Brussels, 13/11/2015 (Agence Europe) - In Geneva on Wednesday 11 November, the World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-15) allocated a radio-electronic frequency band for the exclusive purpose of monitoring the flight at global level for civil aviation, which will be up and running in 2017.
This means that the frequencies located between 1087.7 and 1092.3 MHz have been allocated to the ADS-B ('Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast') system. This is a technology which allows devices in flight to be monitored using a satellite constellation, irrespective of the geographical area.
Currently, just 30% of global airspace is covered. On the basis of this observation and in light of the unexplained disappearance of flight MH370 of Malaysia Airlines in March 2014, the MEPs adopted a resolution at the end of October calling on the Commission to support the planned adoption of a radio-frequency at WRC-15 (see EUROPE 11422).
The implementation of these frequencies will be the responsibility of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), which drafts standards and practices for positioning and monitoring systems for civilian flights. In May 2014, this organisation asked IUT, the specialist body of the United Nations for information and communication technologies, to take measures swiftly to allocate frequencies to satellites in order to make the system operational. In October 2014, IUT asked WRC-15 to include the issue on its agenda.
The system would not have been possible without the development of the highly computerised new-generation long-haul aircraft that appeared on the market some ten years ago, such as A330 and Boeing 777, a European source close to the dossier explained. Up until the events surrounding flight MH370, the states were unwilling to tackle the question of allocating frequencies, in particular the United States, the same source continued. Since then, the dossier has been stepped up, with the support of the European countries, Malaysia, Australia and China, which were directly involved by the missing flight. (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)