Overview
- The European Commission publicly proposed on Wednesday an allocation that splits the 2 GHz mobile satellite band into three equal blocks with one block earmarked for government use tied to the IRIS2 constellation.
- Under the proposal one third of the band would be dedicated to secure government and military communications provided by an EU operator and the remaining two thirds would be divided to favour European commercial operators while allowing a limited share for non‑EU bidders.
- The move opens a restricted bidding window for non‑European operators such as SpaceX’s Starlink and Amazon’s low‑Earth‑orbit unit while reserving most frequencies for EU firms and firms from the U.K. and Norway.
- The proposal arrives as the EU prepares cloud‑procurement reforms that face a June 3 vote and that would preferentially score European cloud providers in sensitive public tenders, a change that could further limit U.S. hyperscalers’ role in government work.
- Existing licences held by U.S. companies Viasat and EchoStar expire in May 2027 and officials warn the plan could alter commercial plans and risk reciprocal U.S. responses as EU capitals remain divided over how far to favour domestic suppliers.