Europe

Four major European operators explore joint bid for satellite spectrum

Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefónica and Vodafone signed a letter of intent to explore a bid for mobile satellite frequencies. No award or joint service has been announced.

Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefónica and Vodafone announced a letter of intent on October 19 to examine a possible joint bid in Europe’s future allocation of mobile satellite services spectrum. This is a formal exploration, not a submitted bid or an awarded license. Reuters confirmed the announcement by the four operators. [1][2]

The initiative aims to give other mobile operators open and nondiscriminatory access to future direct-to-device services linking satellites and phones. The group proposes to coordinate ground infrastructure and control functions in Europe, while a satellite partner that has yet to be selected would provide the space technology. The signatories say this possibility does not replace their existing satellite partnerships. [1]

The European Commission proposed a common authorization framework for mobile satellite services in May. Spectrum allocation and final terms are still pending, and no launch date has been set for the joint service. The photograph shows Vodafone’s headquarters in Newbury in 2008 and is used as an archive image of one of the signatories. [1][3]

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