Personal Locator Beacons (PLBs) usage in CEPT

This table gives an overview of the PLB usage in the listed CEPT countries. It is updated by ECO when new information is received from CEPT administrations. Therefore ECO cannot be made responsible for any harm caused by use of this information. For the most up-to-date information on PLB, users are advised to directly contact relevant authorities within CEPT administrations.

Country	PLB allowed	Where	License required	Certificate required	The acceptance of a foreign license holder	Coding Protocol	Database	National Administration	Further information
Albania	Yes	All	Yes	Yes	Yes			AKEP
Austria	Yes	All	Yes	No	Yes	Serial User Protocol	National	Telecommunications Authority Republic Austria	Austria
Belgium	Yes	All	No	No	Yes	NA	IBRD	BIPT
Croatia	Yes	Not specified	Yes	No	Yes	SUP/SLP	MInistry of Sea, Transport and Infrastructure	Hakom	Croatia
Cyprus	Yes	All	No	No	Yes	Serial Number - Assigned by competent authority (JRCC Larnaca)	National	JRCC Larnaca	Cyprus
Czech Republic	Possession/ No usage	NA	NA	NA	Possession/ No usage	NA	NA	CTU	Czech Republic
Denmark	Possession/ No usage	NA	NA	NA	Possession/ No usage	NA	NA	Agency for Data Supply and Infrastructure	Denmark
Estonia	Yes	All	No	No	Yes		National	Estonian Technical Regulatory Authority	Estonia
Finland	Yes	All	Yes	No	Yes	SUP/NLP	National	Traficom	Finland
France	Yes	Maritime	Only in case MMSI	No			National	ANFR	France
Georgia	Yes	All	No	No	Yes			GNCC	Georgia
Germany	No	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA		Germany
Greece	Yes	Maritime	Yes	No	No	NA	NA	EETT
Iceland	Yes/No	Land	Yes	No	Yes	Under Review	National	PTA	Iceland
Ireland	Yes	National	No	No	Yes	SLP	National	COMREG	Ireland
Latvia	Yes	All	No	No	Yes	SLP	IBRD	MRCC, Electronic Communications Office of Latvia	Latvia
Lithuania	Yes	All	No	No	Yes	SUP/SLP	Lithuanian Transport Safety Administration Transport Competence Agency	Lithuanian Transport Safety Administration Transport Competence Agency
Malta	Yes	All	No	No	Yes	SLP	IBRD	MCA	The framework regulating the installation or use, including registration requirements for PLBs is currently established by the General Authorisations (Radiocommunications Apparatus) Regulations (S.L.399.40 of the Laws of Malta). Please refer, in particular, to the “Thirty-Third Schedule” in the following link: http://www.justiceservices.gov.mt/DownloadDocument.aspx?app=lom&itemid=11475&l=1 Amongst other things, these Regulations require that PLBs must be coded with the Maltese country code 256 (by using the Serial Standard Location Protocol). The coding of PLBs with the other country codes of Malta is not permitted.
Moldova	Yes	Maritime	Yes	Yes			National	ANRCETI
Montenegro	Yes	?	No	Not regulated yet				Ekip	Montenegro
The Netherlands	Yes	Maritime	Yes	Yes	Yes	SUP	National	Radiocommunications agency	The Netherlands
Norway	Yes	All	Yes	Yes	Yes	SUP/NLP/RLS	National	Norwegian Communications Authority	Norway
Poland	Yes	All	Yes	No	Yes		National	Uke
Portugal	Yes	Maritime	Yes	Yes	Yes	MMSI	National	DGRM	Portugal
Romania	Yes	Land	No	No	Yes		National	ANCOM	Romania
Slovak Republic	Pending	Pending	Yes	No	Pending	NA	NA	Telecommunications Office of the Slovak Republic
Spain	Yes	See info	No	No		MMSI	Yes	Yes	Spain
Sweden	Yes	All	No	No	Yes	SUP/SLP	IBRD	Sjofartsverket	Sweden
Switzerland	Yes	All	No, Self-Registration by user in IBRD	No	Yes	SLP/SUP	International Beacon Registration Database (IBRD) COSPAS-SARSAT	OFCOM	Switzerland
Türkiye	Yes	All	Under examination	Under examination	Yes	SUP/SLP	Undersecretary for Maritime Affairs /Main Search & Rescue Coordination Centre		Türkiye
The United Kingdom	Yes	Maritime	Yes	Yes	Yes	SUP/SLP	National	Ofcom	The United Kingdom

Definition of PLB:
Abbreviation PLB comes from the words PERSONAL LOCATOR BEACON. The equipment operates in the Cospas-Sarsat system using the same frequencies as EPIRBs onboard ships and ELTs onboard aircraft. PLB is, however, smaller in size and easier to carry. PLB equipment operates in the certain portion of the 406 MHz band, which is monitored by satellites. The majority of PLB equipment also transmit on the aeronautical distress frequency 121,5 MHz for homing purposes. The latest models are fitted with in-built satellite positioning receiver; which means that the PLB transmission already includes accurate position. This enables faster mobilization of search and rescue operations by authorities.

Please note:

Where a PLB is used within an administration in column 3 “where” indicate is this for use in land, sea or air.

Regarding the Licence column, if all is used for “where” is this an indication that a licence is required or only a national registration process.

Certificate applies to a radio operator’s certificate.

PLB must be programmed and either licenced or registered to the satisfaction of the national administration;
PLB is neither an EPIRB nor an ELT, because of its characteristics and mechanical structure.

For more information, please see the home page of Cospas-Sarsat

CEPT administrations are welcome to provide updates to Susanne Have ([email protected]).

Updated: 24 November 2023, 11:34