IARU gears up for the WRC-15

Delegations are heading to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) World Radiocommunications Conference, and there will be a strong team from the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU). The ITU conference is in Geneva, Switzerland on November 2 to 27. In a book the ITU describes WRC-15 as a new landmark for the radiocommunication world and the use of satellites.

The ITU has acknowledged the close cooperation it has with the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) - founded in Paris 1925, and the recognised spokesman for the Amateur Radio community. Delegates will consider several items of interest to the Amateur Service and the Amateur Satellite Service.

The WRC-15 agenda includes Item 1.4, which has the possibility of allocating an appropriate amount of spectrum to the Amateur Service on a secondary basis within the band 5250-5450 kHz. The IARU describes the potential new band as being “a high priority for the amateur service”, but is not over-confident of getting the new secondary allocation, as there is some opposition. The IARU-team has 18 members and includes Dale Hughes VK1DSH, partly funded by the WIA and IARU. About 10 of them are with their WRC-15 country-based delegation.

As co-lead are the IARU President Tim Ellam VE6SH and Vice-President Ole Garpestad LA2RR. Tim VE6SH said there had been enormous preparation by the IARU, and its member societies, which includes being active at numerous preparatory meetings held throughout the world. He said the IARU team will make their best effort for a possible allocation to Amateur Service near 5 MHz, and watch other developments that may impinge on the Amateur Service and Amateur Satellite Service.

On the 5 MHz band proposal, before the WRC-15 several major countries, including Canada, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States of America, view a wide allocation as too generous. Tim VE6SH said there had been enormous preparation by the IARU, and its member societies, which includes being active at numerous preparatory meetings held throughout the world.

The IARU will host a function on November 10 with all at the WRC-15 being invited to attend. It will also have an emergency communications display trailer on November 8-14, with IARU International Coordinator for Emergency Communications, Hans Zimmermann HB9AQS. The trailer-mounted display will have equipment showing the voice, text and image mode capabilities for emergency communications, plus a mobile antenna.

Specialist German club 'Notfunk Deutschland' (Emergency Radio Germany), in agreement with the IARU Member Society, Deutscher Amateur Radio Club (DARC), will have posters and other material provided by it and several IARU member societies. Hans HB9AQS, with help of the three IARU regional emergency communication coordinators, has produced a single page in various languages as a hand-out at the display.

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