Ofcom open more satellite spectrum for ships, aircraft and UK urban high density areas

Ofcom has today confirmed that they will give satellite broadband and navigation operators access to harness more radio spectrum on ships and aircraft. In addition, they’re also opening up more Q/V band spectrum to help similar operators serve gateways in urban ‘high density’ areas with extra capacity to meet demands.

We’ll start with the UK regulator’s decision to make more spectrum available for Earth Stations in Motion (ESIM) uplink, aligned with the ITU Radio Regulations. ESIMs – not to be confused with eSIMs on mobile networks (totally different thing) – are terrestrial components of satellite communication systems, designed to provide high-speed broadband connectivity to users on the move (i.e. aircraft and ships at sea, but also some land vehicles).

Increasingly, ESIMs are playing a significant role in connectivity for ships and aircraft for broadband and navigation aids, as recognised by both Ofcom and the ITU. As such more spectrum is now being made available to these services, which should help to improve service speeds and network resilience.

Ofcom’s changes

To support satellite connectivity services for UK ships and aircraft, we have decided to extend our existing authorisations, making significantly more spectrum available for ESIM uplink. This includes:

• new authorisations for aeronautical ESIMs connecting to:

– GSO satellites in 12.75-13.25 GHz and 27.8185-28.4545 GHz and 28.8265-29.4625 GHz;
– NGSO satellites in 27.5-29.1 GHz and 29.5-30 GHz.

• new authorisations for maritime ESIMs connecting to:

– GSO satellites in 12.75-13.25 GHz and 27.8185-28.4545 GHz and 28.8265-29.4625 GHz.
– NGSO satellites in 27.8185-28.4545 GHz and 28.8265-29.1 GHz.

Technical conditions will apply in line with the global framework agreed at the ITU, based on WRC-23 Resolutions 121, 123, and 156 and WRC-19 Resolution 169.

These additional frequencies will become available for use by UK registered ships and aircraft from early 2027. Much of the spectrum will be available for use in UK airspace and territorial waters, and all of the spectrum is available for use in international waters and airspace, subject to international regulations and other local requirements.

Ofcom said the changes will, among other things, help support the modernisation of systems used by ships and maritime authorities to share important navigation information. In practice, this will enable more advanced digital messaging, helping crews and authorities quickly exchange information about accidents, severe weather, bridge and lock closures, and other safety issues.  

To give effect to some of these decisions, Ofcom will consult next month on changes to certain affected licences – specifically ‘Automatic Identification Systems’ and ‘Suppliers and Demonstration’ licences. Separately Ofcom have also decided to make available up to 8GHz of spectrum in the Q/V band for satellite gateways in urban ‘high density’ areas to help tackle growing demand from customers, which builds on their March 2026 decision to make up to 10GHz of spectrum available for gateways across the rest of the country.

Ofcom’s changes

Following our March 2026 decision to enable Q/V band gateways in rural areas we have decided to also enable gateway access to up to 8 GHz of Q/V band spectrum in the remaining urban high density areas, as follows:

– Geostationary Orbit (‘GSO’) gateways: uplink (earth to satellite) 47.2 – 50.2 GHz and 50.4 – 52.4 GHz; downlink 37.5 – 40.5 GHz

– Non-geostationary Orbit (‘NGSO’) gateways: uplink 47.2 – 50.2 GHz and 50.4 – 51.4 GHz; downlink 37.5 – 40.5 GHz

These frequencies can be authorised through our standard satellite gateway licences, with specific conditions applied to support coexistence with other spectrum users. These include:

• a maximum transmit power density at the antenna port (-7.4 dBW/1MHz for GSO and +6.5 dBW/1MHz for NGSO);

• antenna performance that is in conformance with at least minimum specification in relevant International Telecommunications Union (‘ITU’) recommendations;

• a minimum elevation angle (‘MEA’) of 20 degrees for NGSO gateways and 15 degrees for GSO gateways; and

• GSO and NGSO gateways must abide by existing ITU rules to protect other services.

We will assess applications on a first come, first served basis. Access to 39.5 – 40.5 GHz and 50.4 – 51.4 GHz will remain subject to coordination with the Ministry of Defence.

We are not including the 40.5 – 42.5 GHz downlink (satellite to earth) frequencies as part of this gateway authorisation in high density areas, given the potential complexities of sharing with other users (including mobile licensees). However, interested parties can apply to access these frequencies in specific locations using our existing Local Access licensing framework – which provides a route to share spectrum that has been nationally awarded. We anticipate access to 40.5 – 42.5 GHz will be simplest in areas where a satellite operator first agrees this approach with existing mobile licensees, and mobile licensees do not expect to rollout. We will monitor the effectiveness of this arrangement in the coming years.

Satellite operators from Starlink to Amazon Leo, OneWeb and Viasat, among others, are likely to have an interest in all this.