After a yearslong wait the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is asking for comments on whether it should allow signals from Europe's Galileo satellite navigation system to be used for non-federal applications in the United States. The call for public feedback is part of a process to grant a waiver so that Galileo-capable receivers don't have to be licensed in the United States.
The licensing mandate, which has its roots in the World Trade Organization (WTO) Telecom Agreement of the late 1990s, only came to public attention roughly two years ago. This is despite the fact that the Galileo constellation has been broadcasting since 2011 and its signals already have been integrated into most, if not all, commercial GNSS receivers. The waiver, however, would make it possible to incorporate Galileo into government official uses like Enhanced 911.
In 2015 the FCC determined that a plan proposed by the major wireless carriers to tap Galileo to improve the locatability of distressed cellphone callers could not be used to meet the FCC's emerging E911 requirements because the Galileo system was unauthorized — that is the licensing/waiver requirement had to be met. Given the upward trends in cellphone adoption and the difficulty of locating callers horizontally, that is in apartment buildings, the decision was arguably significant for public safety.
Comments Please
In the FCC's request, which can be found in docket 17-16, the agency asks for feedback on whether it should "permit non-Federal receive-only earth stations within the United States" — that is GNSS receivers — to use the Galileo E1, E5 and E6 signals. These signals are transmitted on the bands 1559-1591 MHz (E1); 1164-1219 MHz (E5); and 1260-1300 MHz (E6).
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), which manages government's use of frequencies, submitted the request to the FCC in January 2015. NTIA assessed the request from the federal users' perspective after the European Commission submitted it to the State Department in 2012. In its letter, NTIA noted that U.S. policy embraces the prospect of foreign constellations being used to augment and strengthen the resiliency of GPS signals.
In its request for comments the FCC noted the extensive coordination of the U.S. and European systems and that both sets of satellites use the same band of internationally coordinated frequencies. The agency stressed that it agrees with the NTIA, which did not find any interference issues. The FCC wants confirmation that that is the case, however, and to give the public an opportunity to comment.
Ligado
Telecom regulators are asking for information ranging from possible issues with Galileo's signal structure to details about satnav receivers. The request for receiver information may reflect the issue that has most likely been holding up the waiver — how approving Galileo would impact the use of bands near the satellite navigation frequencies.