Rivada brushes off regulatory setback for proposed broadband constellation

TAMPA, Fla. — Rivada Area Networks stays assured it may possibly reclaim precedence Ka-band spectrum rights for almost 600 proposed broadband satellites, greater than two months after Liechtenstein’s telecoms regulator rescinded its license.

“We proceed to debate the matter with the regulator, and we’re assured that we are able to attain an settlement to make use of the Liechtenstein filings,” Rivada spokesperson Brian Carney mentioned Dec. 13.

Carney mentioned Liechtenstein’s Workplace for Communications (AK) withdrew its spectrum submitting on the Worldwide Telecommunication Union (ITU), an arm of the United Nations, over “a distinction of opinion in regards to the timing of the deposit of a efficiency bond with the regulator,” however declined to offer particulars.

AK director Rainer Schnepfleitner additionally declined to debate what he mentioned was an open continuing.

Nonetheless, he confirmed it’s potential Rivada might reapply for the precedence spectrum rights earlier than mid-2026, when the corporate has to have deployed half its proposed 576 satellites below the ITU’s constellation deployment guidelines.

Final 12 months, the ITU granted Rivada a waiver for the primary milestone below these guidelines, permitting the corporate to overlook a deadline to have 10% of the constellation in low Earth orbit by September 2023.

Schnepfleitner mentioned on the time {that a} launch scarcity and expertise improvement challenges had made it tough for corporations to fulfill deployment guidelines the ITU adopted in 2019, earlier than COVID-19 hammered international provide chains.

Ready sport

Rivada, which relies in Germany however owned by U.S. wi-fi expertise firm Rivada Networks, goals to start deploying its first satellites in 2025 below a multi-launch settlement with SpaceX.

In February 2023, Rivada awarded a $2.4 billion contract for constructing 300 satellites to Florida-headquartered Terran Orbital, which was lately bought to Lockheed Martin after uncertainty about how the settlement could be financed weighed on the producer.

Whereas Rivada stays guarded about plans to finance the constellation, referred to as Outernet, it has mentioned sovereign wealth funds are amongst buyers which have supplied the monetary commitments wanted to fulfill its mid-2026 deployment dedication.

In keeping with Rivada, it has additionally amassed over $13 billion value of pricing agreements from potential clients for Outernet, which might goal enterprise and authorities markets.

One other route

In November, Rivada introduced it had filed for extra spectrum on the ITU throughout Ka, Q, and V bands — this time by means of Germany.

The submitting contains precedence entry to 400 megahertz of decrease Ka-band frequencies newly made obtainable to non-geostationary operators over the Americas. 

“The German Outernet-1 submitting isn’t a substitute of the Liechtenstein filings,” Rivada’s Carney mentioned, however “if obligatory the German submitting is totally able to assembly the wants of our clients and our marketing strategy.”

The corporate additionally lately introduced the creation of Rivada Choose, an entirely U.S.-owned subsidiary that may serve the specialised wants of U.S. authorities and protection clients. 

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