- European 2GHz satellite spectrum likely to be split into European and non-European allocations
- Starlink and Amazon Leo could bid for space in the remaining third starting in May 2027
- The UK and Norway will be allowed to bid for space under the EU two-thirds allocation
While the European Commission plans to reserve around two-thirds of the 2GHz mobile satellite spectrum for European companies, non-EU competitors are reportedly scrambling to grab the remaining third.
And none other than Elon Musk’s Starlink and Amazon’s Leo, formerly Project Kuiper, are racing to acquire the remaining allocation.
There will of course be some exceptions to the EU rule, in that UK and Norwegian companies will also be able to bid for spaces out of the two-thirds EU allocation, leaving the remaining third available to some of the biggest players in the game.
A third of the European allocation should be recovered by Starlink and Amazon Leo
For now, the spectrum is held by the American companies Viasat and EchoStar, whose contracts expire in a year. Rather than renewing them, Europe’s restructured award rules will not only give European companies a chance to acquire space, but they will also allow other non-European companies to bid for space.
IRIS2, a constellation of 290 satellites, will be part of European plans to obtain space under the two-thirds allocation, an exclusive allocation PK Press Club report details.
Commission spokesperson Thomas Regnier cited “resilience, security and capacity” when asked for comment – the Commission’s recent efforts to improve the market share of European companies and reduce dependence on US tech giants have not gone unnoticed across the sector.
The report also introduces the possibility of reserving the entire spectrum for European companies, but the vice-president of technological sovereignty, security and democracy, Henna Virkkunen, is said to have expressed the desire not to exclude any company from the calls for tenders, hence the likely one-third/two-thirds proposal.
Further details are expected to be communicated by the Commission soon, but no updates have been provided at the time of writing this report.
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