
Mobile-satellite service (MSS, or mobile-satellite radiocommunication service) is – according to Article 1.25 of the
International Telecommunication Union
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU)In the other common languages of the ITU:
*
* is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for many matters related to information ...
's
Radio Regulations
Radio regulation refers to the regulation and licensing of radio in international law, by individual governments, and by municipalities.
International regulation
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is a specialized agency of the Unit ...
– "A
radiocommunication service
Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connected to ...
* between
mobile earth stations and one or more
space stations, or between space stations used by this service; or
* between mobile earth stations by means of one or more space stations.
This service may also include
feeder link
A feeder link is – according to ''Article 1.115'' of the International Telecommunication Union´s (ITU) ITU Radio Regulations (RR)ITU Radio Regulations, Section IV. Radio Stations and Systems – Article 1.115, definition: ''feeder link'' – ...
s necessary for its operation."
Details
Most commercial voice and some data mobile satellite services are provided by systems operating in the
L-band
The L band is the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) designation for the range of Frequency, frequencies in the radio spectrum from 1 to 2 gigahertz (GHz). This is at the top end of the ultra high frequency (UHF) band, at t ...
by
Iridium
Iridium is a chemical element; it has the symbol Ir and atomic number 77. This very hard, brittle, silvery-white transition metal of the platinum group, is considered the second-densest naturally occurring metal (after osmium) with a density ...
,
Inmarsat
Inmarsat is a British communications satellite, satellite telecommunications company, offering global mobile services. It provides telephone and data services to users worldwide, via portable or mobile terminals which communicate with groun ...
,
Globalstar and
Thuraya
Thuraya (, Gulf Arabic pron.: ; from the Arabic name for the Pleiades, ''Thurayya'') is a United Arab Emirates-based regional mobile-satellite service (MSS) provider. The company operates two geosynchronous satellites and provides telecommunic ...
. The L-band spectrum allocated for MSS is between 1.5 and 2.5 GHz, with the upper portion often referred to as the S-band.
Constellations of low earth orbiting (LEO) satellites are used by Iridium (66 satellites) and Globalstar (48 satellites). Inmarsat and Thuraya currently use 4 (i4) and 2 geostationary satellites respectively, their L-band services are similar but not interoperable and most terminals can only use one or the other service, although some data terminals provide a mechanical switch required due to the different polarization schemes used by both systems.
Another MSS service is
MSV / MSAT / LightSquared / Ligado with 2 geostationary satellites serving North America.
China has shown an upcoming S-band satellite phone which will use its recently launched
Tiantong-1 geostationary satellite.
Additionally to the four active Inmarsat 4 ('I4') satellites,
Inmarsat
Inmarsat is a British communications satellite, satellite telecommunications company, offering global mobile services. It provides telephone and data services to users worldwide, via portable or mobile terminals which communicate with groun ...
also maintains some legacy L-band services on its previous generation satellites, although they are being gradually phased out and users are invited to upgrade to i4-based services, mostly based on variations of
BGAN
The Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN) is a global satellite network with telephony owned by Inmarsat using portable terminals. The terminals are normally used to connect a laptop computer to broadband Internet in remote locations, although as ...
.
Inmarsat also owns and operates a new fleet of three Ka-band satellites, known as the Inmarsat 5 constellation (usually abbreviated to 'I5'), providing high speed mobile satellite data services known as Global Express.
Other MSS systems currently inoperative were
Ico / Pendrell,
TerreStar and Ellipso.
Several governments also operate and use MSS systems, although most make extensive use of the Iridium and Inmarsat systems. Mexico is currently developing an S-band system based on its own geostationary satellites and the United States uses MUOS and other systems. The US Government also runs its own gateway in Hawaii for direct access to the Iridium constellation under a contract lasting at least until 2018.
Machine-to-machine
Orbcomm provides data-only M2M services using a constellation of LEO satellites in the VHF band and a partnership with Inmarsat for M2M services in the L-band. Iridium also has low bandwidth modes often used for M2M and Inmarsat offers an M2M version of
BGAN
The Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN) is a global satellite network with telephony owned by Inmarsat using portable terminals. The terminals are normally used to connect a laptop computer to broadband Internet in remote locations, although as ...
called BGAN M2M.
Interoperability
Telephone calls to satellite terminals are often accomplished by dialing numbers assigned to the
Global Mobile Satellite System, although most Globalstar users and some Iridium users are assigned country-based numbers. Thus, calls can be made to satellite phones from normal land-line and cellular terminals. However, pricing for terrestrial-satellite is often higher than pricing for satellite-terrestrial and satellite-satellite calls. Satellite-based Internet access is also fully interoperable with traditional land-based and mobile Internet and can access the same services, although cost is usually much higher and satellite link latency can affect some interactive services. Also, due to security concerns, the satellite segment and end-user can be (and in the case of BGAN often are) behind a
NAT.
Commercial access
In most territories, access to mobile satellite service is managed by traditional telecom companies and specialized resellers which market hardware, software and network access to end users, although occasionally some constellation operators also market service directly to end users. Some companies providing commercial access:
*
Avanti
*
Globalsat Group
*
Iridium Communications
Iridium Communications Inc. (formerly Iridium Satellite LLC) is a publicly traded American company headquartered in McLean, Virginia, United States. Iridium operates the Iridium satellite constellation, a system of 80 satellites: 66 are active ...
*
Inmarsat
Inmarsat is a British communications satellite, satellite telecommunications company, offering global mobile services. It provides telephone and data services to users worldwide, via portable or mobile terminals which communicate with groun ...
*
Telespazio
*
Thuraya
Thuraya (, Gulf Arabic pron.: ; from the Arabic name for the Pleiades, ''Thurayya'') is a United Arab Emirates-based regional mobile-satellite service (MSS) provider. The company operates two geosynchronous satellites and provides telecommunic ...
*
Vizada
Classification
In accordance with ''ITU Radio Regulations'' (article 1) variations of this ''radiocommunication service'' are classified as follows:
''
Mobile service
Mobile may refer to:
Places
* Mobile, Alabama, a U.S. port city
* Mobile County, Alabama
* Mobile, Arizona, a small town near Phoenix, U.S.
* Mobile, Newfoundland and Labrador
Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels
* Mobile ...
'' (article 1.24)
* Mobile-satellite service (article 1.25)
** ''
Land mobile-satellite service'' (article 1.27)
** ''
Maritime mobile-satellite service'' (article 1.29)
** ''
Aeronautical mobile-satellite service'' (article 1.35)
Frequency allocation
The allocation of radio frequencies is provided according to ''Article 5'' of the ITU Radio Regulations (edition 2012).
In order to improve harmonisation in spectrum utilisation, the majority of service-allocations stipulated in this document were incorporated in national Tables of Frequency Allocations and Utilisations which is with-in the responsibility of the appropriate national administration. The allocation might be primary, secondary, exclusive, and shared.
*primary allocation: is indicated by writing in capital letters (see example below)
*secondary allocation: is indicated by small letters
*exclusive or shared utilization: is within the responsibility of administrations
; Example of
frequency allocation
Frequency allocation (or spectrum allocation) is the part of spectrum management dealing with the designation and regulation of the electromagnetic spectrum into frequency bands, normally done by governments in most countries. Because radio pr ...
:
Industry Organizations
Mobile Satellite Services Association (MSSA)
In February 2024, companies focused on promoting the direct-to-device (D2D) ecosystem using L- and S-band spectrum already licensed for MSS usage formed the Mobile Satellite Services Association (MSSA). Founding members are
Viasat, Terrestar Solutions,
Ligado Networks
Ligado Networks, formerly known as LightSquared, is an American satellite communications company.
After restructuring, emerging from bankruptcy and modifying its network plan, the new company, Ligado Networks, launched in 2016. It operates the S ...
, Omnispace, and
Yahsat.
Ericsson
(), commonly known as Ericsson (), is a Swedish multinational networking and telecommunications company headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. Ericsson has been a major contributor to the development of the telecommunications industry and is one ...
also joined the association in September 2024
See also
*
Satellite phone
A satellite telephone, satellite phone or satphone is a type of mobile phone that connects to other phones or the telephone network by radio link through satellites orbiting the Earth instead of terrestrial cell sites, as cellphones do. Therefo ...
*
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based rad ...
References
International Telecommunication Union (ITU){{Radiocommunication services ITU
Mobile services ITU
Maritime communication