International Telecommunications Law—Satellites and Submarine Cables

1. International Telecommunications Law—Satellites and Submarine Cables A presentation to the students of Comm 498, Penn State University College of Communications September, 2016 Rob Frieden, Pioneers Chair and Professor of Telecommunications and Law Penn State Universityrmf5@psu.edu Web site : http://www.personal.psu.edu/faculty/r/m/rmf5/ Blog site: http://telefrieden.blogspot.com/

2. International Telecommunication Networks Cross Borders Satellites Fiber Optic Submarine Cables

3. Nations Have to Share Res Communes Only one narrow orbit, 22,300 miles above the equator, supports geostationary satellite operation. While there’s plenty of room for fiber optic submarine cables, operators need to coordinate and secure landing rights. Nations have to share resources no single nation owns, e.g., space, the high seas. On the other hand, telecom carriers want as close to ownership rights as possible, particularly the right to replace obsolete facilities. International telecommunications require conflict avoidance and resolution. Inter-governmental organizations, such as the International Telecommunication Union provide such a forum.

4. The Concept of an Orbiting Relay

5. Types of Orbit Most communications satellites appear to hover over a specific location. This geostationary orbit occurs when the satellite is launched 22,300 miles above earth where the faster speed of the wider satellite orbit matches the slower and narrower orbit of the earth. See http://www.answers.com/topic/communications-satellite. Natural satellites, like the moon, and artificial satellites that orbit the earth and are subject to the earth’s gravitational pull operate in geosynchronous orbits. The earth is in a sunsynchronous orbit.

7. Two Major Types of Satellites Three- axis stabilized satellites use solar wings to control, yawl, pitch and roll.

8. How Global Positioning Satellite Work GPS uses triangulation to determine one’s location

9. The ITU Has to Balance Sovereignty and International Comity All nations have the right of self-determination, commonly referred to as sovereignty. In light of shared interests, nations will relinquish aspects of sovereignty for the greater good through treaties and binding commitments. Additionally, nations respect differing national interests, provided such accommodations do not violate national law. This process is known as international comity. The ITU provides a forum for binding and non-binding national commitments, primarily through ex ante rules, regulations, standards and recommendations that anticipate conflicts and try to resolve them proactively. However, most of what the ITU does relies on consensus building based on mutual and shared interests, not on treaty-level commitments.

10. ITU Functions The ITU operates as a specialized agency of the United Nations. It predates the U.N. and dates back to the onset of telegraphy. Nations agree to the need for a priori (before the fact) consensus on spectrum allocation, many (but not all) operating standards and the need to promote development in poor nations. Spectrum management and technical standards support economies of scale, equipment interoperability and efficiency. They can save lives and money. But nations may try to pursue national interests with an eye toward favoring “national heroes”. The ITU strives for consensus, but foreign and industrial policy can predominate.

11. Inter-governmental Agreements and Disagreements Nations can agree on global consensus policies, e.g., cellphone frequencies, “clear channel” broadcast radio channels, satellites orbital slot registrations that include coverage of both countries. On the other hand, countries can refuse to support a consensus, and elevate sovereignty concerns, e.g., signal jamming, Radio Marti and TV Marti. As nations become more amenable to foreign travel and trade sanctions, ITU consensus agreements can help promote infrastructure modernization and income generation, e.g., tourist cellphone roaming, TCP/IP based Internet access. It’s likely that many years of “trust building” will be necessary in places like Cuba.

12. Why Is Telecom Service Spotty and Expensive in Some LDCs? Many lesser developed nations, lack financial resources for cutting edge technologies. They seek foreign hard currencies in settling long distance telephone service accounts, and from roaming payments. The ITU helped create an international accounting rate scheme where carriers assign rates without regard to actual cost; with more inbound than outbound calls, LDCs receive subsidies from wealthier, developed nations. Tourists are gouged with high roaming rates, but such tactics occur in many developed nations as well.

13. Hypotheticals The ITU traditionally has assigned both radio spectrum and satellite orbital slots on an as needed, first come, first served basis. Does this process prevent developing nations from accessing shared, global resources, because they typically have later in time ability to fund projects? Should the ITU expand its jurisdiction to include Internet governance, because concerns of fairness and international comity increasingly address broadband access? Facebook and other major Internet content providers want to stimulate Internet access and interest in their services. These companies have offered to subsidize access to a limited “walled garden” of content. Does such “sponsored data” and “zero rating” plans exploit the poor, or offer them a subsidized, “free rider” opportunity to access at least some content they otherwise could not afford?