Authorisation of Mobile Satellite Services

Key points

The EESC:

• supports satellite Direct-to-Device connectivity, which can extend mobile coverage beyond the reach of terrestrial networks and provide supplementary connectivity when those networks are disrupted; stresses that deployment should particularly benefit underserved rural, remote, island, mountainous, border and outermost areas, thereby contributing to territorial and digital cohesion; calls for coverage reporting to be complemented by indicators on effective service availability, continuity and quality, and for services to be accessible and affordable, including for persons with disabilities, with transparent information for users on actual availability and limitations;
• recommends that the priority given to Union new entrants to obtain two of the four paired blocks of 5 MHz available for commercial MSS be explicitly reflected in the binding provisions through a clearly defined selection mechanism; stresses that the weighting of the selection criteria should give much greater importance to quality, innovation and competition than to the amount of the one-off financial contribution; calls for clarification of the requirement to provide evidence of a binding agreement for the manufacture of satellites within the territories of the Member States, so that it remains proportionate and does not create unjustified barriers for credible Union new entrants and smaller operators;
• supports the obligation to provide services in all Member States and to cover at least 95% of the population and at least 90% of the aggregate land area of each Member State within five years of continuous MSS commencing; recommends measurable intermediate deployment and coverage milestones, accompanied by transparent progress reporting, so that delays can be identified before the final deadline;
• considers that environmental sustainability should be a minimum authorisation requirement and not merely one of several criteria used to rank commercial applicants; calls for comparable and independently verifiable lifecycle environmental requirements for both the secure MSS/hybrid system and commercial MSS systems;
• notes with concern that the Commission's explanatory memorandum identifies no impact on fundamental rights, even though the proposal contains provisions concerning data retention, lawful interception, electronic evidence and the routing of communications traffic through EU territory; calls for a specific assessment of the proposal's impact on the rights to privacy, data protection, freedom of expression and effective judicial remedy.