WRC-07 So Far

The end of the second week of the four-week 2007 World Radiocommunication Conference is drawing near, but – at least as far as the amateur services are concerned – the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) WRC-07 team reports there is not much in the way of firm conclusions. Here is a report prepared by IARU Secretary David Sumner, K1ZZ.

An unexpected highlight of the opening plenary was the announcement by Secretary-General Hamadoun Touré, at the end of his prepared remarks, that he had earned his amateur license. We seldom, if ever, have received such prominence during the opening ceremonies of a conference. Dr. Touré’s call sign is HB9EHT. He left for the Connect Africa Summit in Kigali immediately after the conference opening but is expected to be back in Geneva next week.

The amateur services have been quite visible at the conference in other ways:

* The special WRC-07 issue of ITU News includes an article under Larry Price’s byline setting out amateur radio’s aspirations for the conference.

* An amateur radio emergency communications trailer brought from Germany was on display during the first ten days of the conference, parked strategically on the walkway between the conference center and the adjacent ITU building. A full-color explanation of amateur radio’s emergency communications capabilities and an invitation to visit the trailer was distributed in the delegates’ pigeonholes by the ITU Radiocommunication Bureau, as well as some additional information about the amateur services, resulting in a steady stream of visitors.

* The IARU WRC-07 pin is a popular collectible and is being displayed on many lapels and lanyards around the conference center.

* The IARU hosted a very successful reception for 200 key delegates on the evening of 31 October in the ITU cafeteria.

* The International Amateur Radio Club (IARC) station, 4U1ITU, is operating under the special call sign 4U1WRC. The station is sporting new antennas that were erected especially for the conference; afterwards they have to be removed temporarily to make way for repairs to the roof of the building.

* The IARC has invited delegates to take part, on the last Sunday of the conference, in an excursion to the Swiss National Museum of Sound and Image in Montreux.

Progress on the agenda items of interest to the amateur services has been slow. The 4-10 MHz issue is bogged down, with opponents of HF broadcasting expansion holding fast to a position of “no change.” HF BC proponents are not nearly as numerous as in 2003 and are mainly in Europe; they have backed off from an initial position of 350 kHz of expansion down to 200 kHz, but there has not yet been any movement from the other side. In the meantime work on the other 4-10 MHz issues, including the possibility of a 5-MHz secondary amateur allocation (which so far is supported by the European BC proponents), cannot progress. Even if the HF BC allocation could be settled quickly, which seems unlikely at this point, time is running out to complete work on the rest of these issues. Meetings will continue over the weekend and well into next week.

Early this week it appeared that the issue of a 135.7-137.8 kHz secondary allocation to the amateur service had been settled favorably. However, it turned out that the concerns of some Arab administrations had not been fully satisfied and more work needed to be done. On Friday morning, 2 November the allocation was approved at the Working Group 4C level with two footnotes, one of which limits power to 1 watt e.i.r.p. and a second that allows countries in Region 1 to opt out of the allocation if they wish. Saudi Arabia repeated its opposition to the allocation and requested that this be noted in the Working Group’s report to Committee 4. The allocation still has to be approved by Committee 4 and the Plenary. The next meeting of Committee 4 is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon, 6 November.

The process of identifying possible frequency bands for future international mobile telecommunications (cell phones and beyond) is very contentious. One frequency range being examined is 2.3-2.4 GHz, which of course is of concern to us although there is no immediate cause for alarm.

Prior to every WRC we look for opportunities to clean up so-called “country footnotes” that allow individual administrations to depart from the regional or international allocations that are in the body of the Table of Frequency Allocations. It is gratifying that several countries have agreed to remove themselves from footnotes that apply to parts of 160 and 80 meters, 6 meters, and (in some European countries) parts of 70 cm.

With regard to agenda items for future WRCs, discussions will begin in earnest on Saturday, 3 November. Proposals have been offered for agenda items dealing with possible amateur allocations around 500 kHz, 5 MHz, and (in Region 1) 50 MHz; of course, 50 MHz is already allocated to the amateur service in Regions 2 and 3. There are more than 40 proposals for future agenda items, which is at least twice as many as are likely to be approved, so the fate of “our” future agenda items remains to be determined. The IARU team is following other proposed agenda items closely to determine (and minimize, to the extent we are able) their potential impact on the amateur services.

The initial core IARU team consisted of Larry Price, W4RA, Ken Pulfer, VE3PU, Reinaldo Leandro, YV5AMH, and Paul Rinaldo, W4RI. Hans Zimmermann, HB9AQS was here to help out with the German trailer. Dave Sumner, K1ZZ arrived on October 24 and Tim Ellam, VE6SH arrived on October 30. Some team members will be leaving before the end of the conference.

We also have considerable help from amateur representatives on other national delegations and from Tafa Diop, 6W1KI, who is here for the first half of the conference representing the African Telecommunications Union. National delegates, a few of whom are here part-time, include:

Jim Dean, VE3IQ (Canada)

Ole Garpestad, LA2RR (Norway)

Hans Blondeel Timmerman, PB2T (Netherlands)

Jay Oka, JA1TRC (Japan)

Peter Lake, ZL2AZ (New Zealand)

Keith Malcolm, VK1ZKM (Australia)

Colin Thomas, G3PSM (UK)

Walt Ireland, WB7CSL (USA)

Jonathan Siverling, WB3ERA (USA)

Joong-geun Rhee, HL1AQQ (Rep. of Korea)

Other members of national delegations both licensed and unlicensed, are being of considerable assistance; their support and cooperation is deeply appreciated.

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