starlink loses its license to provide its services in France. The main administrative court has frozen French satellite internet services due to significant monopoly risks.
the service of SpaceX was sued by two environmental groups, concerned about the risks posed by the company’s satellites – in particular regarding the phenomenon oflight pollution
l‘arcep’the French agency responsible for the regulation and supervision of telecommunications has licensed SpaceX to provide the services of satellite internet in February 2021. The licensing procedure, the administrative court complains, would have taken place without the simultaneous call for a public consultation, in violation of national law.
The court did not find the considerations of the two environmental associations — regarding the alleged risks of pollution and space debris from satellites — particularly worthy, but rather focused on the risk that SpaceX could compromise the current balance of the telecommunications market Setting up and operating a company offering a satellite Internet service of this magnitude – the court argued – entails too high an entry cost: no French company could independently launch satellites by imitating the business model of the American SpaceX.
In other words, according to the French judges, SpaceX has the potential to become a monopolist, which in the long term affects the interests and freedom of choice of consumers.
Given the high vertical integration of SpaceX’s operations, this project could jeopardize the economic equilibrium of other sectors. Starlink competes with satellite manufacturers, with the European aerospace company Arianespace, with radio instrument manufacturers and many other realities.
the judges reasoned.
A temporary outage? The final decision rests with Arcep
Arcep will now have to re-evaluate the license assignment. The agency has already defended its earlier decision in an April 8 press release, arguing that the services offered by SpaceX do not cause real harm to consumers and the market. “When we licensed SpaceX,” the authority argued, “several tens of thousands of French users were already using other companies’ satellite Internet services.” It is not a zero-sum game: “the type of frequencies in question allows the coexistence of several players on the market and there is therefore no risk of a state of scarcity developing”.
Arcep disputes the statement of the administrative judge: “there is no risk that the frequencies will run out, other companies will also be able to offer satellite internet services without any problems”.
According to several sources heard by the specialized site Space.com, Arcep will most likely reassign the license to SpaceX in the near future, with new terms to address the concerns of the judges.
Nevertheless, the judges’ decision still risks the future of the SpaceX’s European operations In Germany, the American company provides the services of: starlink thanks to a provisional license that is renewed every year. “I think France’s decision is likely to have an impact and that Germany could reconsider the license allocation,” a source explained.
Source: Lega Nerd
