Japan: MIC Seeks Comments on Globalstar C-3 Satellite Radio Standards

On August 6, 2026, Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) opened a public consultation on a draft directive amending the Radio Act Examination Standards (電波法関係審査基準, MIC Directive No. 67 of 2001) to add Globalstar's third-generation C-3 mobile satellite system. The comment window runs from August 7 to September 10, 2026, with submissions due by arrival, and MIC states it will finalize the amending directive promptly once the window closes.

The amendment creates the certification basis for C-3 mobile satellite system (MSS) terminals, including hybrid handsets that combine satellite and cellular radios in one housing, to be type-approved and placed on the Japanese market. Globalstar already operates satellite phone, positioning and hybrid terminal services in Japan; the C-3 system is the planned successor constellation, and the examination standards must be updated before any C-3 terminal can pass Technical Regulations Conformity Certification (Giteki) under the Radio Act (Act No. 131 of 1950).

Who has to act on the draft examination standards?

Device makers preparing Globalstar C-3 terminals for Japan, their Japanese notification agents or marketing-authorization entities, and the Registered Certification Bodies (RCBs) such as TELEC and JARD that will run the conformity tests. The draft amends MIC Directive No. 67 of 2001, the rulebook RCBs apply when certifying Specified Radio Equipment under the Radio Act. Until the directive is amended, no C-3 terminal has a valid examination basis, so a Giteki certificate cannot be issued for it and the terminal cannot lawfully be placed on the Japanese market.

Hybrid satellite-cellular handsets are explicitly in scope: the release frames the amendment as enabling the same category of combined terminals already sold under the current Globalstar system, now adapted to the C-3 radio architecture. Vendors with a dual-mode handset on the roadmap should treat the draft as the gating instrument for Japan market access, not as a routine technical refresh.

The amendment concerns the device-certification track, not Globalstar's separate earth-station and satellite frequency authorizations. Service partners integrating C-3 connectivity into consumer or enterprise offers should confirm the certification timeline against their own launch plan, because the examination standards gate terminal availability even where the network-side authorization is already in place.

What is the comment window, and what follows it?

Comments can be filed through the e-Gov public-comment portal or by post to the Land and Satellite Mobile Communications Division (基幹・衛星移動通信課), with the comment-procedures document setting the required format. The release fixes no entry-into-force date; timing is driven by Globalstar's C-3 service rollout plan for Japan, and MIC has committed to amending the directive quickly after reviewing submissions.

What should compliance teams do during the window?

Download the draft directive with its new-old comparison table, map the proposed technical conditions against any C-3 terminal already in your certification pipeline, and file comments on any parameter that would force a hardware redesign or push the certification window. Procedural questions go to the satellite-business section of the division at 03-5253-5901 during the comment period.

Continuous, per-jurisdiction real-time monitoring surfaces this kind of examination-standards change the moment a regulator publishes it, before the comment window even opens.

Take advantage of this real-time watch

What to do next

Confirm whether your terminal roadmap touches the Globalstar C-3 bands, calendar the September 10 deadline for any comment submission, and brief your certification lead and RCB so the amendment lands in their test plan rather than as a surprise at first filing. The same review should cover hybrid satellite-cellular handsets, which the amendment explicitly brings within the C-3 examination scope.