October 23, 2023 Results of Solicitation for Opinions on Draft Ministerial Ordinance, etc., to Partially Amend Regulations for Enforcement of the Radio Act, and Report from the Radio Regulatory Council

The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) solicited opinions from Friday, September 15 through Monday, October 16, 2023, on a draft ministerial ordinance and pertinent conditions to partially amend the Regulations for Enforcement of the Radio Act, etc., for institutional development adding frequencies for satellite emergency position indicating radio beacons, etc. As a result, two opinions were submitted, and MIC decided to open the opinions to the public, along with MIC’s views on them. MIC sent an inquiry today on the draft ministerial ordinance, etc., reflecting the results of the solicitation for opinions to the Radio Regulatory Council (chaired by SASASE Iwao, Professor Emeritus at Keio University), and received a report to the effect that it is appropriate to adopt the draft as originally proposed.

1. Background

Satellite Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons (EPIRBs) and Emergency Locator Transmitters (ELTs) for aircraft are beacon systems that perform distress communication via the Cospas-Sarsat satellites in emergencies.
Due to the resolution of the 471st Maritime Safety Committee (MSC. 471 (101)) of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), new frequencies for second-generation beacons have been added to this system. To enable the use of these frequencies for distress communications in Japan, the drafts of the Ministerial Ordinance Partially Amending the Regulations for Enforcement of the Radio Act, etc., were prepared.
With regard to the drafts of the Ministerial Ordinance Partially Amending the Regulations for Enforcement of the Radio Act, etc., pertaining to the above matters, solicitation for opinions was conducted from Friday, September 15, through Monday, October 16, 2023.

2. Results of solicitation for opinions

The opinions submitted, and the MIC’s views on them are shown in the attachment.

3. Report from Radio Regulatory Council

Based on the results of the solicitation for opinions, MIC sent an inquiry to the Radio Regulatory Council today on the draft of the Ministerial Ordinance Partially Amending the Regulations for Enforcement of the Radio Act, etc., and received a report to the effect that the draft is appropriate.

4. Future plans

Based on the results of the solicitation for opinions and the report from the Radio Regulatory Council, MIC will promptly make institutional development.

*The published material is in Japanese only.