Unmanned Aircraft Systems may soon use mobile and satellite bands

A lot of spectrum will be needed to make the promise of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) a reality. In the search for bandwidth, UAS advocates are looking beyond the aviation bands discussed in last week’s research note.

As we explain in a new research note, two services in particular seem promising: the fixed-satellite service (FSS), and the mobile service.

WRC-15 provisionally identified eight FSS bands for UAS Command and Non-Payload Communications (CNPS) throughout the Ku- and Ka-Bands. The use of these bands is dependent on standards development work by the International Civil Aviation Organization, and these identifications may change again at WRC-23.

The 3GPP3GPP stands for the Third Generation Partn... is working on standards to allow UAS to use spectrum assigned to mobile operators. Possible bands include the 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1500 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2 GHz, 2.6 GHz, 3.6 GHz and 26 GHz bands. Operators in countries such as the Netherlands, Latvia, and the United States have already started various trials. A potential wrinkle in these plans is a prohibition on aeronautical mobile services at 694 – 960 MHz in Africa, the Middle East, and Europe, and 890 – 942 MHz in the Americas. That prohibition will be reviewed at WRC-27The World Radiocommunication Conference (W.... European regulators are also looking at several bands allocated to mobile services but not harmonised for mobile broadband, such as the 1880 – 1900 MHz and 1900 – 1920 MHz.

More information about these initiatives is available in Identification of non-aviation spectrum for unmanned aircraft systems, which is part of our new dossier on Unmanned Aircraft Systems. It is available to Spectrum Research Service subscribers here.