At a recent International Telecommunications Union (ITU) meeting, SkyBridge L.P. moved closer to attaining confirmation of international regulations that facilitates the operation of its proposed global broadband satellite system that will provide local loop access.
The ITU JTG 4-9-11 meeting addressed technical aspects of the
decision of the 1997 World Radiocommunications Conference (WRC-97) to
allow non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) satellite systems, such as
SkyBridge, to share frequencies with geostationary (GSO) satellite
systems and terrestrial systems in the Ku-band (10 – 18 GHz) and
Ka-band (18 – 30 GHz). WRC-97 established an international regulatory
regime for such sharing, which includes NGSO power limits designed to
protect GSO and terrestrial systems. An international task group –JTG
4-9-11– was established to study the values of these limits, and
report its findings at WRC-2000.
On this occasion, SkyBridge conducted a demonstration of the
impact of the WRC-97 provisional power limits on direct broadcast
satellite (DBS) systems. Receiving live Astra and Hispasat programming
signals via satellite with standard consumer equipment, SkyBridge
demonstrated the absence of any perceptible impact on DBS viewers from
NGSO operations under the WRC-97 power limits, as enshrined in the
International Radio regulation.
Delegates to this task group from over 25 nations and
international satellite organizations convened in Toulouse to evaluate
the these limits. There was broad agreement that, with suitable ground
rules, NGSO systems can share spectrum with GSO and terrestrial
systems. Progress toward achieving operational standards was made on
several fronts.
“We are pleased with this global endorsement of the SkyBridge
philosophy for sharing,” said Pascale Sourisse, President and Chief
Executive Officer of SkyBridge LP. “The principles adopted by the JTG
4-9-11 are consistent with the SkyBridge system design, and will
enable SkyBridge to proceed towards implementing its global broadband
access system by 2001. The work of this group has significantly
furthered the WRC-97’s intent to offer adequate access of spectrum to
new systems, and see true competition in the provision of broadband
multimedia services via satellite.”
At this meeting, consensus was reached on use of new of a new
methodology for evaluating the power limits applied to NGSO systems.
The delegates also agreed on principles for software to be used by the
International Telecommunication Union to confirm appliance of a NGSO
system with the power limits. Progress was made in defining the
appropriate protection for GSO and terrestrial systems and on the
means of assessing the true effect of multiple NGSO systems.
Alcatel is the General Partner of SkyBridge LP. The other partners
of SkyBridge include the following group of leading industrial
companies: Loral Space & Communications of the United States; Toshiba
Corporation, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation and Sharp Corporation of
Japan; SPAR Aerospace Limited of Canada; Aerospatiale and CNES of
France, and SRIW, a Belgian investment entity.
Based on a constellation of 80 Low-Earth-Orbiting (LEO) satellites, SkyBridge will deliver global connectivity to business and residential users worldwide with performance comparable to that of future terrestrial broadband technologies.
