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Law and space communications
Books
Compendium of fixed satellite facilities LAW AND SPACE COMMUNICATIONS by Francis Lyall
Dartmouth Publishing, Aldershot, UK, 1989, 428 pp, £50 This treatise was written by Francis Lyall as part of Dartmouth Publishing's expanding legal series. Lyall is a respected legal academician at the University of Aberdeen, and formerly at McGill's Institute of Air and Space. In style this is a factual handbook providing a short early history of communication satellites and basic information about several major organizations in the satellite communications field, including Comsat, Intelsat, Intersputnik, Inmarsat, Eutelsat, the European Space Agency, Arabsat and the ITU. The title is a trifle misleading, however, as the author focuses almost entirely on 'fixed-satellite" facilities that is, satellites which p r o v i d e common-carrier-like services. A lot of 'telecommunications' such as broadcasting, radiodetermination, mobile, intersatellite sensing, space and a host of other niche services are not covered. Nor does the book deal with low-Earth orbit space communications that have become extremely important for emerging world-wide mobile applications. And lastly, on the several occasions the author attempts to deal with technological, operational or regulatory policy issues the treatment is inadequate. Nonetheless, if one accepts the book as essentially a compendium of basic international institutional information relevant to fixed satellite facilities, it stands in a league by itself. There is no equivalent treatise, and it is rich in source citations and represents a useful reference contribution to the telecommunications field. In addition, Lyall writes with a readerfriendly, flowing style that turns potentially dull material into an interesting, cohesive synthesis. This attribute may be particularly valuable
S P A C E P O L I C Y M a y 1991
for getting students interested in these subjects. Most of the book is fairly unexceptional. Each chapter typically focuses on a separate organization, containing a combination of superb historical narrative and a summary of the basic institutional features of the organization. It should be emphasized, however, that the treatment of the ITU is limited to only a small fraction of the organization's activities - essentially only the formal radio regime. The deficiencies arise in two places. There are occasional inexplicable aberrations such as statements like 'the ITU is the largest international organization in the world . . . ' (of course, the ITU is one of the smaller public international organizations, clearly dwarfed by the UN). However, the institutional breadth of the book makes it impossible for any one author to have first-hand familiarity with every organization and its original materials, and requires a reliance on sometimes inaccurate secondary sources. The other troublesome tendency is for the author to extemporize - mainly at the end of chapters. Lyall seems in many places to display a strong personal affection for the operational institutions he describes that gets in the way of objective analysis. For example, in discussing Comsat's future, Lyall develops at length a great concern for the entry of separate satellite systems - even incongruously suggesting that this 'must cause concern to objective commentators'. At the same time he essentially ignores the effects of new optical and switching technologies, the value of competitive markets and a host of other important factors. Even in the short time since the book's publication the author's comments have proved ironic. Intelsat itself has recently amended its governing provisions to allow substantial unfettered competitive entry. And Lyall's assertion that it was 'unlikely' that the 'Communist countries' would join Intelsat has succumbed rather quickly to the march of history. Lyall's view of the future - which
constitutes the concluding chapter - is a rather skimpy 11 pages. The author leaves us with a gloomy prognosis and a few dubious abstractions such as, 'Much will be lost if unwise sectarianism is allowed to displace the basic ethos that used to underlie these organizations in their restricted respective areas.' He upholds noble slogans from 30 years ago. But 1991 is not 1961. We live in a very different world - technologically, economically and politcally. We have also learned a lot during the past 30 years about the limits of organizations and the requisites for innovation and growth. Lyall's grave distress regarding the viability of the satellite communications industry and the ITU has certainly not been borne out over the past two years. On the contrary, both retain increasingly important, albeit rapidly evolving, roles. The future of fixed satellite communications is being largely determined by complex, dramatic changes occurring in electronic technologies, telecommunication applications, user needs, competitive provisioning mandates and global economic patterns. For example, the explosive growth in fast switching and optical technologies, enterprise networks, VSAT and low Earth orbit facilities, virtual transport techniques, privatization of public operating agencies and globalization of markets are some of the more obvious. The institutional machinations of the organizations described in the book are indirect manifestations of these unfolding changes, not the key determinants of the future of the telecommunications industry. Like almost every other entity in the telecommunications business today, these organizations are struggling to adapt and become enterprising - to be responsive in a marketplace that has become competitive even for venerable institutions.
A. M. Rutkowski Special Adviser ITU, Geneva, Switzerland The comments made here are solely those of the reviewer and should not be attributed to any institution with which he is
affiliated.
171
Compendium of fixed satellite facilities LAW AND SPACE COMMUNICATIONS by Francis Lyall
Dartmouth Publishing, Aldershot, UK, 1989, 428 pp, £50 This treatise was written by Francis Lyall as part of Dartmouth Publishing's expanding legal series. Lyall is a respected legal academician at the University of Aberdeen, and formerly at McGill's Institute of Air and Space. In style this is a factual handbook providing a short early history of communication satellites and basic information about several major organizations in the satellite communications field, including Comsat, Intelsat, Intersputnik, Inmarsat, Eutelsat, the European Space Agency, Arabsat and the ITU. The title is a trifle misleading, however, as the author focuses almost entirely on 'fixed-satellite" facilities that is, satellites which p r o v i d e common-carrier-like services. A lot of 'telecommunications' such as broadcasting, radiodetermination, mobile, intersatellite sensing, space and a host of other niche services are not covered. Nor does the book deal with low-Earth orbit space communications that have become extremely important for emerging world-wide mobile applications. And lastly, on the several occasions the author attempts to deal with technological, operational or regulatory policy issues the treatment is inadequate. Nonetheless, if one accepts the book as essentially a compendium of basic international institutional information relevant to fixed satellite facilities, it stands in a league by itself. There is no equivalent treatise, and it is rich in source citations and represents a useful reference contribution to the telecommunications field. In addition, Lyall writes with a readerfriendly, flowing style that turns potentially dull material into an interesting, cohesive synthesis. This attribute may be particularly valuable
S P A C E P O L I C Y M a y 1991
for getting students interested in these subjects. Most of the book is fairly unexceptional. Each chapter typically focuses on a separate organization, containing a combination of superb historical narrative and a summary of the basic institutional features of the organization. It should be emphasized, however, that the treatment of the ITU is limited to only a small fraction of the organization's activities - essentially only the formal radio regime. The deficiencies arise in two places. There are occasional inexplicable aberrations such as statements like 'the ITU is the largest international organization in the world . . . ' (of course, the ITU is one of the smaller public international organizations, clearly dwarfed by the UN). However, the institutional breadth of the book makes it impossible for any one author to have first-hand familiarity with every organization and its original materials, and requires a reliance on sometimes inaccurate secondary sources. The other troublesome tendency is for the author to extemporize - mainly at the end of chapters. Lyall seems in many places to display a strong personal affection for the operational institutions he describes that gets in the way of objective analysis. For example, in discussing Comsat's future, Lyall develops at length a great concern for the entry of separate satellite systems - even incongruously suggesting that this 'must cause concern to objective commentators'. At the same time he essentially ignores the effects of new optical and switching technologies, the value of competitive markets and a host of other important factors. Even in the short time since the book's publication the author's comments have proved ironic. Intelsat itself has recently amended its governing provisions to allow substantial unfettered competitive entry. And Lyall's assertion that it was 'unlikely' that the 'Communist countries' would join Intelsat has succumbed rather quickly to the march of history. Lyall's view of the future - which
constitutes the concluding chapter - is a rather skimpy 11 pages. The author leaves us with a gloomy prognosis and a few dubious abstractions such as, 'Much will be lost if unwise sectarianism is allowed to displace the basic ethos that used to underlie these organizations in their restricted respective areas.' He upholds noble slogans from 30 years ago. But 1991 is not 1961. We live in a very different world - technologically, economically and politcally. We have also learned a lot during the past 30 years about the limits of organizations and the requisites for innovation and growth. Lyall's grave distress regarding the viability of the satellite communications industry and the ITU has certainly not been borne out over the past two years. On the contrary, both retain increasingly important, albeit rapidly evolving, roles. The future of fixed satellite communications is being largely determined by complex, dramatic changes occurring in electronic technologies, telecommunication applications, user needs, competitive provisioning mandates and global economic patterns. For example, the explosive growth in fast switching and optical technologies, enterprise networks, VSAT and low Earth orbit facilities, virtual transport techniques, privatization of public operating agencies and globalization of markets are some of the more obvious. The institutional machinations of the organizations described in the book are indirect manifestations of these unfolding changes, not the key determinants of the future of the telecommunications industry. Like almost every other entity in the telecommunications business today, these organizations are struggling to adapt and become enterprising - to be responsive in a marketplace that has become competitive even for venerable institutions.
A. M. Rutkowski Special Adviser ITU, Geneva, Switzerland The comments made here are solely those of the reviewer and should not be attributed to any institution with which he is
affiliated.
171