The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has warned its 193 member states that harmful interferences, such as blocking, jamming or serious degradation of radio-wave-based services, could be accidental or intentional.
The harmful interference poses a significant and growing threat to critical infrastructure and safety services used every day, from commercial aviation to energy distribution to satellite navigation systems, states the ITU.
As per ITU’s statement, harmful interference occurs when a radio system receives unwanted energy to an extent that inhibits the functioning of a radio-navigation service – such as those used onboard ships or aircraft – or seriously degrades, obstructs or repeatedly interrupts any radiocommunication service that is operating in accordance with the Radio Regulations.
The radio navigation satellite service (RNSS) is an essential component of global critical infrastructure, providing a “safety-of-life” service that must be protected from interference. It is used in GPS (the US-based Global Positioning System) and other global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) platforms, such as Europe’s GALILEO, Russia’s GLONASS and China’s BeiDou systems.
Between February 1, 2021, and January 31, 2022, ITU received 329 reports of harmful interference or infringements of the Radio Regulations – the international treaty safeguarding the equitable and efficient use of the radio frequency spectrum.
ITU's Radiocommunication Bureau strives to deal with such reports within 48 hours; however, the vital role of preventing harmful interference falls to governments around the world.
ITU proposes the following steps to its member states to mitigate this critical international issue:
- Reinforce the resilience of navigation systems to interference by using technologies with multi-frequency/multi-system receivers and anti-jamming capabilities.
- Increase the collaboration between radio regulatory, military, aviation and law enforcement authorities.
- Reinforce civil-military coordination to address the interference risks associated with radio navigation satellite service (RNSS) testing and conflict zones.
- Retain essential conventional navigation infrastructure for contingency support in cases of RNSS outages.
- Develop mitigation techniques for loss of services.