![]() |
||
|
||
French court says non to StarlinkStarlink, SpaceX's budding satellite broadband service, has just received a setback in France that may dent its ambition to become a global provider of broadband services using a mesh of thousands of low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites. France's highest administrative court, the Conseil d'État, has essentially stripped Starlink of its license to operate in two frequency bands in the country, reversing a decision made by French telecoms regulator Arcep in February 2021.
![]() The decision is a setback for Starlink in France.
(Source: Official Space X Photos on Flickr CC2.0) The Arcep decision was challenged by two activist environmental groups in France, which accused the regulator of abusing its power. The court appears to have concurred with that viewpoint, and reprimanded Arcep for not following due process before granting access to the frequencies. It seems that because the decision to grant the licenses to Starlink "could impact the market of access to high-bandwidth internet and affect the interests of end users," Arcep should have consulted the public in advance, the court said. Starlink had been authorized to use the frequencies 10.95-12.70GHz for space-to-Earth and 14-14.5GHz for Earth-to-space transmissions. The two French groups that challenged the Arcep decision are the snappily named Pour Rassembler, Informer et Agir contre les Risques liés aux Technologies ElectroMagnétiques (PRIARTEM) and Agir pour l'Environnement. A Reuters report noted that Starlink has not yet commented on the ruling. Big ambitions News has certainly been mixed for Starlink, which recently revealed that it has surpassed 250,000 subscribers. It gained some kudos for reconnecting areas of Ukraine in collaboration with Vodafone Ukraine, and also apparently helped Tonga restore Internet connectivity after the eruption of an undersea volcano broke its only international fiber-optic link on January 15. However, analysts at MoffettNathanson warned that Starlink will need to pick up the pace of satellite launches if it's to have a chance of fulfilling its ambition. Although SpaceX was recently valued at over $100 billion, MoffettNathanson analyst Craig Moffett expressed concerns that investors have yet to "come to grips with all of the implications" of the audaciousness of the company's ambitions. Related posts:
— Anne Morris, contributing editor, special to Light Reading A version of this story first appeared on Light Reading. |
Latest Articles
Here's where you can find episode links for 'The Divide,' Light Reading's podcast series featuring conversations with broadband providers and policymakers working to close the digital divide.
As we have for the past two years, Light Reading will present our Cable Next-Gen Europe conference as a free digital symposium on June 21.
Charter has sparked RDOF work in all 24 states where it won bids. The cable op booked about $19 million in RDOF revenues in Q1, and expects to have about $9 million per month come in over the next ten years.
As we have for the past two years, Light Reading will stage the Cable Next-Gen Technologies & Strategies conference as a free digital event over two half-days in mid-March.
Launch of 2-Gig and 5-Gig FTTP tiers in 70-plus markets puts more pressure on cable ops to enhance their existing DOCSIS 3.1 network or accelerate their upgrade activity centered on the new DOCSIS 4.0 specs.
![]() ARCHIVED
Wednesday, September 14, 2022
1:00 p.m. New York / 6:00 p.m. London When your broadband business adds new services and connected devices, do they also add complexity, slowing customer support teams as they navigate multiple data sources to uncover connectivity issues? We’ve worked with hundreds of support teams to help them implement a subscriber experience management platform that gives greater visibility into subscriber issues. They can proactively troubleshoot amid complexity—improving the subscriber experience and raising customer satisfaction ratings like Net Promoter Scores. Join this webinar with experts from Calix and global research leader Omdia who will share exclusive research about how you can:
|
|
![]() |
Broadband World News
About Us
Advertise With Us
Contact Us
Help
Register
Twitter
Facebook
RSS
Copyright © 2023 Light Reading, part of Informa Tech, a division of Informa PLC. Privacy Policy | Cookie Policy | Terms of Use in partnership with
|