Washington – A new engineering study by Lasting Software prepared for the CCIA Research Center finds that modern non-geostationary orbit (NGSO) satellite systems can safely coexist with geostationary orbit (GSO) networks under significantly more flexible interference limits, calling into question decades-old international rules that are increasingly misaligned with today’s technology.
The report concludes that the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) framework governing Equivalent Power Flux-Density (EPFD), unchanged since 1997, is now technologically obsolete. While originally designed to protect GSO systems, the rules are imposing substantial and unnecessary costs on next-generation satellite operators, limiting broadband expansion without delivering meaningful additional protection.
The FCC recently announced it would vote on an order to modernize its 1990s-era satellite spectrum-sharing rules in its next monthly meeting on April 30th. The new rules would replace the EPFD framework with modern, performance-based GSO protection criteria that take into account the improved spectrum sharing possibilities that modern satellite technology has brought. This would unlock major NGSO capacity gains:
- Lowering broadband costs,
- Reducing constellation size and associated orbital debris risks, and
- Improving the economics that ultimately determine end-user costs for reliable, location-independent broadband access.
The following quote may be attributed to Trevor Wagener, who serves as CCIA’s Chief Economist and Director of the CCIA Research Center:
“The ITU’s interference framework and the related FCC rules on satellite spectrum-sharing were built for a world of sparse satellite deployments and static antennas that no longer exists. This study shows that modern NGSO systems and GSO networks can safely coexist under significantly relaxed limits, with real-world measurements confirming what the simulations predict: minimal interference, no service disruptions, and enormous untapped capacity.”
