New allocation of spectrum architecture

Spectrum for mobile satellite services is a strategic asset for enabling innovative commercial uses and governmental services, including security and defence. The 2 GHz MSS band is considered particularly suitable for direct‑to‑device services, providing critical communication capabilities and helping to ensure access to high‑speed internet in areas without terrestrial coverage.

The proposal divides the 2 GHz band into six paired blocks of 5 MHz each (2 x 30 MHz in total), to be awarded for different types of services. One third would be allocated for governmental services, including critical communications, security and military uses, and would have to be used by an EU operator. Applicants would have to meet requirements including integration with IRIS².The proposal would require applicants not to be subject to third‑country control or jurisdiction and to meet high standards of cybersecurity and supply‑chain security, as well as to be able to support the future EUCCS. Two thirds would be allocated to commercial services, comprising:

Under the new selection procedure, the Commission would define common authorisation conditions and issue EU‑wide authorisations. It would organise calls for applications and assess them against admissibility criteria (e.g. ownership and control) and eligibility criteria (e.g. technical and financial capacity), as well as comparative selection criteria where demand exceeds the available spectrum.

Duration of rights

Rights of use in the 2 GHz band would be granted for a 20-year period and could be renewed once at the holder's request, subject to a review of public policy objectives, technological developments and the efficient use of spectrum. The proposal would also allow the existing rights of use held by Viasat and EchoStar to be extended by two years, at their request, to ensure continuity of service during the selection process. These rights would not be transferred, leased or sublicensed.

Financial contribution and transfer of rights of use

The proposed financial arrangements for obtaining rights to use the 2 GHz band comprise a one-off financial contribution alongside an annual fee. The one-off financial contribution would reflect bidders' willingness to pay for the spectrum rights and would feed the proposed European Competitiveness Fund. The recurring annual fee for using the allocated spectrum would cover at least the costs related to the management and control of spectrum use and enforcement of the authorisation procedures. Future delegated and implementing acts would set the pricing method and minimum amount of the one-off contribution, as well as the method for determining the recurring annual fee.

The proposal would exclude any transfers or leases of rights of use granted for governmental services under the secure sovereign MSS/hybrid system. Rights relating to commercial MSS spectrum could be transferred or leased only with the Commission's prior approval subject, for example, to the transferee meeting the applicable eligibility conditions. Changes in the control of selected undertakings would be subject to notification and the Commission's prior authorisation. The restrictions would help prevent the spectrum from being retained without deployment (spectrum warehousing) or from changing hands through transactions that circumvent the applicable eligibility, ownership and security conditions.

Council

In its June 2025 conclusions on reliable and resilient connectivity, the Council acknowledges the complementary role of satellite communication systems in ensuring the uninterrupted availability of communication services.

European Economic and Social Committee

In its September 2026 opinion entitled 'Authorisation of mobile Satellite Services', the EESC supports the development of satellite D2D connectivity as a means to extend reliable and affordable mobile connectivity to underserved areas (e.g. rural areas or islands) and to provide additional resilience when terrestrial networks are disrupted. It calls for the Commission proposal to ensure that deployment delivers tangible user benefits through reporting on actual service availability, continuity and quality, not only coverage requirements.

The EESC recommends strengthening the proposed selection framework by giving priority to new EU entrant operators for the MSS commercial spectrum reserved for them. It also recommends that quality, innovation and competition criteria should prevail over the one-off financial contribution. The EESC further calls for environmental sustainability to become a minimum authorisation condition rather than a criterion that may be outweighed by other criteria in the comparative procedure for ranking commercial applicants. Given the proposal's implications in areas such as data retention and lawful interception, the EESC calls for a specific impact assessment of its effects on fundamental rights such as privacy, data protection and freedom of expression.

Study evaluating the 2 GHz band

The Commission relied on two studies on the operation and future use of the 2 GHz MSS band.

A 2019 IDATE DigiWorld study found substantial differences among Member States in MSS authorisation models, enforcement frameworks and fee structures. The study therefore pointed to fragmentation in the MSS market despite the EU-level selection of operators.

The 2025 DETECON study examined the current regulatory framework, national licensing practices, operator deployments, litigation, international practice and market developments. It found that national implementation has been uneven and has partially undermined the objective of harmonisation: Member States have used different forms of authorisation, imposed differing licence conditions and applied no common reporting metrics on network performance or spectrum use. It concluded that the framework should be updated to reflect satellite-market and technology developments and provide more practical guidance for uniform licensing across the single market.

Open public consultations

In preparation for the post-2027 framework, the Commission conducted a targeted consultation on the future use of the 2 GHz MSS band. Its results pointed to broad support for revising the current regime in view of the technological, market and security developments that had taken place. Several respondents called for spectrum capacity to meet EU sovereign needs and strengthen strategic autonomy.

The Commission also drew on stakeholder feedback in response to its 2024 consultation on the white paper entitled 'How to master Europe's digital infrastructure needs?', and the call for evidence for the Digital Networks Act (DNA). The Commission submitted the proposal on the DNA in early 2026, in the form of a regulation. In the white paper consultation, respondents highlighted satellite connectivity as an important resilience tool when terrestrial networks are damaged or inaccessible, for example, during disasters and recovery operations. Some proposed an EU-wide assignment structure for the 2 GHz MSS band, including wholesale-access obligations for IoT providers. In the DNA call for evidence, satellite operators argued that national authorisation procedures for satellite services remain fragmented, creating legal uncertainty, delays, discriminatory outcomes and risks of regulatory forum shopping.

Impact assessment

The proposal for the 2 GHz MSS band draws on the same impact assessment accompanying the DNA proposal, which addresses, among other things, the fragmentation of satellite spectrum authorisations in the EU. EPRS issued an initial appraisal of the Commission's DNA impact assessment in March 2026.

Radio Spectrum Policy Group opinions

The Radio Spectrum Policy Group (RSPG) published an opinion on the possible use of the 2 GHz band in 2024 and another opinion on the EU-level policy approach to satellite D2D connectivity in 2025. The RSPG's 2024 opinion on post-2027 use of the 2 GHz MSS band called for the Commission and Member States to agree on the future use and segmentation of the band, while balancing continuity for existing operators with competition, innovation, technology neutrality and opportunities for new entrants. The 2025 RSPG opinion on satellite D2D connectivity supported stronger EU-level coordination of satellite authorisation, including common conditions and collective enforcement, to reduce fragmentation and provide certainty for investment in satellite and D2D services

EU preference

The Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA) recommends opening the commercial spectrum currently reserved for 'Union new entrants' to all qualified operators, irrespective of nationality, ownership or control, under technology-neutral and non-discriminatory conditions. It also calls for commercial selection criteria to be objective, transparent and competitively neutral. CCIA suggests removing or narrowly limiting requirements that favour applicants for using EU-made technologies or contributing to EU industrial capacity, unless they are necessary to ensure technical performance, security or efficient spectrum use. It argues that this would help avoid discriminatory treatment of foreign operators and ensure the compatibility of the proposal with the EU's trade commitments, including those under the WTO.

By contrast, Connect Europe, an association representing the leading providers of connectivity networks and services in Europe, supports the proposed MSS spectrum allocation architecture, including spectrum for secure communications and EU new entrants, which it sees as core to Europe's sovereignty.

In its white paper of June 2026, entitled 'Europe's 2 GHz MSS Band', IDATE, an independent consulting firm specialising in the digital sector, presents the proposal as an attempt to develop a sovereign European non-terrestrial network (NTN) and D2D ecosystem in the 2 GHz band, rather than as a routine renewal of MSS rights. It warns that the proposed definition of an EU-controlled operator is both restrictive and insufficiently clear, notably because 'control' is not defined and non-EU shareholdings, third-country jurisdiction or joint-venture arrangements could affect eligibility. Like CCIA, IDATE flags possible risks that reserving some of the 2 GHz MSS spectrum for EU operators could conflict with international trade commitments, including those under the WTO and the GATS Telecommunications Annex. IDATE therefore recommends substantiating the national-security rationale for such a reservation. It also recommends that European mobile network operators and satellite providers consider forming consortia to apply under the spectrum selection procedure reserved for EU new entrants, arguing that such cooperation is important for integrating D2D services with terrestrial mobile networks and supporting successful deployment in the band.

Operator selection and financial conditions

The Global Satellite Operators Association (GSOA), representing the satellite ecosystem, seeks greater procedural certainty in the new EU-level centralised regime for issuing 2 GHz MSS band licences, including early and structured industry engagement, timely publication of draft delegated and implementing acts and technical studies.

Connect Europe considers that the selection procedure criteria should not be driven predominantly by bidders' willingness to pay for the licences (rights of use of the spectrum). It calls for European sovereignty, coverage, resilience, technical capability, coexistence, security, interoperability, competition and efficient spectrum use to receive substantially greater weight than the one-off financial contribution.

GSOA and Connect Europe share concerns about the effects of high or unpredictable charges on investment. GSOA calls for transparent, cost-based fees and warns that high upfront contributions in the selection process (e.g. sealed-bid financial contributions or elevated annual spectrum charges), could discourage the deployment of services in the band. Connect Europe similarly supports cost-related, proportionate and predictable annual fees, while stressing that the one-off payment should remain secondary to the non-financial selection criteria.

IDATE likewise calls for substantial weight to be given in the selection procedure to technological, operational and financial readiness, arguing that the long duration of the authorisations (20 years) makes the capacity to deploy central to efficient spectrum use. It also recommends early clarification of the methodology for the one-off contribution fee.

Co-existence between satellite and mobile networks and infrastructure competition

Connect Europe emphasises that satellite connectivity in the 2 GHz band MSS, including D2D satellite services, should complement rather than substitute for terrestrial mobile networks. It calls for legally binding coexistence safeguards between such networks, rather than leaving interference issues entirely to the proposal's implementation.Connect Europe recommends that licence conditions be based on detailed technical compatibility studies involving actors such as the RSPG, national regulatory authorities, mobile operators and other relevant stakeholders.

Connect Europe supports the proposed maximum allocation spectrum cap for commercial satellite-network operators. It considers that this cap should enable at least two operators to competing with each other, thereby supporting infrastructure-based competition in the commercial MSS market. CCIA calls for greater flexibility in the secondary trading of commercial spectrum rights. It recommends allowing licence holders to transfer, lease, share or otherwise commercialise their spectrum rights, subject to proportionate competition and security safeguards, without restrictive ownership, nationality or jurisdictional conditions unrelated to the provision of commercial MSS services.