Spectrum management issues related to digital satellite TV broadcasting

Underpinning all commercial developments in digital satellite television broadcasting is the availability and management of suitable spectrum. This is one of the central functions of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), which through member administrations (in the UK, the Radiocommunications Agency), decides on how the radio spectrum is divided between services, the rules, procedures and technical standards for operating the various radio services and the sharing criteria to prevent radio interference. The Radio Regulations, which have the status of treaties, are where these rules are recorded and they can only be revised at World Radio Conferences. The ITU designates the broadcasting satellite service (BSS) as the service in which direct-to-home or more accurately termed direct broadcast by satellite (DBS) television services are to operate. It is this service and its associated frequency bands to which satellite television operators are now looking to meet their digital television requirements.