National control and trans-border issues

The movement of mobile satellite transmission equipment around the world is often fraught with difficulties. Some countries prohibit any use of mobile satellite communications equipment totally, while others permit it only in particular circumstances, such as for disaster relief or emergencies, or in limited geographical areas. High licence fees, taxes and Customs duties cause significant difficulties for newsgatherers; in some countries additional ‘type-approval’ is sometimes demanded, even though the equipment has been type-approved elsewhere or meets internationally recognized standards, as a further hindrance.

Often these regulatory barriers exist because the country does not have a policy or regulatory framework covering mobile satellite telecommunications or because they fear ‘bypass’ of their terrestrial network (even in regions where there is no network to bypass) which will reduce their telecommunications revenues.

The control of SNG

The National Administrations dealing with telecommunications, even in these days of increasing privatization, are still in general under government direction, and they control access to satellite capacity by SNG uplinks to varying degrees. The level of control varies from countries where the use of SNG uplinks cannot even be contemplated, to countries where there is a highly regulated control system for allowing access to space segment by SNG uplinks through licensing and frequency clearance. The latter is often used as a way of generating a lucrative income stream.

Cross-border issues are probably the largest remaining problem in the free movement of SNG. Newsgatherers always want to take their own facilities into a foreign country if at all feasible.

The technology allowing easy movement of SNG uplinks has advanced at a far more rapid rate than political and regulatory recognition in a significant number of countries. Although many National Administrations allow SNG within their borders operated by their own nationals, many still forbid foreign operators from entering their country.

National controls

There are two main reasons for reluctance by national governments to allow free movement of SNG uplinks across national borders.

First, there is the fear of the power of unbounded dissemination of information that the use of SNG can bring, and many countries have been very slow to react to the rapid changes in technology.

Many governments are suspicious of the motives of newsgatherers who wish to operate uplinks, fearing open criticism of their political regimes which their own population may see or hear coming back via broadcasts from abroad. So they forbid any news organizations using SNG within their borders as a matter of political control. They may not even allow their own broadcasters to use this equipment, and certainly not allow foreign newsgathering agencies to bring in their own SNG equipment.

Some allow foreign SNG uplinks to operate but insist on government supervision during transmissions, including ‘screening’ tapes before they can be fed. The ease with which foreign broadcasters are able to comment on policies and actions is a direct reflection of the fear of the power of the operation of an SNG uplink.

It may be that a government has no legislation to cope with licensing the use of SNG uplinks, though this is increasingly changing in many countries. Governments may allow the use of SNG by their own national entities, either a single monopoly supplier, or a limited and controlled number of providers. A licence or access fee may be levied if SNG equipment is to be allowed into a country. Some foreign newsgatherers may pay this simply to obtain the flexibility that having their own facility can give them, or they may decide not to bring in their own uplinks and use the facilities available within the country.

In general, there are two levels or types of access granted to SNG uplink operators, depending on the degree of advancement of telecommunication administration in a country. These categories are loosely permissions and licences. The point at which a permission can be termed a licence is a little blurred. There is a further control, called frequency co-ordination, which is related to purely technical considerations of potential interference by the SNG uplink.

Incidentally, it is often the case that where a permission has to be obtained with a national administration which is apprehensive or obstructive to the idea of a foreign operator sending in their own uplink, local contact on the ground is by far the best way of moving matters forward. This is often a cultural issue, where the ‘western’ practice of making demands by telephone or fax is seen as being insulting, and ‘pressing the flesh’ over cups of iced tea or coffee is far more likely to produce results. Financial inducements to officials are common in many cultures and do not hold the same negative connotation as in western culture.

Licences

The approximate differentiation between permissions and licences is the legislative structure underpinning telecommunications that exists within a country. In countries with a statutory system regulating the use of telecommunications, including SNG, a structure of licence issue is usually in place, subject to certain provisions or restrictions. Licences can be granted on a ‘per occasion’ basis or even on an annual or regularly renewable basis. Typically SNG uplink operators in their native country are granted permission to operate under the terms of a licence.

Obtaining a licence may involve a number of steps. It may involve simply filling out a form giving details of the technical parameters of the uplink. It may require details of any satellite system registrations the uplink already has, or a declaration as to whether it is going to be connected to a telecommunications network, or operate as a stand-alone uplink – which is typically the case for SNG. It may involve also submitting what are referred to as ‘range patterns’. These are frequency test patterns of the performance of the antenna measured on a test range, and define the performance of the antenna, and in particular prove its ‘sidelobe’ performance i.e. its directional performance. This is particularly important as it shows the integrity of the antenna, particularly demonstrating that it will not cause interference.

Upon approval of the technical parameters, and payment of the necessary fee, the licence is issued for the specified period. There may be a further fee for renewal or if alteration to the licence is required due to changed parameters of the uplink system.

Some countries do not require so much technical information, or proof that the antenna meets a particular standard. They simply require the uplink to be registered with them, and the requisite fees to be paid.

In the United Kingdom, licences are granted on a per occasion basis, or on an annual basis, by the Radiocommunications Agency (RA). Fees are typically £1000 per annum, for a digital TES (transportable earth station – an acronym we saw earlier for an SNG uplink).

Frequency clearance

In some countries, frequency clearance is required for each individual transmission of the SNG uplink – this is in addition to having a licence, and the licence may be withdrawn if it is discovered that frequency clearance has not been obtained. The purpose of the frequency clearance is normally to ensure that the uplink transmissions will not interfere with any other transmission. The most likely services that can be interfered with are terrestrial point-to-point microwave links operating at or near the same frequency, where the transmission beam from the uplink may cut through or very near to the point-to-point terrestrial microwave link path.

The parameters typically required for frequency clearance are:

The ITU Emission Code is an internationally recognized alphanumeric code that defines the transmission characteristics of the signal.

The national authorities will either send back an acknowledgement authorizing the transmission, or in some countries no reply can be interpreted as consent. Frequency clearances are compulsory in C-band in most developed countries, and may take weeks or months to obtain due to the high likelihood of interference with terrestrial point-to-point microwave links commonly operating in this band, which may require international co-ordination.

However in Ku-band, a frequency clearance is sometimes necessary only in the 14.25–14.50 GHz band; as this is often shared with microwave links, co-ordination is required. In the lower part of the Ku-band used for SNG uplinks (14.0–14.25 GHz), co-ordination is often not required as this is an area of the band exclusive to satellite applications in many countries.

However, many countries do not require any frequency clearance at all in the Ku-band, e.g. the United States; therefore this is one less piece of administration that the SNG uplink operator needs to be concerned about.

The ‘legitimate’ use of SNG uplinks involves varying degrees of processes of administration in different countries. Although these processes can be seen as irksome in the face of meeting the challenge trying to cover breaking news, or even sustaining basic news coverage, it is essential in the long term for the ordered and controlled use of a scarce natural resource.

The political control of the use of SNG uplinks is likely to remain a continuing problem, though there are signs in the easing of restrictions in a number of countries that have previously taken a rigid stance in opposing the use of such equipment. However, for almost every sovereign state, telecommunications and access to radio spectrum is almost invariably as much a political issue as a technical one.

ITU SNG handbook

To help those seeking guidance on who to approach in a country, the ITU publishes the ‘SNG User’s Guide Online’ online (www.itu.int/ITU-R/study-groups/sng/). This provides information to assist a foreign broadcaster to bring their SNG terminal to a country (or area) and obtain a temporary operating licence.

The ‘SNG User’s Guide’ includes: