The World Meteorological Organization (WMO), together with the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO are organizing the first meeting of the International Forum of Users of Satellite Data Telecommunication Systems (Satcom) in Madrid at IFEMA, Feria de Madrid, Spain from 27 to 29 September 2016. This meeting will be held in conjunction with the 2016 WMO Technical Conference on Meteorological and Environmental Instruments and Methods of Observation (TECO-2016), also planned in Madrid at the same venue during the same period. Both events are held at the kind invitation of Agencia Estatal de Meteorologia (AEMET), and will take place in conjunction with the Meteorological Technology World Expo 2016 (27-29 September 2016), which is being independently organized by UKIP Media and Events Ltd, and with the second International Workshop on Metrology for Meteorology and Climate (MMC-2016, 26-27 September 2016). The Satcom Forum was established by the Seventeenth World Meteorological Congress (Geneva, Switzerland, 25 May – 12 June 2015) through Resolution 31 (Cg-17), which approved CBS Recommendation 9 (CBS-Ext.(2014)). The Terms of Reference of the Satcom Forum are provided in the Annex. The Satcom Forum is an entirely self-funded body jointly sponsored by the WMO and the IOC of UNESCO, covering a wide user basis, which purpose is to address remote data communication requirements for automatic environment observing systems coordinated through both Organizations. The main goals are (i) to ensure proper coordination amongst the users of satellite data telecommunication systems and to represent their collective interests in working with the satellite telecommunication service providers in order to advance the awareness and understanding of user requirements; (ii) to advance the awareness and understanding of available and planned capabilities; (iii) to facilitate adoption of interoperability and quality standards and principles; and (iv) to provide guidance to best meet user needs of each considered application. The forum is expected to allow the reduction of satellite data telecommunication costs for the transmission of observations from observational platforms to data processing centres on land, and to better address user requirements for high temporal and vertical resolution data, and improved timelines.