “So long as they are aiming at satellites that well and truly don’t exist, it’s an easy case,” he said. The review will “get tricky” when BR starts reviewing satellites using only a few of the frequencies claimed or satellites that are put in place for a week as a fly-by just to lay claim to the slot.

An October BR survey showed possible discrepancies between the real occupancy in the geostationary satellite orbit with what’s recorded in the master register, the information said. The master registry had about 450 single geostationary satellite orbit positions with an operating satellite. Public information in real-time satellite tracking databases showed about 380 to 400 satellites operating, it said. Therefore, about 10 to 15 percent of geostationary positions with satellite networks recorded in the register may not be in regular operation, it said.

BR assessed information from satellite and ITU databases and corporate websites for the most frequently used satellite frequency bands, the information said. The BR looked at networks in frequencies between 3400-4800 MHz, 5725-7075 MHz and 10.70-13.25 GHz, and 13.75-14.8 GHz. The review found that 94 satellite network registrations from 17 administrations and two intergovernmental satellite organizations might not correspond to any existing operating satellites. The BR has asked for clarification from administrations.

Some administrations or satellite interests might be concerned about “a strongly proactive BR role,” the attorney said. “They don’t want the ITU to be an enforcement agency,” the attorney said.