Satellite Industry Association applauds White House for recognition that satellites must advance 5G

The Satellite Industry Association (SIA) today strongly applauded the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) for its recognition that both the terrestrial wireless industry and the satellite industry must be used to deploy the next-generation of broadband Internet connectivity, often referred to as 5G. SIA was also encouraged by the continued plans by the Administration to protect incumbent spectrum users from interference and degradation in the rollout of next-generation connectivity.

“Ensuring America Reaches its 5G Potential” was released yesterday by the White House. In the blog, it referenced two OSTP reports titled “Emerging Technologies and their Expected Impact on Non-Federal Spectrum Demand” and “Research and Development Priorities for American Leadership in Wireless Communications” which contained the following:

• “To deploy 5G ubiquitously, the satellite transport conduit can and must be integrated into the overall available 5G architecture. Satellite technology has been included into 5G standards and will become an integral part of 5G.”

• Service providers will need to provide seamless connectivity between terrestrial and satellite; 5G traffic will be dynamically steered to the best transport options available, including satellite, according to bandwidth, latency, network conditions and other application-specific requirements.

• “As the spectrum environment continues to become more congested and contested, R&D is needed to improve spectrum awareness… In addition to providing more up-to-date information on network and spectrum environment changes, monitoring also supports enhanced interference detection and resolution to prevent degradation of systems or services provided.”

“The Satellite Industry Association strongly applauds the recognition by the White House that satellite-based networks and systems must play an integral role in the rollout of next-generation 5G services,” said Tom Stroup, President of SIA. “As the satellite industry continues to expand its next-generation connectivity capabilities, SIA is also greatly encouraged by the recognition of the importance of spectrum as a vital and congested resource by all users including the satellite industry and the need to ensure protection of incumbent systems from degradation and interference.”