WRC Seen Unlikely to Consider Three Bands for IMT

Discussions are only beginning on which frequencies to tag for IMT (International Mobile Telecommunications) and preventing interference by satellites with terrestrial systems, Richard Russell, U.S. Ambassador to the WRC, said Thursday. These and other issues will be handled next week. The toughest parts will come up the third week of the conference, which starts November 5.

Some bands for IMT likely will be taken off the table next week, Russell said. Consensus has emerged to pull 410 to 430 MHz, 2,700 to 2,900 MHz and 4,400 to 4,990 MHz off the table for possible identification for IMT, officials said. “There is very little support for those bands being identified for IMT,” Russell said.

But talks over C-band will run long, Russell said. “There is a significant difference of opinion over whether to identify C-band” for IMT, he said. The European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT) wants to designate C-band for IMT, Russell said. CEPT includes 48 countries. C-band is critical for the military, said John Grimes, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Networks and Information Integration.

The Chinese back identifying the 700 MHz band for IMT, Russell said. There is near unanimity that the bands should be identified for IMT, Russell said. “The only question is when do people want to use it for IMT,” he said. The frequencies can be identified now, with countries making the transition at their own paces, Russell said.

U.S. and the Gulf Cooperation Council officials are in harmony over 700 MHz for IMT and protecting C-band satellite frequencies (3.4 to 4.2 GHz), Russell said. Work to identify possible global harmonized fixed-satellite service frequency bands for Internet applications will be disposed of, Russell said. “There was no international support for having new, specific dedicated spectrum for satellite broadcast,” he said. An allocation for 1.4 GHz feeder links for Little LEO will be deleted. Sharing criteria and regulatory provisions for protection of terrestrial services, in particular TV broadcast between 620 to 790 MHz, was resolved, an official said. “There will be a suppression of the broadcast satellite service allocation and recognition of the existing satellites that are operating in the band,” he said. Few nations have a problem with disposal of this work, Russell said.

Department of Defense and NATO bands will be protected, Russell said, calling DoD “the biggest user of government spectrum.” The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration also are big spectrum users, Russell said. The military is pressing hard to protect HF bands from international shortwave broadcasters, who want it. The U.S. doesn’t want new allocations between 4 and 10 MHz, Russell said. The U.S. position has a lot of international support, but it’s not universal, Russell said.

The International Amateur Radio Union also is looking for new frequencies in the HF band, a WRC participant said. International amateurs want a secondary allocation of about 150 to 200 kHz for the amateur service at around 5,250 MHz. Countries can allocate in contravention to the radio regulations if they don’t cause interference with other countries, the participant said. The U.S. has given five spot frequencies to ham radios in that range on a non- interference basis. About a dozen European countries have followed suit, the participant said.

Allocations and regulatory issues for Earth exploration passive satellite service, space research and meteorological services may be wrapped up by the end of next week, Russell said. The U.S. proposal looks at it band by band to protect the passive, and at the same time protect active services and consider future systems, he said. The U.S. doesn’t want to impede development of active services in the bands if they don’t harm the passive services, Russell said. “We are identifying specific limits we think will work to protect passive services, but we're making them non-mandatory so that as new technologies are developed, they can actually be implemented as long as they're not harmful to the passive services,” he said.

Protection of earth exploration satellite service from unwanted emissions from active services will take more time, Russell said. New frequencies for aeronautical tele-command and high bit-rate aeronautical telemetry probably will take until Nov. 11, he said. Work on more allocations for aeronautical mobile between 108 MHz and 6 GHz, and studies of existing satellite frequency allocations in support of the modernization of civil aviation telecom systems, also will take the full three weeks, he said. Determining work for future WRCs will take three weeks, Russell said.

WRC Chairman Francois Rancy of France wants to speed the way issues are decided at this year’s WRC, Russell told reporters Thursday. “Historically a lot of WRC work has been done during the last week, which tends to lead to a lot of late nights,” he said. Rancy has set out a “very aggressive schedule” pushing committees to finish their work before the final week, Russell said.

To get everything to the plenary session by the final week, issues have gone into three baskets, Russell said. Easy issues will pass through committee the first week. Issues taking “a fair amount of debate” must be finished the second week. Issues requiring “the most debate” must be finished by the committee by the end of the third week. The C-band satellite vs. IMT debate is an example of an issue in the third-week basket. Carving out a separate slice of spectrum for satellite broadband, something with no support, is an easy issue because it will be rejected, he said. Agenda item 1.2 -- allocations and regulatory issues related to the Earth exploration, space research and meteorological satellite service -- is an example of a second week issue, he said.