ITU launches satellite interface standard for mobiles

Promises to boost international roaming and rural broadband access.

The International Telecommunication Union has released a new standard which it claims will boost mobile services in the areas of roaming and compatibility.

The standard will be added to the IMT-2000 (3G) satellite interface to improve common mobile tasks such as international roaming, high-speed data transfers and compatibility.

"Recommendation ITU-R M.1850 identifies satellite radio interface specifications for IMT-2000 systems which, by means of one or more radio links, provide access to a wide range of telecommunication services," the organisation said.

The ITU added that the update would support the main IMT-2000 standard, and there would be no negative impact on existing specifications.

ITU secretary-general Hamadoun Touré welcomed the new standards, explaining that they would increase broadband access for remote areas or those not covered by conventional wired connections.

Touré said that they would not have been possible without the input of government and industry experts.

The ITU is already developing new satellite interfaces for IMT-Advanced, the next generation of its standards.

"IMT-Advanced provides a global platform on which to build the next generations of interactive mobile services that will provide faster data access, unified messaging and broadband multimedia," the group said.

"The satellite component of IMT-Advanced will be designed to cope with increasing demands from the rising number of users in terms of peak bit-rate and aggregate throughput, and will have greater flexibility to simultaneously support many different types of services."