Push for Mobile for Arab, African Countries Starts at WRC-12

Arab countries want to extend the mobile service to 694 to 790 MHz for ITU Region 1, which includes Europe, a regional proposal said. Studies were done under an associated agenda item, it said. The trend toward allocating mobile on a primary basis in the band 694 to 790 MHz is “emerging at [the] global level,” it said, referring to IMT-Advanced. Much mobile equipment is designed for operation in the band 694-790 MHz, it said.

Nigeria wants Europe and Africa to allocate 698 to 790 MHz in line with the Americas, a proposal said. Spectrum is sought “for now” for IMT as far below 790 MHz as possible, a Nigerian official told us.

France, on behalf of countries in the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations, told the conference the proposals should be addressed at WRC-15.

The bands in Europe are fully filled with broadcast, a European official told us. A mobile allocation would need to meet compatibility criteria before it’s useable, and nothing has been done, he said. Europe has cleared the upper part of the band, but it has been difficult planning to get it into the lower part and administrations aren’t ready to evacuate further the lower part of the band, he said.

"It’s simply too early” to allocate to mobile, the European official said. Other major regions are against the move, the official said, referring to the Asia-Pacific region and the bloc of mostly former Soviet countries in the Regional Commonwealth in the Field of Communications. Mobile is the primary issue for WRC-15, the European official said. IMT is a family of standards, but is not technology neutral, he said.

Whether the proposals are within the remit of the WRC-12 agenda item is a “legitimate subject of discussion,” said Decker Anstrom, head of the U.S. delegation to the conference. “There is ample precedent [in] other conferences dealing with issues of the day,” he said at a press conference. The interest of African and Arab countries “of moving more quickly” than the process focused on WRC-15 “is an aspiration that the U.S. would be quite sympathetic to,” Anstrom said. “It would enhance global harmonization” because there are a number of mobile allocations below 790 MHz already, he said.

The United Arab Emirates said proposals for the WRC-15 agenda are about “future requirements.” The proposal addresses “existing requirements.” The proposed extension addresses “urgent, existing requirements” for spectrum, UAE said. Time ran out before there was a thorough floor discussion. Future talks on the matter will be “lively,” one official said.

Global harmonization contributes directly to the economies of scale and scope, lowering costs and boosting access for mobile services, Anstrom said. “We have regions of the world who are ready to go who do not have the incumbent terrestrial broadcast infrastructure to deal with,” he said. “We are hopeful this issue will be worked out in constructive and positive way,” he said. The proposals have “big implications” internationally for accelerating development of mobile broadband, but don’t directly affect the Americas region, he said. Responding to a reporter’s question about what identification to IMT-Advanced is needed, Anstrom said that would be one of the discussions taking place. The U.S. proposal for a WRC-15 agenda item doesn’t include the objective of identifying it for the standardized technology.

"We appeal to this conference and to all other regions to cooperate with us,” the UAE said, “and to collaborate with our … urgent requirement” for spectrum. Completing work on the existing WRC-12 agenda is the “minimum” expected, “not the maximum,” UAE said.

The U.S. “priority objective” for WRC-12 is to set the framework for “important debate” in the run-up to the 2015 conference on “how the world will allocate more spectrum for mobile broadband services,” Anstrom said. “This is a pressing need in the United States” and demand for other administrations around the world, he said. The aim is to have studies over the next four years “look at all possible options and that no bands are excluded,” he said. Global harmonization is also an objective to drive down costs and spur accessibility, an official said.

Careful studies of the technical environment will be needed to develop innovative spectrum sharing arrangements, said Lawrence Strickling, administrator of the NTIA. There are “two important conditions for success” in the search for bands appropriate for mobile broadband, he said. Bands under consideration should not be limited before studies begin, he said. All stakeholders need to be at the table to make “informed and credible” decisions at WRC-15, Strickling said.

Some regions and administrations have suggested a number of bands but suggested certain bands not be studied, Anstrom said. The Russian Federation only wants to examine bands below 3 GHz, he said. Others have suggested that C-band frequencies not be considered, he said.