WRC-27 Emphasis on Satellite Connectivity Represents Opportunity for United States to Play Leading Role in Influencing Global Policy, Shape Trajectory of Rapidly Growing LEO Industry

In case you missed it, Connect Everyone Coalition (CEC) board member and Director of the Wireless Future Program at New America, Michael Calabrese, testified before the U.S. Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Telecommunications and Media. His testimony focused on the need for the U.S. to assert leadership at the World Radiocommunication Conference 2027 (WRC-27), particularly around dismantling outdated regulatory barriers to low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite innovation.

Calabrese framed WRC-27 as a defining moment for American space and communications leadership. He noted that an overwhelming majority of agenda items will shape how LEO operators function and how global rules define market scale. The outcomes, he emphasized, will have a large and growing impact on the global competitiveness of leading U.S. industries.

“When it comes to preparing consensus positions, priorities and coalition-building for U.S. participation at the World Radiocommunication Conference late next year (WRC-27), high-level Administration leadership and Congressional oversight cannot come early enough.”

“[S]atellite will close the gaps outdoors in places where cellular signals are absent or weak—and as a burgeoning industry, LEO satellite has attracted particular attention at the ITU. Indeed, it is striking and important to note that more than 80 percent of the WRC-27 agenda items directly or indirectly impact emerging and U.S.-led LEO satellite operators. And unlike cellular services, which can acquire exclusive-use licenses for what is inherently a domestic market, under ITU rules (and U.S. law) virtually all satellite spectrum is shared globally—and for LEO constellations, global spectrum harmonization, power levels and market access is critical to achieving economies of scale.”

Calabrese highlighted key WRC-27 agenda items including spectrum allocations for LEO satellite gateways and measures to advance direct-to-device connectivity. He also underscored that other unresolved issues, such as Equivalent Power Flux Density (EPFD) limits, reflect outdated protections that hinder LEO network growth and need modernizing, consistent with Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recommendations.

“Under rules adopted more than 25 years ago, prior to commercialized LEO constellations, the ITU adopted strict power limits on the amount of interference NGSO satellites can impose on GSOs. However, as the FCC stated last year in its pending proposal to relax the EPFD limits, the ITU’s metrics are very over-protective, wasting spectrum and needlessly reducing LEO satellite power, capacity and operational performance. Studies show that modernizing these limits premised on avoiding unacceptable interference could yield enormous increases in LEO downlink capacity available to a given geographic area, which could alleviate data capacity shortages that limit the scale of LEO services today.”

It is exciting to see CEC members leading the conversation on such important policy issues. We’re grateful to have Michael Calabrese as a board member and look forward to his continued leadership as CEC keeps working to connect everyone, everywhere.

Watch the full U.S. Senate Commerce Subcommittee hearing HERE.

Read more about the World Radiocommunication Conference 2027 HERE.

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