{"id":6014,"date":"2025-07-27T15:39:10","date_gmt":"2025-07-27T13:39:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.iaru-r2.org\/?p=6014"},"modified":"2025-07-27T15:39:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-27T13:39:10","slug":"commercial-allocation-in-the-70-cm-band-fcc-ast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.iaru-r2.org\/en\/commercial-allocation-in-the-70-cm-band-fcc-ast\/","title":{"rendered":"Commercial Allocation in the 70 cm Band (FCC<\/span>\/AST<\/span>)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This is the message from Ken Yamamoto, JA1CJP<\/span>, Secretary of IARU-R3<\/span>, as well as the messages from Tim Ellam, IARU<\/span> President, regarding the proposed allocation of the 430 MHz band to the North American company AST<\/span> for use by its commercial satellites.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Dear Colleagues:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of you may be aware of AST\u2019s submission, accepted by the FCC<\/span>, for the use of 430\u2009\u2013\u2009440 MHz for TT<\/span>&<\/span>C in its 248-satellite constellation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

IARU<\/span> President Tim Ellam, VE6SH<\/span>, has contacted the IARU<\/span> regional organizations regarding this matter and draws our attention to the relevant article of the IARU<\/span> Constitution and IARU<\/span> resolutions: He mentioned that IARU<\/span> and its member societies should respond to the FCC<\/span> Public Notice through ARRL<\/span>, as he believes it is a national issue, although it would have a global impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

73, Ken Yamamoto JA1CJP<\/span>
Secretary, IARU<\/span> Region 3
secretary@\u200biaru-\u200br3.\u200borg<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

IARU<\/span> President\u2019s First Message<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Colleagues:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I appreciate the interest shown by several member societies regarding the FCC\u2019s actions in licensing AST<\/span>. I can see that there are a number of comments submitted on the FCC<\/span> portal from individual amateurs, AMSAT<\/span>, and some member societies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I also understand that the FCC\u2019s action with AST<\/span> has a global effect, but (and very importantly) to have the greatest impact, our representations to the FCC<\/span> must be coordinated. I have dealt with the FCC<\/span> for clients in my professional capacity and can tell you that a \u201cnumbers game\u201d with mass filings has very little impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The following is important, and I appreciate that it may be news to some. Please note Article II<\/span> (4) of the current IARU<\/span> Constitution and Resolution 85\u2009\u2013\u20098 (exclusive right of a member society to represent the IARU<\/span> in its country or territory) and Resolution 86\u2009\u2013\u20093 (guaranteeing the exclusive right of a member society to represent the IARU<\/span> before its government). I understand that both resolutions are old, but they were implemented to address this very issue. Both resolutions are operational in all of our member societies. While the FCC\u2019s actions have a potential global impact, it is incumbent on ARRL<\/span> as a member society in the United States to address the regulator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I can confirm that ARRL<\/span> attorney Dave Siddall is preparing a response to the FCC<\/span> before the August 2, 2025, comment deadline. In light of IARU<\/span> Resolutions 85\u2009\u2013\u20098 and 86\u2009\u2013\u20093, ARRL<\/span> will take the lead in responding to the FCC<\/span>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Member societies wishing to comment on the AST<\/span> issue can send their responses to Mr. Siddall, where they will be added as an attachment to the ARRL<\/span> filing (which will obviously be publicly available).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We understand that the BFRA<\/span> has already submitted comments to the FCC<\/span>, and perhaps for greater clarity, they will agree that their letter can also be included in the ARRL<\/span> attachment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since we want to ensure a coordinated approach to our response on the AST<\/span> issue and in accordance with the IARU<\/span> Constitution and resolutions, I would ask member societies to follow the above process and refrain from submitting comments directly to the FCC<\/span>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I ask the regions to disseminate this information to their respective member societies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We appreciate your understanding. Thank you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

73, Tim Ellam, VE6SH<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is the message from Ken Yamamoto, JA1CJP<\/span>, Secretary of IARU-R3<\/span>, as well as the messages from Tim Ellam, IARU<\/span> President, regarding the proposed allocation of the 430 MHz band to the North American company AST<\/span> for use by its commercial satellites. Dear Colleagues: Some of you may be aware of AST<\/span>\u2019s submission, accepted by [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":5670,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[53],"class_list":["post-6014","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-smallimage-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iaru-r2.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6014","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iaru-r2.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iaru-r2.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iaru-r2.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iaru-r2.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6014"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.iaru-r2.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6014\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6015,"href":"https:\/\/www.iaru-r2.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6014\/revisions\/6015"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iaru-r2.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5670"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iaru-r2.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iaru-r2.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iaru-r2.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}