Are unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) ready for take-off? According to our updated UAS dossier, the answer is yes, but a lack of clear rules is keeping them on the ground. In 2022, two key barriers remain—slow progress in developing regulations and standards for beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) UAS… Read more...

Google may have given up on Loon, but there is still plenty more to come from high-altitude platform stations (HAPS). WRC-19 defined operational characteristics and spectrum bands for HAPs, and a number of countries proposed similar regulatory visibility for platforms referred to as HIBs, high-altitude International Mobile Telecommunications base stations.… Read more...

As we mentioned last month, French satellite firm Eutelsat is teaming up with OneWeb. The deal would see Eutelsat combine its 36-strong fleet of geostationary orbit (GEO) satellites with OneWeb’s constellation of 648 low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites, of which 428 are currently in orbit. Eutelsat's Konnect VHTS satellite, carrying… Read more...

The UK satellite company OneWeb and its French rival Eutelsat recently said they had signed an initial merger deal that could help them challenge the likes of the Elon Musk-owned SpaceX’s Starlink. In the satellite sector, consolidation is definitely becoming a bit of a thing. Last year, Viasat acquired Inmarsat,… Read more...

Auctions involving over 1,600 MHz of spectrum have been recorded in the latest iteration of the PolicyTracker Spectrum Database. These assignments arose from five auctions, all taking place in Europe. All but one of these awards included the 3.3—3.8 GHz band, widely considered a crucial mid-band for 5G. At the… Read more...

US institutions and regulators have a deep trust in market mechanics and capitalism. The benefits of this can be debatable. The US spends nearly twice as much on healthcare as the average OECD country but has the lowest life expectancy compared to its peers. In the spectrum policy world, however,… Read more...

PolicyTracker spoke to Rodney Croft recently. He’s the chair of ICNIRP, the organisation that provides scientific advice and guidance on the health and environmental effects of non-ionising radiation. We asked him about the potential health impact of 6G, and his response was that it's being monitored. Fundamentally, though, it’s too… Read more...

PolicyTracker’s longest-running course, Understanding Modern Spectrum Management, features some of the leading thinkers in the field and is being held as a hybrid event on 12 - 16th September 2022. Delegates can participate online or in person at the central London venue. It is taught in live and interactive three-hour… Read more...

The candidates have told PolicyTracker that climate change and the digital divide are the biggest challenges facing the ITU. They each suggest unique solutions. Read more...

Mobile network operators are quite vocal. They are, on the whole, not shy of telling us what they think about things. They generally speak with one voice—that of the GSMA—and their views come through loud and clear. This is as it should be. Communication is their business. Here in the… Read more...