Ancillary Terrestrial Component (ATC) is a U.S.

Federal Communications Commission The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdiction ...

-approvedAncillary Terrestrial Component (ATC)
/ref> technique for using a "terrestrial" network of cell-phone towers to supplement a

Mobile Satellite Service Mobile may refer to: Places * Mobile, Alabama, a U.S. port city * Mobile County, Alabama * Mobile, Arizona, a small town near Phoenix, U.S. * Mobile, Newfoundland and Labrador Arts, entertainment, and media Music Groups and labels * Mobile (b ...

(MSS) provided by orbiting

communications satellites A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radio telecommunication signals via a Transponder (satellite communications), transponder; it creates a communication channel between a source transmitter and a Radi ...

. Satellite communications can be degraded by various factors, including attenuation in urban areas due to buildings etc. ATC allows the operators to reuse the same satellite spectrum in a terrestrial network to increase coverage and performance for their customers in highly shadowed regions e.g. within houses. In Europe ATC is known as complementary ground component (CGC).

Notes

{{Reflist Federal Communications Commission