The irate reaction has come at last. Following on from MEPs, Digital Agenda Commissioner Neelie Kroes has issued an urgent call to 21 member states, all of which are lagging behind on the deployment of pan-European mobile satellite services. These services are supposed to be deployed in all states by next May. Two and a half years ago, they were identified as a solution to help reduce the divide in broadband internet access between urban and rural areas and to offer new services, such as mobile TV, digital radio and emergency communications.
Kroes urged the states at fault to "urgently take all measures necessary to allow the introduction of mobile satellite services throughout the EU". In her sights are: Germany, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, France, Spain, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, the Czech Republic, the United Kingdom, Slovakia and Slovenia. They have all received a letter urging them to remove remaining legal uncertainties and to put in place without delay all necessary implementation measures. The operators selected - Inmarsat Ventures Limited and Solaris Mobile Limited - had earlier been asked to "intensify their efforts".
ANOMALY AND CHANGES OF COURSE
Last October, MEPs had already held industry to account. They held hearings in Brussels two years after the EU's initiative to reserve a frequency band - band S' - to mobile satellite services (MSS) at European level. Solaris regretted at the time, two years after the successful launch of its first satellite in April 2009, an anomaly detected in the development of the antenna. The projects were delayed. The company claimed that it could cover 84% of EU territory (26 of the 27 - all but Cyprus). Services (audio, video, emergency communications) still had to be delivered to consumers and businesses, though. "We take our commitments very seriously," said Solaris boss Steve Maine. However, these objectives are being pursued on the wholesale market (between the satellite operator and service and content providers), which is the cause of the problem. Negotiations with telecoms operators and broadcasters have proved to be more laborious than anticipated, according to the satellite operator, which wants to invest where it is sure to have long-term effect.
The director of Solaris also mentioned a change of course in terms of commercial policy: satellite operators no longer plan to bank primarily on mobile television. This market, in which telecoms operators are also investing, no longer seems so promising. Solaris decided instead to turn to security services for professionals. Digital radio is also seen as having high potential, with use in cars very promising in terms of coverage (see Europolitics 4057).
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