The US Federal Communications Commission has approved use of the EU's satellite navigation system Galileo in the US. This allows non-federal government devices to use the Galileo system to supplement the US's own GPS.
The FCC said the waiver was granted for Galileo at the European Commission's request. It should result in improved availability, reliability, and resiliency of position, navigation and timing services in the US, the FCC said, noting that the two systems are interoperable and radiofrequency compatible.
Specifically, the order permits access to two of the Galileo system’s satellite signals – the E1 signal in the 1559-1591 MHz portion of the 1559-1610 MHz Radionavigation-Satellite Service (RNSS) frequency band and the E5 signal in the 1164-1219 MHz portion of the 1164-1215 MHz and 1215-1240 MHz RNSS bands. These are the same RNSS bands in which the US GPS satellite signals operate.
The order does not grant access to the Galileo E6 signal, which is transmitted over the 1260-1300 MHz frequency band, since this band is not allocated for RNSS in the US or used by GPS to provide navigation services. The Commission noted that granting access to the Galileo E6 signal could constrain US spectrum management in the future in spectrum above 1300 MHz, where potential allocation changes are under consideration.
