The European Commission (EC) adopted Wednesday a proposal paving the way for mobile satellite-based services (MSS) such as internet connections and television broadcasts across the EU, reported the DPA. "The potential for Europe-wide MSS is massive - think mobile television, think broadband for all, think public protection and disaster relief," EU Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding said in a press release. Mobile satellite services work on the same principle as satellite telephones, whereby a signal broadcast from an orbiting satellite is received on a handset or other base station on the ground. But the applications which MSS could offer are far wider, covering the transmission of data ranging from TV and films to broadband internet services. While satellite telephony is governed by a well-established legislative structure, the administrative framework for the use of MSS - which would occupy a different frequency range within the electromagnetic spectrum - is still in its infancy. "This is a very new and economically quite important sector, (but) the problem is that companies who want to offer MSS in the EU at the moment have to have a licence to do so in every EU member state," EC spokesman Martin Selmayr told journalists.
