Four European carriers are assessing a shared bid for EU mobile satellite spectrum as a European Commission proposal reserves one-third of the 2 GHz band for government use and divides the rest among commercial operators.
On Oct. 19, Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Telefónica and Vodafone announced they had signed a letter of intent to examine a shared spectrum bid. They have not committed to a final application or said whether they would seek government capacity, commercial capacity or both.
Under the Commission’s proposal, one-third of the band would support government services, including security and military uses, and would have to be provided by an EU operator. The other two-thirds would be for commercial services: half for EU market entrants and half for EU and non-EU operators. The proposal would replace the existing authorization framework when current rights expire in May 2027.
The operators say their proposed model would let all mobile network operators offer direct-to-device (D2D) services. They plan to establish ground infrastructure in Europe, while a satellite partner they have not selected would provide the constellation. The four say they would not invest directly in a constellation. They cite service in underserved areas and greater resilience for public networks among the model’s aims.
The commercial appeal of D2D is disputed. Via Satellite reported that European mobile executives differed over the service’s value and customers’ willingness to pay. In its September coverage, the outlet reported that Orange senior vice president of international infrastructure Stéphane Cugnon de Sévricourt put mobile coverage at 98% to 99% of the population; Via Satellite characterized D2D as an edge case in Europe.
Luke Kehoe, lead industry analyst at Ookla, told Via Satellite that securing spectrum could give carriers “a stronger hand in negotiations” with satellite providers. The Commission proposal gives no date for selecting rights holders, while current authorizations expire in May 2027.
