Spectrum II: WRC-27, Europe and the Global Rules
How will international rules for direct-to-device spectrum be set, and what are Europe and the UK doing in the meantime?
Chapter summary
The decisive international event is the World Radiocommunication Conference in Shanghai from 18 October to 12 November 2027, whose agenda item 1.13 studies new mobile-satellite allocations so that satellites can connect directly to standard mobile handsets in bands from about 694 MHz to 2.7 GHz.
Key takeaways
- 1
Until then, operators run D2D under national authorisations in what is formally a non-conforming use of mobile spectrum.
- 2
Europe is redesigning its 2 GHz MSS band: on 27 May 2026 the European Commission proposed an EU-level selection procedure that would reserve one-third of the band for governmental use linked to IRIS² and two-thirds for commercial use, with new rights assigned around 2029 and a two-year bridge for the Viasat and EchoStar licences expiring in May 2027.
- 3
The UK made D2D in mobile bands legal from 25 February 2026, with Virgin Media O2 the first operator approved.
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