Who Controls Satellite Spectrum Controls Connectivity
When the European Commission published its proposed Mobile Satellite Services (MSS) regulation on 27 May 2026, the stated rationale was strategic autonomy. Brussels wants to reduce reliance on American operators — specifically SpaceX's Starlink — by reserving the lion's share of the 2GHz frequency band for European entities. The proposal divides the band's six paired 5MHz blocks into three equal groups: one exclusively for EU governmental secure communications integrated with the IRIS² constellation; one ring-fenced for EU-controlled commercial operators; and only one open to non-EU operators including SpaceX and Amazon. For small member states like Ireland, still completing a decade-long rural fibre rollout, the practical stakes are immediate.
What the Proposal Actually Does
The 2GHz mobile satellite band (1980–2010 MHz and 2170–2200 MHz) is currently licensed to two US companies, EchoStar and Viasat. Those licences expire in May 2027, though the Commission proposes a transitional two-year extension during parliamentary negotiations. Under the new framework, no single operator can hold more than a 2×10MHz block, and non-EU operators are excluded from two of the three tiers entirely regardless of their technical capabilities or willingness to meet EU security requirements.
One structurally positive element deserves acknowledgement: the proposal replaces member-state-by-member-state licensing with a single EU-level authorisation covering all 27 countries simultaneously. This eliminates the patchwork of national spectrum decisions that currently fragments the European satellite market, letting successful operators serve the entire Union under unified conditions. Penalties for non-compliance can reach up to 5% of an operator's total worldwide annual turnover — creating consistent regulatory pressure across the bloc.
The government tier is tied explicitly to IRIS² — Infrastructure for Resilience, Interconnectivity and Security by Satellite — the EU's planned multi-orbit constellation of 290 satellites established under Regulation (EU) 2023/588 of 15 March 2023. SpaceRISE, a consortium of SES, Eutelsat, and Hispasat, was awarded the IRIS² concession contract in October 2024 and signed it in Brussels in December. Government services are targeted to begin around 2030.
The Case for Spectrum Sovereignty
The strongest version of the Commission's argument deserves to be stated honestly. Satellite connectivity has proven itself to be strategic infrastructure, not merely a consumer product. Ukraine's experience during the Russia-Ukraine conflict — when Elon Musk's decisions about Starlink's operational coverage in contested areas became a military and political flashpoint — demonstrated the risks of depending on a single foreign operator for critical communications. Commissioner Henna Virkkunen, presenting the proposal, stated the EU wanted to "give a new boost to Europe's competitiveness, strengthen its security and embrace new technological possibilities."
The constellation-building rationale is also real. If Europe never develops a capable sovereign constellation, it simply trades dependence on US providers for exposure to Chinese alternatives. Spacesail, a state-backed Chinese LEO operator, reached 200 satellites in orbit by June 2026 and is actively targeting markets where Starlink has faced regulatory friction — making European inaction a form of strategic choice by default.
Where the Proportionality Problem Lies
The difficulty is timing. IRIS² government services are not expected until approximately 2030, and commercially competitive broadband from the constellation will take longer still. In the interim, the proposed regulation restricts the most capable existing LEO operator — Starlink, which reached 10 million subscribers globally in February 2026 and commanded 97.1% of satellite Speedtest samples worldwide in Q3 2025 — to one minority slice of the 2GHz commercial band.
Critically, the eligibility criterion is ownership-based, not behaviour-based. An operator cannot qualify for the EU commercial tier by meeting data localisation, security audit, or resilience requirements; it must be EU-controlled in law. This matters most at precisely the wrong moment. The 2GHz band is the key spectrum for satellite-to-cellular services — the "direct-to-device" technology that allows unmodified mobile handsets to receive satellite coverage where no tower exists. Concentrating this emerging market before European alternatives are ready to compete creates a protected enclosure rather than a thriving one.
Ireland's Stake in the Council Negotiations
Ireland is nearing the end of its National Broadband Plan, the state programme that brought fibre infrastructure to 564,000 premises across rural and underserved areas. As of October 2025, more than 150,000 of those premises were connected, with the main infrastructure rollout expected to complete by end of 2026 and full gigabit coverage targeted by 2028. But during the long construction window, hundreds of thousands of rural homes and farms have relied on satellite broadband — Starlink prominently among them — as an interim service.
A spectrum policy that constrains competitive satellite options and enables a market of fewer, better-resourced EU incumbents risks translating directly into higher prices or slower service in areas where no fibre alternative yet exists. Ireland has a direct interest in ensuring the Council negotiating position emphasises technology-neutral eligibility — behaviour-based requirements around security, data protection, and resilience — rather than ownership thresholds that protect incumbents before they have earned market position.
The Path Forward
The European Parliament and Council have the opportunity to reshape this regulation before it binds member states. The productive route is not to discard the IRIS² government tier — that reservation is defensible on security and resilience grounds. The target is the commercial tiers: open them to behaviour-based eligibility, applied equally to all applicants regardless of ownership. Operators that meet EU security requirements, accept data localisation mandates, and submit to regulatory oversight should qualify, full stop.
Spectrum policy combining a sovereign government anchor with genuinely competitive commercial access would serve rural Ireland — and the tens of millions of Europeans the Commission says it wants to reach with satellite connectivity — far better than a structure that protects the future from the present.