The Southern African Development Community (SADC) Satellite Expert Committee held a meeting on January 16, 2020, at the HCTA Conference Centre in Luanda, Angola. The meeting was chaired by South Africa with support from the SADC Secretariat.

The objective of the meeting was to commence the work assigned to the SADC Satellite Expert Committee as per the SADC Ministers Responsible for ICT Decision 4 made during their meeting in September 2019 in Dar Es Salaam, United Republic of Tanzania:

Decision 4: SADC Shared Satellite System 3.4.9 (iv): Ministers directed the SADC Satellite Expert Committee to study the possibility for a satellite filing for additional use for SADC regional shaped-beam to be entered in the Lists of Appendices 30, 30A and 30B and propose which Member State should be the Administration for the said filing. Cost recovery fee satellite network filings should be taken into account

The representatives of all Member States that are members of the SADC Satellite Expert Committee were in attendance. These are Angola, Botswana, Kingdom of Eswatini, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, and SADC Secretariat.

The SADC Satellite Expert Committee made the following conclusions and recommendations:
(i). Member States acknowledged the enormity of the task ahead in operationalizing the SADC Shared Satellite framework;

(ii). Angola to be ITU Administration to represent the SADC Member States for the SADC Satellite Regional Shaped Beam filing. The SADC Satellite Expert Committee is to prepare a supporting brief for the Ministers’ Meeting for the same;

(iii). Angola to set up a Project Management Office (PMO) to support the Project;

(iv). SADC Secretariat and Angola to lead the process of developing a SADC Regional Shaped Beam in GIMS and to share the GIMS database file with the committee;

(v). Namibia to undertake a study on the specifications of receive and transmit user terminal specifications for FSS satellite system e.g. antenna diameter, gain, receive noise temperature for user terminals and prepare a report for the next SADC Satellite Expert Committee meeting;

(vi). Committee members to become familiar with the new ITU Resolution COM5/8 (WRC-19);

(vii). Zimbabwe to prepare a brief on the applicable cost recovery fees for SADC Shared Satellite Network filing for the next SADC Satellite Expert Committee meeting;

(viii). The next SADC Satellite Expert Committee meeting will be held one-day prior inaugural Steering Committee meeting of the Framework for the SADC Shared Satellite Programme which Angola offered to host;

(ix). Angola to advise the Chair of the SADC Satellite Expert Committee and the SADC Secretariat on the feedback from the Government of Angola by the 28^th February 2020; and

(x). Members were encouraged to participate in the upcoming ATU Meeting and capacity building initiatives organised by SADC and ITU on ITU BR Satellite Applications and SADC Satellite Expert Committee Members should be given priority.

The SADC Satellite Expert Task Team would be meeting tomorrow, January 26, 2021.
Draft SADC Satellite Expert Task Team Meeting Programme, January 26, 2021 (Time: UTC+2)