Authorisation of the selected applicants
1. Member States shall ensure that the selected applicants, in accordance with the time frame and the service area to which the selected applicants have committed themselves, in accordance with Article 4(1)(c), and in accordance with national and Community law, have the right to use the specific radio frequency identified in the Commission decision adopted pursuant to Articles 5(2) or 6(3) and the right to operate a mobile satellite system. They shall inform selected applicants of those rights accordingly.
2. The rights covered by paragraph 1 shall be subject to the following common conditions:
(a)
selected applicants shall use the assigned radio spectrum for the provision of MSS;
(b)
selected applicants shall meet milestones six to nine set out in the Annex within 24 months of the selection decision adopted pursuant to Articles 5(2) or 6(3);
(c)
selected applicants shall honour any commitments they give in their applications or during the comparative selection procedure, irrespective of whether the combined demand for radio spectrum exceeds the amount available;
(d)
selected applicants shall provide to the competent authorities of all Member States an annual report detailing the status of development of their proposed mobile satellite system;
(e)
any necessary rights of use and authorisations shall be granted for a duration of eighteen years from the date of the selection decision adopted pursuant to Articles 5(2) or 6(3).
3. Member States may grant rights of use of spectrum identified in Article 1(1) for such time and to the extent that they remain outside the service area to which the selected applicants have committed themselves pursuant to this Decision, in accordance with Decision 2007/98/EC.
4. Member States may impose objectively justified, non-discriminatory, proportionate and transparent obligations to ensure communications between emergency services and authorities during major disasters, in accordance with Community law, including Directive 2002/20/EC.
Complementary ground components
1. Member States shall, in accordance with national and Community law, ensure that their competent authorities grant to the applicants selected in accordance with Title II and authorised to use the spectrum pursuant to Article 7 the authorisations necessary for the provision of complementary ground components of mobile satellite systems on their territories.
2. Member States shall not select or authorise operators of complementary ground components of mobile satellite systems before the selection procedure provided for in Title II is completed by a Commission decision adopted pursuant to Articles 5(2) or 6(3). This is without prejudice to the use of the 2 GHz frequency band by systems other than those providing MSS in accordance with Decision 2007/98/EC.
3. Any national authorisations issued for the operation of complementary ground components of mobile satellite systems in the 2 GHz frequency band shall be subject to the following common conditions:
(a)
operators shall use the assigned radio spectrum for the provision of complementary ground components of mobile satellite systems;
(b)
complementary ground components shall constitute an integral part of a mobile satellite system and shall be controlled by the satellite resource and network management mechanism; they shall use the same direction of transmission and the same portions of frequency bands as the associated satellite components and shall not increase the spectrum requirement of the associated mobile satellite system;
(c)
independent operation of complementary ground components in case of failure of the satellite component of the associated mobile satellite system shall not exceed 18 months;
(d)
rights of use and authorisations shall be granted for a period of time ending no later than the expiry of the authorisation of the associated mobile satellite system.
Monitoring and enforcement
1. Selected operators shall be responsible for compliance with any conditions attached to their authorisations and for payment of any applicable authorisation and/or usage fees and charges as required by laws of Member States.
2. Member States shall ensure that rules on enforcement, including rules on penalties applicable in the event of breaches of the common conditions provided for in Article 7(2), are in accordance with Community law, in particular Article 10 of Directive 2002/20/EC. Penalties must be effective, proportionate and dissuasive.
Member States shall ensure monitoring of compliance with these common conditions and take appropriate measures to address non-compliance. Member States shall inform the Commission of the results of such monitoring on an annual basis, in the event that any common conditions have not been complied with and in the event that any enforcement measures have been taken.
The Commission may, with the assistance of the Communications Committee referred to in Article 10(1), examine any alleged specific breach of the common conditions. Where a Member State informs the Commission of a particular breach, the Commission shall examine the alleged breach with the assistance of the Communications Committee.
3. The measures defining any appropriate modalities for coordinated application of the rules on enforcement referred to in paragraph 2, including rules for the coordinated suspension or withdrawal of authorisations for breaches of the common conditions provided for in Article 7(2), designed to amend non-essential elements of this Decision by supplementing it shall be adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny referred to in Article 10(4).
