The LEO Satellite Policy Symposium

Event
Satellites orbit a digital Earth.
Marian via Getty Images

Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites are transforming global communications, providing a new way to deliver high-speed internet and connectivity services to even the most remote corners of the planet. As private companies and governments race to deploy tens of thousands more LEO satellites, the need for forward-looking policy to facilitate LEO satellite growth, coexistence, competition, and social benefits has become acute.

To facilitate this, New America’s Wireless Future and the International Center for Law & Economics (ICLE) has jointly led a LEO Policy Working Group to study the challenges and opportunities facing this fast-changing sector. The Working Group’s report focuses on three fundamental pillars of the LEO satellite policy challenge:

  • Access to spectrum and far more capacity
  • Healthy competition in the satellite market
  • Bridging the digital divide with expanded connectivity

Join Wireless Future and ICLE for a symposium on this rapidly-evolving technology.

The event will feature a keynote by Jay Schwarz, Chief of the Federal Communications Commission's Space Bureau.

Gathering regulatory, industry, and academic experts, this symposium will feature critical discussions about the Working Group’s recommendations and how the FCC and federal policy can guide LEO satellite technology to its fullest potential.

Lunch will be served at the event.

Agenda

11:00 AM - 11:05 AM | Welcome

11:05 AM - 11:35 AM | Remarks from Jay Schwarz

11:35 AM - 11:45 AM | LEOS 101 with Patricia Cooper

11:45 AM - 12:30 PM | Panel 1: Spectrum

Sufficient access to spectrum is necessary to realize the full potential of LEO systems for ubiquitous connectivity, innovation, competition, and closing digital divides. How can regulators ensure sufficient access to spectrum and modernize coordination and coexistence mechanisms?

12:30 PM - 12:45 PM | Break

12:45 PM - 1:30 PM | Panel 2: Digital Divide

LEO systems have an important role to play in closing the digital divide, but policies haven’t kept up. How can policymakers create a policy and regulatory environment that addresses barriers, accommodates limitations, and allows LEO satellite service to reach consumers effectively?

1:30 PM - 2:15 PM | Panel 3: Competition

How is competition unfolding, and where may it be lacking? Panelists address this question across four principal dimensions: market structure, barriers to entry, competitive differentiation, and potential anticompetitive conduct.

2:15 PM | Adjourn

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Internet Access & Adoption