Summary report: BEREC workshop on secure and reliable connectivity from LEO satellite fleets, 13 April 2023

On the 13th April BEREC conducted an external workshop on secure and reliable connectivity from low earth orbit (“LEO”) satellite fleets. The purpose of the workshop was to develop an understanding of direct-to-cell connectivity and relevant regulatory issues which might arise. BEREC’s primary interest was to ignite discussions on the market access issues facing relevant industry stakeholders.
BEREC held an open call for interest to present at the workshop, which was well received by stakeholders across the satellite and mobile industry value chain1. The final agenda included eight expert presentations from an equipment vendor, a mobile network operator (“MNO”), and several satellite operators (“SNOs”, including some from the LEO subset of satellite industry).
On this occasion, BEREC operated an “elevator-pitch” style of workshop so that it could hear several different perspectives at the event.2
The workshop was virtual only and with prior registration required, 179 participants (from over 260 registrations) attended the event.
Expert presenters were unanimous about the great potential current and future new prospects from satcom connectivity. Expert presenters also framed the discussion so that BEREC should think of direct-to-device (D2D) rather than direct-to-cell. In this regard, the number of devices such as normal unmodified smartphones which may be connected is broad and new use cases can be expected to emerge due to this trend of convergence enabling users to connect with their smartphones directly to satellites. There were discussions about existing services direct-to-device as well as some proof of concepts.