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This is a fascinating take. Cell phone adoption could push SpaceX into establishing a global spectrum committee. Let's hope they remember to register under the

by 1970-01-01 3y ago

This is a fascinating take. Cell phone adoption could push SpaceX into establishing a global spectrum committee. Let's hope they remember to register under the .INT domain

lxgr 3y ago
Well, that global spectrum committee already exists [1], .int domain and all :) But somebody recently mentioned here that in order to provide satellite services in a given country, you still need a local license...? I'm not sure how existing mobile satellite service providers fit in here – do Inmarsat, Iridium etc. just have a license in (almost) all countries worldwide? [1] https://www.itu.int/ https://www.itu.int/
- manquer 3y ago
  Not all but a lot. It is a mixed bag though, Iridium and Thuraya are illegal in India but Inmarsat has a license, so it kind of depends really. You need a local license because radio frequency is considered a national resource, so each country owns the radio space about its land and they get to govern it.
  - lxgr 3y ago
    That makes sense. So the ITU has more of a role of coordination than of actual assignment, I suppose? Practically, satellites won't switch frequencies every time their spot beam footprints cross national boundaries, so I suppose it's more of a matter of allowing/not allowing service in a given country (as determined by either the mobile or the satellite?).
    - manquer 3y ago
      The other tool is simply not allowing receivers to sold or used to decode/decrypt forbidden sources in a country enforced with import ban like with satellite phones etc.
- 1970-01-01 3y ago
  That's news to me! Does ITU have any ability to mandate laws for the physical spectrum? If not, a global communications committee would still be needed. At minimum, they would need the ability to control the 5G blocks of every country participating in the SAT to cell service.
  - lxgr 3y ago
    Like most of these international committees, I believe they mostly facilitate agreements between sovereign states; I don't believe they have any legislative power themselves. Maybe an analogy would be ICAO's (another "specialized agency of the UN") "Freedoms of the Air" [1] – they define the terminology, but it's still up to individual (or blocs of) nation states to actually grant them to each other, ratify recommendations etc. [1] https://www.icao.int/pages/freedomsair.aspx https://www.icao.int/pages/freedomsair.aspx

This is a fascinating take. Cell phone adoption could push SpaceX into establishing a global spectrum committee. Let's hope they remember to register under the .INT domain

lxgr 3y ago

Well, that global spectrum committee already exists [1], .int domain and all :) But somebody recently mentioned here that in order to provide satellite services in a given country, you still need a local license...? I'm not sure how existing mobile satellite service providers fit in here – do Inmarsat, Iridium etc. just have a license in (almost) all countries worldwide? [1] https://www.itu.int/ https://www.itu.int/

manquer 3y ago
Not all but a lot. It is a mixed bag though, Iridium and Thuraya are illegal in India but Inmarsat has a license, so it kind of depends really. You need a local license because radio frequency is considered a national resource, so each country owns the radio space about its land and they get to govern it.
- lxgr 3y ago
  That makes sense. So the ITU has more of a role of coordination than of actual assignment, I suppose? Practically, satellites won't switch frequencies every time their spot beam footprints cross national boundaries, so I suppose it's more of a matter of allowing/not allowing service in a given country (as determined by either the mobile or the satellite?).
  - manquer 3y ago
    The other tool is simply not allowing receivers to sold or used to decode/decrypt forbidden sources in a country enforced with import ban like with satellite phones etc.
1970-01-01 3y ago
That's news to me! Does ITU have any ability to mandate laws for the physical spectrum? If not, a global communications committee would still be needed. At minimum, they would need the ability to control the 5G blocks of every country participating in the SAT to cell service.
- lxgr 3y ago
  Like most of these international committees, I believe they mostly facilitate agreements between sovereign states; I don't believe they have any legislative power themselves. Maybe an analogy would be ICAO's (another "specialized agency of the UN") "Freedoms of the Air" [1] – they define the terminology, but it's still up to individual (or blocs of) nation states to actually grant them to each other, ratify recommendations etc. [1] https://www.icao.int/pages/freedomsair.aspx https://www.icao.int/pages/freedomsair.aspx