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Russia Denies OneWeb's Satellite Internet Request:
A firm that plans to launch hundreds of satellites into orbit to provide worldwide internet coverage has failed in its latest attempt to get approval in Russia.
OneWeb, whose headquarters are in the UK, was seeking to use a certain band of radio frequencies in Russia.
However, the State Commission for Radio Frequencies has denied it permission to do so.
OneWeb has been trying to get approval for its Russian operations since 2017.
The company was founded by US entrepreneur Greg Wyler. It launched its first six satellites, out of a proposed 650, into orbit in February.
In 2017, Russia's communications authority Roskomnadzor blocked OneWeb from offering services in the country.
And the Federal Security Service (FSB) said that the satellites could be used for espionage.
Of note is that OneWeb is using Russian rockets and launch sites to deploy its satellites.
(Score: 1) by pTamok on Thursday August 01 2019, @09:36AM
Radio frequencies and satellite orbits/slots are very strongly regulated by both national and international treaties.
At a national level, countries have complete jurisdiction over the human use of radio-frequency radiation within their borders - sure, you can transmit into a country from outside, but a country can jam it, and/or make receivers that are capable of operating on that frequency illegal. Unauthorised transmitters are generally easy to track down - unless you are using hardware that is specifically designed to use short bursts of spread-spectrum rf, with bonus points if it operates below the noise floor, like GPS. That is not hardware that is generally available, or easy to build.
As for satellite slots: geostationary slots are strongly regulated by international treaty, and everyone has a good incentive to follow the rules, as nobody benefits from chaos. Non geostationary (which may include geosynchronous) orbits are more open, which is why the idea of LEO swarms is 'kind of' workable. You still need transmission and reception rights in the countries you wish to provide service to.
Anyone who has dealt with the fun and games of operating cross-border (or even in-country) VSAT services to provide services to places with poor land-based infrastructure knows the bureaucracy involved. A company failing to get a licence is not news. In some places, it simply means the regulator wasn't getting enough 'commision'. Taking years to get a licence for a single installation is entirely possible, especially if your company is banned from paying bribes/commisions/arrangement fees etc.
There are ways of sending information 'up' from anywhere. With omnidirectional antennas you can get data rates in the low double digits of bits per second. You can probably do better bouncing HF radio off the ionosphere, but transmitting often enough from the same location means you can be tracked down.