23cm Restrictions in Europe

Galileo LogoThe 67th CEPT Electronic Communications Committee (ECC) Plenary Meeting, held June 24-27, approved ECC Decision (25)01 imposing restrictions on both Amateur and Amateur-Satellite operation in the 23cm band (1258-1300 MHz). It entered into force on June 27, 2025, with a preferred date for implementation of December 27, 2025.

In order to account for amateur service installations that are authorized and operational in the frequency range 1258-1296 MHz in many CEPT countries, administrations may, on national level, define a transitional period to comply, with the expectation this could take up to three years according to national circumstances.

The meeting minutes record:

6.2 APPROVAL FOR PUBLICATION OF DRAFT ECC DECISION (25)01 ON GALILEO AND ITS PROTECTION IN 1258-1300 MHZ FROM RADIO AMATEUR

The WG FM Chairman introduced the draft ECC Decision (25)01 on Galileo and protection measures in 1258-1300 MHz in Annex 06 to 026, which was endorsed by WG FM for publication by the ECC.

24 administrations indicated their intention to implement this Decision, while 1 administration indicated their intention to implement it partially.

Germany stated that they have to determine how to implement this Decision at national level.

The United Kingdom informed the meeting that it will implement decides 1 (designation of the frequency bands for Galileo) but will not apply the technical conditions on amateur and amateur-satellite in decides 2.

Meeting minutes https://cept.org/documents/ecc/89968/ecc-25-042_minutes-67th-ecc-meeting

Amateur-Satellite Service restrictions (bandwidth must be ≤ 150 kHz):

i) 1260-1262 MHz Maximum permitted EIRP:

  •   −3 dBW (500 milliwatts) for 0° ≤ θ < 15°
  • 17 dBW (50 watts) for 15° ≤ θ < 55°
  • 26.8 dBW (478 watts) for 55° ≤ θ < 90°

where θ = elevation angle of amateur station antenna

ii) 1262-1270 MHz: Maximum permitted EIRP = −17 dBW (20 milliwatts)

Read the full CEPT ECC Decision (25)01 to see the restrictions on the rest of the 23cm band https://docdb.cept.org/download/4782

The 24 administrations currently studying the implementation of ECC/DEC/(25)01 appear on the Status page at https://docdb.cept.org/implementation/28651

IARU Region 1 paper on ECC/DEC/(25)01 published July 21, 2025 https://www.iaru-r1.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/ECC-Decision2501-support-paper.pdf

WRC-23 saw the publication of ITU-R Recommendation M.2164-0

Follow AMSAT-UK on X

Belgium: 23 cm band Restrictions

2024-03-27 Belgium 1240-1300 MHz proposed restrictions

2024-03-27 Belgium 1240-1300 MHz proposed restrictions

On March 27, 2024, Belgium’s regulator the BIPT published draft restrictions on amateur radio operation  in the 23cm (1240-1300 MHz) band.

Belgium is believed to be the first country to propose restrictions on 23cm band operation following WRC-23 ITU-R Recommendation M.2164-0

The new restrictions include:

Class A (equiv UK Full, USA Extra) – size of band reduced from 60 MHz to 8.24 MHz. EME (but not satellite uplink) is permitted 1260-1262 MHz and the antenna elevation must always be more than 15° above the horizon and the transmission power is limited to 50 W EIRP. If the elevation is above 55° above the horizon, the power is increased to 500 watts EIRP

Class B (equiv UK Intermediate, USA General) – 1296-1300 MHz only

Class C (equiv UK Foundation, USA Technician) – No access (unchanged)

The public consultation runs until April 28 https://www.bipt.be/operators/publication/consultation-on-the-frequencies-powers-and-transmission-modes-that-may-be-used-by-radio-amateurs

Read the full UBA story at https://www-uba-be.translate.goog/nl/nieuws/raadpleging-over-ontwerp-van-besluit-van-de-raad-van-het-bipt-inzake-de-frequenties?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en-US

SSA defends 23cm band against Galileo threat

Galileo LogoSweden’s national amateur radio society, the SSA, has sent a supplementary letter to the communications regulator PTS ahead of the next meeting of the CEPT ECC Conference Preparatory Group CPG-19.

The SSA report:

At a previous CEPT meeting (PTA), France has proposed an agenda item to WRC-23 that the coexistence between satellite navigation (eg Galileo) and amateur radio in the band 1240-1300 MHz should be investigated. The proposal was voted down at the preparatory PTA meeting, but France has now sent letters to the various telecommunications authorities with a request that they now support this proposal at the forthcoming CPG19-9. SSA opposes this.

SSA has therefore sent a supplementary letter to PTS about our 23 cm amateur band. Our section leader for IARU and VUSHF Mats SM6EAN explains the background and our opinion on our section pages. Here you can also read the new letter to PTS.

Hans-Christian SM6ZEM

Link to letter in Google English is available via https://tinyurl.com/SwedenSSA

The next meeting of the CEPT ECC Conference Preparatory Group CPG-19 takes place in Ankara, Turkey on August 26-30, 2019. The meeting documents should be available in advance at
https://cept.org/ecc/groups/ecc/cpg/client/meeting-documents/?flid=8819

1240-1300 MHz band discussed by CEPT WGFM and CPG/PTA
https://amsat-uk.org/2019/05/31/1240-1300-mhz-band-discussed-by-cept-wgfm-and-cpg-pta/

1240-1300 MHz IARU Region 1 paper PTA(19)069 – RNSS Proposal WRC-19 AI 10
http://rsgb.org/main/files/2019/06/PTA19069_IARU_AI-10_Amateur-GNSS_Final.pdf

January 2006 – Potential Interference To Galileo From 23cm Band Operations by Peter Blair G3LTF
http://www.southgatearc.org/articles/galileo.htm