Abstract
Telecommunications is an area which would impact aviation in light of digital advances taking place. Annex 10 (Aeronautical Telecommunications) to the Chicago Convention is directly in point and ICAO’s relations with the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). The ICAO Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPs) in Annex 10 are developed in accordance with Article 37 of the Chicago Convention for the purpose of ensuring the safety and regularity of air navigation. In addition to the ITU Radio Regulations, the SARPs specify interface and performance standards for internationally agreed aeronautical systems which have been developed by aviation to meet the specific operational requirements of aeronautical services. ICAO is recognized internationally as the competent international body to carry out this work and to coordinate a worldwide policy for the operational use of the specified systems. Furthermore, the ICAO Annexes contain procedures for regular and emergency communications that are specifically developed for aviation purposes, taking account of the operational conditions. These procedures supplement the basic requirements for procedures in aeronautical communications of the Radio Regulations. ITU Radio Regulations and ICAO SARPs together thus form a complementary set of regulatory provisions without any overlap. The ITU Radio Regulations must evolve within the general telecommunications environment, with its many and diverse users of the radio frequency spectrum, while the ICAO SARPs respond to the operational safety aspects of air navigation and are developed and agreed by aviation within the ICAO organizational framework.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Aeronautical communications, navigation and surveillance (CNS) are considered to be three separate and distinct functions, all of which are necessary for safe aircraft operations. These three functions, however, all rely on a common resource—continued and interference-free access to frequency spectrum.
- 2.
With headquarters in Geneva, the International Telecommunication Union is the eldest organization in the United Nations family still in existence. It was founded as the International Telegraph Union in Paris on 17 May 1865 by its twenty founding members and is today the leading UN agency for information and communication technology issues, and the global focal point for governments and the private sector in developing networks and services. ITU has been at the centre of advances in communications, from telegraphy through to the modern world of satellites, mobile phones and the Internet. The ITU is governed by the plenipotentiary conference where all members are represented; it normally meets once every four or five years. Since its establishment in 1865, ITU had sought to reach uniformity in the international telegraph systems. For more information see Doc 9718 AN/957 Handbook on Radio Frequency Spectrum Requirements for Civil Aviation, Volume I Second Edition—2018, ICAO spectrum strategy, policy statements and related information, at Chapter 3.
- 3.
Article 37 provides inter alia that Each contracting State undertakes to collaborate in securing the highest practicable degree of uniformity in regulations standards, procedures, and organization in relation to aircraft, personnel, airways and auxiliary services in all matters in services which such uniformity will facilitate and improve air navigation.
- 4.
According to latest figures available at the time of writing, ICAO’s publication The World of Air Transport 2018 says that according to ICAO’s preliminary compilation of annual global statistics, the total number of passengers carried on scheduled services rose to 4.3 billion in 2018, which is 6.4% higher than the previous year, while the number of departures reached 37.8 million in 2018, a 3.5% increase. See https://www.icao.int/annual-report-2018/Pages/the-world-of-air-transport-in-2018.aspx. IATA’s figures ending December 2019 reveal that revenue from passenger carriage globally was $ 567 billion and for cargo the figure was $ 102.3 billion. See IATA Industry Statistics Fact Sheet December 2019 at https://www.iata.org/contentassets/fdfc945a315644699bdb46041cf37a48/fact-sheet-industry-facts.pdf.
- 5.
The radio frequency spectrum is a scarce natural resource with finite capacity limits and for which demand is constantly increasing. Predictions of future demand for spectrum indicate a continuing rate of increase for all users and radio services and facilities that utilize radio waves as the world economies progressively expand. The competition among all users for the spectrum available is hence expected to intensify in the years ahead. In this competitive situation, even a user holding a spectrum allocation will not have an automatic right to retain that radio frequency spectrum, as a decision by an International Telecommunication Union (ITU) conference may require that spectrum be removed from any radio service to meet a superior justified demand for other radio services. Aviation is only one of many such competitors, albeit with the significant benefit of a worldwide cooperative forum which is ICAO.
- 6.
WRC-15-IRWSP-15/3-E.
- 7.
ADS-B, or automatic dependent surveillance—broadcast, is an ICAO-standardized technology whereby aircraft can broadcast position reports on the 1090 MHz frequency. ADS-B, in principle, provides all the information required for global flight tracking. A significant limitation, however, was that its broadcasts could only be received by ground stations within line of sight of an aircraft. With a new satellite constellation currently being deployed capable of capturing ADS-B reports from aircraft located in polar, oceanic and other remote areas, and then re-broadcasting them to GFT ground systems, the global air transport community saw an opportunity to leverage and complement existing ADS-B aircraft capabilities for global tracking without requiring aircraft retrofits.
- 8.
GNSS stands for Global Navigation Satellite System and is the standard generic term for satellite navigation systems that provide autonomous geo-spatial positioning with global coverage. This term includes e.g. the GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, Beidou and other regional systems. There is also The United States’ Global Positioning System (GPS) which consists of up to 32 medium Earth orbit satellites in six different orbital planes, with the exact number of satellites varying as older satellites are retired and replaced. Operational since 1978 and globally available since 1994, GPS is currently the world’s most utilized satellite navigation system.
- 9.
For more details on exogenous interference in air navigation see Abeyratne (2018), pp. 61–76.
- 10.
- 11.
Directive 2002/19/EC of The European Parliament and of The Council of 7 March 2002 on access to, and interconnection of, electronic communications networks and associated facilities (Access Directive).
- 12.
- 13.
Telecommunications Act of 1996, Pub. LA. No. 104-104, 110 Stat. 56 (1996).
- 14.
- 15.
The Telecommunications Act defines a telecommunications carrier (common carrier in certain circumstance) as: “The term ‘telecommunications carrier’ means any provider of telecommunications services, except that such term does not include aggregators of telecommunications services (as defined in section 226). A telecommunications carrier must be treated as a common carrier under this Act only to the extent that it is engaged in providing telecommunications services, except that the Commission must determine whether the provision of fixed and mobile satellite service must be treated as common carriage”.
- 16.
The Register contains frequency assignments together with their particulars as notified to ITU.
- 17.
ITU Constitution Article 4.22. The Constitution and Convention of ITU are legal instruments which member States are obligated to adhere to with regard to their international services particularly in the context of unauthorized harmful interference.
- 18.
Flanagan (2018), pp. 381–382.
- 19.
Morlinghause (2019), pp. 96–97.
- 20.
SIGMET is a weather advisory that contains meteorological information concerning the safety of all aircraft. There are two types of SIGMETs: convective and non-convective.
- 21.
AIRMET is a concise description of weather phenomena that are occurring or may occur (forecast) along an air route that may affect aircraft safety.
- 22.
Starlink is a satellite constellation being constructed by American company SpaceX to provide satellite Internet access. The constellation will consist of thousands of mass-produced small satellites, working in combination with ground transceivers.
- 23.
Convention on Registration of Objects Launched into Outer Space, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations, New York, 12 November 1974, 1023 UNTS 15.
- 24.
Lachs (1972), p. 70.
- 25.
Ibid.
- 26.
Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies, opened for signature at Moscow, London and Washington, 27 January 1967, 610 UNTS 205.
- 27.
Id. Article IX.
- 28.
Ibid.
- 29.
Agreement Governing the Activities of States on the Moon and other Celestial Bodies, signed on 5 December 1979, UN Doc A/RES/34/68 of 5/12/1979.
- 30.
Id. Article 7.
- 31.
Convention on International Liability for Damage Caused by Space Objects, March 29 1972, 24 U.S.T 2389, T.I.A.S No. 7762.
- 32.
Article II(a) defines damage as including loss of life, persona injury or other impairment of health; or loss or damage to property of States or of persons natural or juridical, or property of international governmental organizations.
- 33.
The object of the aeronautical information service is to ensure the flow of information/data necessary for the safety, regularity and efficiency of international air navigation. The role and importance of aeronautical information/data changed significantly with the implementation of area navigation (RNAV), performance-based navigation (PBN), airborne computer-based navigation systems and data link systems. Corrupt or erroneous aeronautical information/data can potentially affect the safety of air navigation.
- 34.
An Aeronautical Information Publication (or AIP) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization as a publication issued by or with the authority of a state and containing aeronautical information of a lasting character essential to air navigation. Aeronautical Information Management encompasses the origination, management and distribution of time-sensitive, digital aeronautical information in a safe secure and efficient manner. Gradually, the distribution of aeronautical information will be via a global System Wide Information Management (SWIM) network. When needed, aeronautical information is readily integratable with other relevant information domains to provide shared situational awareness to all members of the global ATM community See Alexander G. Pufahl, The Aeronautical Information Management Concept Draft Version 0.9.1 May 2012.
- 35.
- 36.
Fenwick, Tara and Edwards, Richard, Exploring the impact of digital technologies on professional responsibilities and education, Sage Journals, First Published December 23, 2015. See https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1474904115608387.
- 37.
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND DIGITALIZATION IN AVIATION (Presented by the International Coordinating Council of Aerospace Industries Associations (ICCAIA) and Civil Air Navigation Services Organisation (CANSO)) A40-WP/268, EX/111, 1/8/19 at 3–5.
- 38.
THE AGE OF DIGITAL INTERDEPENDENCE, Report of the UN Secretary-General’s High-level Panel on Digital Cooperation, Executive Summary. See https://www.un.org/en/pdfs/DigitalCooperation-report-for%20web.pdf.
- 39.
RESOLUTION 130 (REV. DUBAI, 2018), Strengthening the role of ITU in building confidence and security in the use of information and communication technologies, at https://www.itu.int/en/action/internet/Documents/Res%20130.pdf.
References
Abeyratne R (2018) State responsibility for exogenous interference with air navigation: some legal and regulatory issues. Air Space Law 43(1):61–76
Flanagan A (2018) Spectrum management, Chapter 7. In: Telecommunications law and regulation, 5th edn. Oxford University Press, pp 381–382
Lachs M (1972) The law of outer space, an experience in contemporary law making. Sijthoff Leiden, p 70
Morlinghause C (2019) Digital doesn’t have to be disruptive. Harv Bus Rev:96–97
Schrage M (2014) Embedding analytics for growth: creating a data-driven culture. Harv Bus Rev, November 12
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Abeyratne, R. (2020). Aviation and Telecommunications in the Digital World. In: Aviation in the Digital Age. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-48218-3_9
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-48218-3_9
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-48217-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-48218-3
eBook Packages: Law and CriminologyLaw and Criminology (R0)