Complaints About Iranian Satellite Jamming

March 25, 2010 at 9:27 am | Posted in Space Law | 2 Comments

by P.J. Blount with the blog faculty

From the Asia Times:

Iranian in a jam over satellite blocking
By Peter J Brown

The Islamic Republic of Iran is both a member of the United Nations and a member of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a specialized agency of the UN that oversees the global satellite industry. The ITU defines and adopts technical standards for the radio-frequency spectrum and regulates its worldwide use.

In the ITU’s constitution, Article 45 – “Harmful Interference” – states clearly that, among other things, “the Member States recognize the necessity of taking all practicable steps to prevent the operation of electrical apparatus and installations of all kinds from causing harmful interference to the radio services or

communications mentioned in No 197 above.” [1]

In other words, if you jam someone else’s satellite transmissions – and especially if you do so deliberately – you are breaking the ITU’s rules and damaging the satellite industry as a whole.

For weeks, a trio of global broadcasters – the BBC, Deutsche Welle (DW) and Voice of America (VoA) – have been trying to persuade Iran that it needs to cease immediately its deliberate jamming of satellite transmissions that carry their broadcasts in Iran. Paris-based Eutelsat is now unable to conduct normal and licensed satellite operations that enable it to deliver these services in Iran using its Hotbird satellite.

Iran’s actions are harmful to Eutelsat’s business, and over time can contribute to the weakening of other satellite operators as the perception that violations of ITU rules and regulations will not result in any penalty or enforcement action gains ground.

“Several complaints have been lodged by Eutelsat over the last 10 months with the relevant French and international telecommunications regulatory authorities to denounce these deliberate jamming operations,” Eutelsat stated in a mid-March press release. It referred to two complaints being filed since May 2009 involving, first, France’s Agence Nationale des Frequences Francaise (ANFR) and later the ITU’s Radio Regulations Board (ITU-R). [2] . . . [Full Story]