The regulator granted Amazon’s Kuiper arm a non-geostationary orbiting (NGSO) licence, allowing it to provide services from satellites in a low or medium Earth orbit.
Following a consultation, Ofcom granted the license, which covers user terminals, such as a satellite dish, with the regulator finding Kuiper can “coexist with other current and future NGSO licensees” like Elon Musk’s Starlink.
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“We assess that granting the licence will not create a material risk to competition and that the proposed services would benefit UK consumers, customers, and citizens,” Ofcom said in its 31-page decision document.
Regulatory filings which emerged at the turn of the year showed Amazon plans on launching a satellite broadband service by 2027, using constellations from its Kuiper satellites to connect users via customer terminals, ground stations, and AWS communication infrastructure.
The proposed NGSO constellation will be made of more than 3,200 satellites operating at varying altitudes which will be steered either electronically via phased array antennas or mechanically using parabolic antennas.
Ofcom said that Kuiper’s NGSO grant will provide it with the ability to launch the service in 2025 in the Ka band, which typically uses 18-20 GHz for downlink and 27.5-30 GHz for uplink.
Viasat raised concerns about the growing number of NGSO licensees in the UK, with Kuiper becoming the fifth network licensee authorised to operate in the Ka band, alongside Starlink/
The regulator ruled that Kuiper would not harm rival operations, saying Amazon’s proposed service “presents a low risk of interference for GSO networks operating in the Ka band”.
“We acknowledge that granting Kuiper’s NGSO network licence brings us to five licensed NGSO systems in this band,” the regulator wrote. “Although this number is higher than the number assumed to derive the single-entry limit thresholds… we do not think this currently creates a material risk of harmful interference in the UK. This is because, to the best of our knowledge, only Starlink’s NGSO gateways are operational in Ka band in the UK.
“In addition, it is not guaranteed that five active systems would exceed the existing aggregate limits, as it will depend on the exact way in which they are operated and coordinated.”
Amazon’s Kuiper license does not however cover NGSO gateway licences, Ofcom confirmed.
Starlink has been available in the UK since 2021; however, Amazon is joining the growing list of companies looking to challenge the Musk-owned firm, such as the SpaceRISE consortium featuring prominent European satellite network operators and telcos.
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