Harmful Interference to RNSS

Harmful Interference to Radio Navigation Satellite Service

(RNSS)

99th RRB Meeting

The Board considered in detail the Report of the Director of the Radiocommunication Bureau, as contained in Document RRB25-2/4 and its Corrigendum 1 and Addenda 1, 2, 3 and 4 and thanked the Bureau for the extensive and detailed information provided.

a) The Board noted all action items under § 1 of Document RRB25-2/4 arising from the decisions of the 98th Board meeting.

The Board considered the draft version of the dedicated webpage developed by the Bureau for the publication, for the ITU membership and the general public, of relevant information and associated RRB decisions [on cases of harmful interference affecting the RNSS. The Board proposed further improvements and requested the Bureau to publish the revised version on its webpage.

On the bilateral meetings between the Administrations of Israel, on the one hand, and the Administrations of Jordan and Egypt, on the other, to address the cases of harmful interference to the RNSS, the Board thanked the Bureau for havingconvened such meetings on 10 July 2025 and noted Document RRB25-2/DELAYED/6 from the Administration of Israel for information. The Board further noted with satisfaction that all three administrations had expressed willingness to cooperate for the successful resolution of the issue and decided:

to encourage all three administrations to pursue such cooperation in goodwill to resolve all cases of harmful interference to the RNSS, in compliance with the ITU Constitution and the Radio Regulations, and to prevent their re-occurrence;

to urge the Administration of Israel to take all necessary actions to immediately cease harmful interference that adversely impacted safety services and to report on these actions to the 100th Board meeting.

The Board instructed the Bureau to continue to support the efforts of all three administrations, as necessary, to resolve the cases of harmful interference.

On the other cases of harmful interference to RNSS receivers, the Board noted with great concern their persistence despite the 17th March 2025 joint statement from the secretaries general of ITU, IMO and ICAO calling for all parties to protect RNSS transmissions and reiterated to the Administrations concerned their obligation to cooperate urgently in the resolution of the cases, in compliance with the ITU Constitution and the Radio Regulations. The Board also urged Administrations to prevent any type of transmission that could adversely affect RNSS receivers from other Administrations.

The Board considered in detail Document RRB25-2/19, in which from the Administrations of Estonia, Finland, Latvia and Lithuania reported on harmful interference to receivers in the radionavigation-satellite service (RNSS) and mobile service (MS). The Board also noted Document RRB25-2/DELAYED/1 from the Administration of the Russian Federation for information. The Board noted the following:

cases of harmful interference to RNSS receivers affecting safety of life services, civil aviation and maritime services had persisted and expanded to affect larger territories;

the administrations of Finland and Lithuania had reported new cases of harmful interference affecting IMT stations;

some administrations had not received any response to the interference reports from the Administration of the Russian Federation while others had only received acknowledgements of receipt under RR No. 15.35 without any further action taken;

Harmful interference was deliberately caused to RNSS receivers in the region by the Russian Federation as a means to protect its infrastructure.

The Board expressed its grave concern with how the situation was evolving and emphasized that a military conflict between two nations could not justify the non-respect by those nations of their obligations under the ITU instruments with respect to other nations and putting at risk the critical infrastructures and lives of these other nations not party to the conflict.

The Board strongly urged the Administration of the Russian Federation to:

comply with all the relevant provisions of Articles 45 and 47 of the ITU Constitution, RR Nos. 4.10, 15.1, 15.28 and 15.37, and resolvesto urge administrations of Resolution 676 (WRC-23), in particular when harmful interference adversely affected safety services;

to take the necessary actions to respond to communications from administrations reporting harmful interference to RNSS and to immediately cease this harmful interference that originated from its territory;

investigate the cases of interference to IMT stations reported by the Administrations of Finland and Lithuania, and to take appropriate actions, in coordination with those administrations, to resolve them.

The Board reiterated the decision made at its 98th meeting and instructed the Bureau to:

urge the Administration of the Russian Federation to take all possible actions to immediately cease any source of harmful interference to safety services in the RNSS;

support the efforts of the administrations concerned to resolve the case of harmful interference, in particular by convening bilateral or multilateral meetings between the Administration of the Russian Federation, on the one hand, and the Administrations of Estonia, Finland, Latvia and Lithuania, on the other, to resolve the cases of harmful interference to the RNSS reported by administrations and prevent their reoccurrence;

report on progress in the matter to the 100th Board meeting.

98th RRB Meeting

The Board carefully considered Addendum 3 to Document RRB25-1/8(Rev.1) and thanked the Bureau for the updated report on persistent cases of harmful interference affecting receivers in the radionavigation-satellite service (RNSS) in the regions of the Middle East, Baltic Sea and the Korean Peninsula. The Board considered with appreciation the Bureau’s proposed recommendations and decided to endorse those recommendations, as per the following:

In view of the persistence of the harmful interference cases and in accordance with RR No. 13.2, the Board:

continued to note with grave concern the increasing number of cases of harmful interference affecting safety services, civil aviation and maritime services;

reiterated to the Administrations concerned the need to cooperate urgently in the resolution of the cases and the prevention of their reoccurrence in compliance with the ITU Constitution and Radio Regulations;

instructed the Bureau to create a dedicated webpage where relevant information of cases of harmful interference affecting the RNSS, associated RRB decisions, applicable provisions of the ITU Constitution and Radio Regulations, recommendations and other relevant information could be provided to the ITU membership and the general public in order to raise awareness of the situation.

The attention of the administrations concerned should be drawn again to their obligations outlined in § 6 of Document RRB24-3/23.

The Board considered in detail Document RRB25-1/4 from the Administration of Jordan, Document RRB25-1/9 from the Administration of Israel and Document RRB25-1/16 from the Administration of Egypt regarding harmful interference to receivers in the radionavigation-satellite service (RNSS). The Board also noted Document RRB25-1/DELAYED/1 from the Administration of Jordan for information. The Board thanked the Administrations of Jordan and Egypt for reporting cases of harmful interference to RNSS receivers. The Board noted that:

The Administration of Israel had not identified any source of interference within its territory matching the descriptions provided in the complaints.

Harmful interference continued to be experienced in the Middle East threatening the safety of life on board flights and ships.

The need to comply with Articles 45 and 47 of the ITU Constitution and Resolution 676 (WRC-23), on prevention and mitigation of harmful interference to the radionavigation-satellite service in the frequency bands 1 164–1 215 MHz and 1 559–1 610 MHz, and the relevance of Circular Letter CR/488, on prevention of harmful interference to radionavigation-satellite service receivers in the 1 559–1 610 MHz frequency band.

The Board instructed the Bureau to:

urge the Administration of Israel to take all necessary actions to immediately cease harmful interference that adversely impacted on safety services and report to the 99th Board meeting, and strongly urge the Administrations of Israel, Jordan and Egypt to cooperate in goodwill in promptly resolving all cases of harmful interference;

convene bilateral or multilateral meetings with the Administrations of Israel, Jordan and Egypt.

Furthermore, the Board urged the administrations concerned to comply with all the relevant provisions of Articles 45 and 47 of the ITU Constitution, RR Nos. 4.10, 15.1, 15.28 and 15.37 and the resolves of Resolution 676 (WRC-23), in particular when harmful interference adversely affected safety services.

The Board considered in detail Document RRB25-1/12 from the Administrations of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, and Document RRB25-1/17 from co-signed administrations regarding harmful interference to receivers in the radionavigation-satellite service (RNSS). The Board concluded as follows:

The Board continued to note with grave concern the increasing number of cases of harmful interference affecting safety services, civil aviation and maritime services.

The Board stressed the need to comply with RR No. 4.10 whenever harmful interference degraded systems of safety services in the RNSS.

As measurements had geolocated the source of the harmful interference within the territory of the Russian Federation, the Board urged the Administration of the Russian Federation to take timely actions and provide timely responses whenever receiving a communication that one of their stations was causing harmful interference to a safety service, in compliance with RR No. 15.37.

Noting that harmful interference signals with the characteristics of unnecessary transmissions, or the transmission of superfluous signals (commonly referred to as jamming) or the transmission of false or misleading signals (commonly referred to as spoofing) continued to be reported, the Board reiterated its grave concern that such transmissions were in direct contravention of RR No. 15.1.

The Board instructed the Bureau to:

urge the Administration of the Russian Federation to take all necessary actions to immediately cease harmful interference that adversely impacted on safety services and report to the 99th Board meeting;

continue reporting on progress on the matter to future Board meetings.

The Board strongly urged all administrations concerned to:

comply with all the relevant provisions of Articles 45 and 47 of the ITU Constitution, RR Nos. 4.10, 15.1, 15.28 and 15.37 and the resolves of Resolution 676 (WRC-23), in particular when harmful interference adversely affected safety services.

to cooperate in goodwill to solve the cases of harmful interference affecting safety services as promptly as possible.

97th RRB Meeting

Issues regarding harmful interference to receivers in the radionavigation-satellite service

The Board carefully considered Addendum 4 to Document RRB24-3/4 and thanked the Bureau for the report on numerous cases of harmful interference affecting receivers in the radionavigation-satellite service (RNSS). The Board considered with appreciation the Bureau’s proposed recommendations and decided to endorse those recommendations with modifications, as per the following:

The attention of the administrations concerned should be drawn to their obligations to:

acknowledge receipt of the Bureau’s communications under No. 15.35 of the Radio Regulations;

cooperate in the resolution of the case(s) in accordance with, but not limited to, the following provisions:

Article 45 of the ITU Constitution: “All stations, whatever their purpose, must be established and operated in such a manner as not to cause harmful interference to the radio services or communications of other Member States.”

Article 47 of the ITU Constitution: “Member States agree to take the steps required to prevent the transmission or circulation of false or deceptive distress, urgency, safety or identification signals, and to collaborate in locating and identifying stations under their jurisdiction transmitting such signals.”

No. 4.10 of the Radio Regulations: “Member States recognize that the safety aspects of radionavigation and other safety services require special measures to ensure their freedom from harmful interference; it is necessary therefore to take this factor into account in the assignment and use of frequencies.”

No. 15.1 of the Radio Regulations: “All stations are forbidden to carry out unnecessary transmissions, or the transmission of superfluous signals, or the transmission of false or misleading signals, or the transmission of signals without identification.”

No. 15.28 of the Radio Regulations: “Recognizing that transmissions on distress and safety frequencies and frequencies used for the safety and regularity of flight (see Article 31 and Appendix 27) require absolute international protection and that the elimination of harmful interference to such transmissions is imperative, administrations undertake to act immediately when their attention is drawn to any such harmful interference.”

No. 15.37 of the Radio Regulations: “An administration receiving a communication to the effect that one of its stations is causing harmful interference to a safety service shall promptly investigate the matter and take any necessary remedial action and respond in a timely manner.”

Resolution 676 (WRC-23) on “Prevention and mitigation of harmful interference to the radionavigation-satellite service in the frequency bands 1 164 – 1 215 MHz and 1 559 – 1 610 MHz”; in particular, resolves 2 of Resolution 676 (WRC-23) should be understood in the context of the provisions of Articles 45, 47 and 48 of the ITU Constitution, and Article 15 of the Radio Regulations.

The Board furthermore indicated that:

when considering cases of harmful interference to systems in the RNSS, administrations were encouraged to implement the recommendations given in Circular Letter CR/488: “Prevention of harmful interference to radionavigation-satellite service receivers in the 1 559 – 1 610 MHz frequency band”;

administrations were urged to continue reporting cases of harmful interference affecting the RNSS to the Bureau, thus enabling the assessment of situations and subsequent actions and progress.

The Board considered in detail Addendum 4 to Document RRB24-3/4 and the submission from the Administration of Jordan, contained in Document RRB24-3/17, and also noted Document RRB24-3/DELAYED/8 from the Administration of Israel for information. The Board thanked the Administration of Jordan for reporting cases of harmful interference in the band 1 559–1 610 MHz to RNSS receivers originating from sources west of its borders and also thanked the Bureau for treating the cases of harmful interference and providing assistance to administrations reporting on the current status. The Board concluded as follows:

While it expressed its appreciation for the response from the Administration of Israel indicating its willingness to cooperate and investigate any sources of harmful interference present under its jurisdiction, the Board also expressed concern over administrations’ tardy acknowledgment of receipt of information reporting harmful interference present from stations under their jurisdiction; in compliance with RR No. 15.35, such acknowledgements should be provided by the quickest means available.

The Board noted that systems in the RNSS included radionavigation systems used by civil aviation, and that the reported harmful interference degraded those systems, but also telecommunication networks requiring precise time synchronization and other radio stations used for humanitarian assistance in the field, thus degrading safety services. The Board stressed the need to comply with RR No. 4.10 in such situations.

The Board further reminded administrations that, in compliance with RR No. 15.37, when a communication was received that one of their stations was causing harmful interference to a safety service, prompt investigation of the matter was required and that any necessary remedial action needed to be taken and a response provided in a timely manner.

Noting that harmful interference signals had been reported with the characteristics of unnecessary transmissions, or the transmission of superfluous signals (commonly referred to as jamming) or the transmission of false or misleading signals (commonly referred to as spoofing), the Board expressed grave concern that such transmissions were in direct contravention of RR No. 15.1.

The Board also highlighted the need to comply with Articles 45 and 47 of the ITU Constitution and Resolution 676 (WRC-23) on the “Prevention and mitigation of harmful interference to the radionavigation-satellite service in the frequency bands 1 164–1 215 MHz and 1 559 – 1 610 MHz”, and the relevance of Circular Letter CR/488, “Prevention of harmful interference to radionavigation-satellite service receivers in the 1 559 – 1 610 MHz frequency band”.

The Board instructed the Bureau to invite the Administration of Israel to take all necessary actions to immediately cease harmful interference that adversely impacted on safety services and strongly urged the Administrations of Israel and Jordan to cooperate in goodwill in promptly resolving all cases of harmful interference. Furthermore, the Board urged the administrations concerned to comply with all the relevant provisions of Articles 45 and 47 of the ITU Constitution, RR Nos. 4.10, 15.1, 15.28, 15.37 and the resolves of Resolution 676 (WRC-23), in particular when harmful interference adversely affected safety services.

With reference to the request from the Administration of Jordan regarding the application of resolves to instruct the Radio Regulations Board 2 of Resolution 119 (Rev. Bucharest, 2022), the Board decided that its application was premature seeing that further actions would be taken by the administrations concerned.

The Board further considered Addendum 4 to Document RRB24-3/4, reporting on submissions from other administrations not covered in agenda item 6.1 regarding harmful interference affecting receivers in the RNSS, and also noted Documents RRB24-3/DELAYED/9 and RRB24-3/DELAYED/10 for information. The Board thanked the Bureau for treating the cases of harmful interference, aiding administrations, acting in a diligent manner and reporting on other cases of harmful interference to receivers in the RNSS received in 2024. In response:

The Board noted with grave concern the increasing number of cases of harmful interference affecting safety services, civil aviation and maritime services, telecommunication networks requiring precise time synchronization and other radio stations used for humanitarian assistance in the field.

The Board expressed considerable concern at the late acknowledgements of receipt of information reporting harmful interference present from stations under their jurisdictions; in compliance with RR No. 15.35, such acknowledgements should be provided by the quickest means available.

The Board stressed the need to comply with RR No. 4.10 whenever harmful interference degraded systems of safety services in the RNSS.

Furthermore, the Board reminded administrations of the need for timely actions and responses whenever receiving a communication that one of their stations was causing harmful interference to a safety service, in compliance with RR No. 15.37.

The Board expressed grave concern about the reported unnecessary transmissions, transmissions of superfluous signals (jamming) and transmissions of false or misleading signals (spoofing), which were in direct contravention of RR No. 15.1.

The Board recognized the Bureau’s practice in the application of RR Article 15 when treating cases of harmful interference and instructed the Bureau to prepare a preliminary draft rule of procedure formalizing that practice for the Board’s consideration at its 98th meeting.

The Board urged all administrations concerned to:

comply with all the relevant provisions of Articles 45 and 47 of the ITU Constitution, RR Nos. 4.10, 15.1, 15.28, 15.37 and the resolves of Resolution 676 (WRC-23), in particular when harmful interference adversely affected safety services;

to cooperate in goodwill to solve the cases of harmful interference affecting safety services as promptly as possible.