Malta is in a position to issue licences to operators of mobile satellite services, which range from disaster relief communications to mobile television and high-speed internet access on the go.
The government made the announcement after the European Commission accused the island and another 20 EU states of having failed to put in place legislation that would enable them to introduce mobile satellite services (MSS) from May and urged them to do so without further delay.
The government said it “has already made all the background preparations for the issuance of a licence to these operators once they apply to start operations in Malta”.
According to a timetable agreed by the European Parliament and the EU’s Council of Ministers in 2008, MSS should be deployed in all EU member states by May 2011 at the latest. But, more than 20 months after the Commission selected two operators – Inmarsat Ventures Ltd and Solaris Mobile Ltd – to provide such pan-European services, the majority of EU member states, including the UK, France and Germany, have not yet adopted all the national rules needed to facilitate MSS deployment.
European Commission vice-president Nellie Kroes sent a letter to all the member states concerned urging them to remove remaining legal uncertainties, such as licence fees, and to put in place all the necessary implementation measures without further delay.
“Mobile satellite services have an important role to play in providing innovative services to businesses and citizens across Europe, including in rural or remote areas, and in meeting our Digital Agenda targets of making broadband available to everyone in Europe,” she said.
The government said only one of the two operators selected by Brussels had started operations and no applications for the start of such operations in Malta had been received. “Malta has not been informed of the planned roll-out date of such services on the island,” the government said.
To provide services, satellites will communicate with portable terminals on the ground, providing high-speed communication throughout Europe with, for instance, smart phones and laptops. The services include high-speed internet access, mobile television and radio and public protection and disaster relief. Another popular example is portable satellite telephones that allow calls to be made and received anywhere in the world.