Ofcom has published a consultation on proposals to amend Satellite Gateway fees, proposing that NGSO Gateway licence fees will no longer be fixed. 

As the consultation explains, the growth of new non-geostationary (NGSO) satellites orbiting relatively close to Earth means that there is ever-greater use of the spectrum by satellite gateways such that it is becoming a “scarce resource”. 

In response, Ofcom is proposing to remove the current annual cost-based fee of £500 for NGSO Gateways, and to replace it with so-called ‘Administered Incentivised Pricing’ (AIP). According to the consultation, AIP fees – which are already applied to licences for Geostationary (GSO) Gateways – “encourage users to think carefully about their spectrum needs and incentivise use by the highest value users.”. 

The proposed AIP formula for NGSO Gateways will be based on the current system used for GSO Gateways. However, because of the different ways that that NGSO and GSO systems operate (for example NGSO Gateways use more antennas and track multiple satellites), the AIP formula for NGSO Gateways will differ in a number of ways, including the following:  

1. The fee will not be calculated on a ‘per satellite connection’ basis, but instead on the “estimated impact of connecting with a satellite fleet”. Ofcom explains that this figure would be reached “by treating each NGSO Gateway as connecting to only one satellite but applying a factor of x1.2 to the fee associated with all of the Gateway’s emissions”.
2. The fee would only be charged to the 10 most sterilising antennas per band at each Gateway; 
3. The fee would only be charged for the most sterilising set of Gateway emissions on a given frequency (for each antenna path and polarisation) so as to remove duplication. 

In the light of these changes, the consultation also proposes updates to the GSO Gateway fee system: like the proposals for NGSO Gateways, fees would also be limited to the 10 most sterilising antennas at a GSO Gateway, and Ofcom would use the same “streamlined approach to remove duplicate emissions”. Ofcom also proposes new ‘Band Factors’ for Q/V and E bands which would also apply to both NGSO and GSO Gateways so as to “help reflect the different opportunity costs of using spectrum in different frequency bands”. 

The consultation is open until 9 September and can be read in full here.