Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, 1 November 2019

Week 1 of the 2019 World Radiocommunication Conference saw agreement reached on several issues on which discussions prior to the conference had revealed consensus. Those were the easy ones; the rest will be more difficult.

The early decisions here in Sharm El-Sheikh were only possible because of countless hours of work conducted within the ITU Radiocommunication Sector and the six regional telecommunications organizations (RTOs) since the previous WRC in 2015. Three of these decisions were on issues of interest to the IARU.

The band 47.0−47.2 GHz was allocated solely to the amateur and amateur-satellite services by the 1979 World Administrative Radio Conference. Commercial wireless broadband interests had expressed some interest in the band being designated for International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT) and there was some concern that such a proposal might be made at WRC-19. The fact that none was forthcoming was due in part to the work of the IARU at the Conference Preparatory Meeting earlier this year and in the RTOs. The WRC has agreed to “no change” (NOC) at 47.0−47.2 GHz.
Another NOC decision that avoided impact on the amateur service applies to the band 5850 – 5925 MHz, which is an amateur secondary allocation in Region 2. Consideration of proposals involving other parts of spectrum in the 5‑GHz range will take much longer.

Finally, the WRC has agreed to make no frequency allocations or other changes to the Radio Regulations to accommodate Wireless Power Transmission for electric vehicles (WPT-EV). Much more work remains to be done on an urgent basis in the ITU and other standards organizations if radiocommunication services are to be adequately protected from harmful interference that may be generated by WPT-EV, both at the fundamental frequency and from unwanted emissions.

Consideration of a 50 MHz allocation in Region 1 to harmonize the allocations in the three Regions was the subject of spirited debate in a Sub Working Group chaired by Dale Hughes, VK1DSH, of the Australian delegation. The four RTOs in Region 1 made disparate proposals to the conference and a small group of administrations proposed NOC. For three days there was no progress toward a consensus solution but that changed on Friday morning. An agreement has been reached, subject to confirmation by the regional groups, that will provide administrations in Region 1 with flexibility in how to accommodate their amateurs.

One of the most difficult issues facing WRC-19 is to develop an agenda for WRC-23. There are dozens of proposals for agenda items and they cannot all be accommodated within available ITU resources. The substantive work of considering these proposals began on Friday afternoon and must be completed over the next two weeks.

Some meetings on the more difficult issues are scheduled for Saturday, 2 November. Delegates have been warned to expect more intensive use of weekend and evening hours as the conference proceeds toward its conclusion on 22 November.

Work is now underway at WRC19 on issues of interest to the amateur service. IARU’s team of some 14 people are being kept busy in the many committees discussing the agenda items. The Committee considering Agenda Item 1.1 (a 50 MHz amateur service allocation in Region 1) have heard the various Regional positions presented, with two clear positions – 4 MHz primary and 2 MHz secondary. Detailed discussions now begin to reach some resolution.

Discussions are also under way to determine the way ahead on Wireless Power Transmission, where there seems general agreement that no change is needed to the Radio Regulations but that there is more work to do to understand the issues of unwanted emissions and other aspects.

WRC continues until the end of November.

The World Radiocommunication Conference 2019 is due to open in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, on Monday 28 October. The meeting, which lasts four weeks, will be attended by three thousand delegates from most of the countries around the world, and will discuss and agree changes to the ITU Radio Regulations.

IARU and its member-societies will be there, representing the amateur and amateur satellite services with a team of 14 people from 10 countries.

Of particular interest to IARU are the positions on:

• Agenda Item (AI) 1.1, to allocate spectrum in the 50 – 54 MHz Region in Region 1 to the amateur service
• AI 1.13 to consider new spectrum of International Mobile Telecommunications, which potentially might impact amateur spectrum at around 47 GHz
• AI 1.16 which could impact the 5 GHz amateur spectrum
• AI 9.1.6 on Wireless Power Transmission, where harmonics of WPT systems can impact the MF/HF radio spectrum
• AI 10 where it is possible that future agenda items at WRC-23 could impact the amateur service, including the 1240 – 1300 MHz band.

This meeting is the culmination of four years’ work by IARU in ITU and regional telecommunications organizations to protect and enhance amateur service frequency allocations. The IARU team will provide updates as the Conference progresses.

The WRC has a wide-ranging agenda of which the amateur issues are but a small part. For more information about the WRC visit https://www.itu.int/en/ITU‑R/conferences/wrc/Pages/default.aspx

The final CEPT Conference Preparatory Group (CPG) prior to WRC 19 takes place from 26 August. There are several issues of particular interest to the amateur service to be discussed: 

• 50 MHz: IARU hopes that the European Common Proposal for WRC-19 will be supported by member states, with as many as possible signing the optional footnote to allow primary access on a national basis over part of the band being proposed for amateur use. 
• 144 – 146 MHz band: IARU has asked its member societies to explain to their regulators the concerns of the amateur service over the French proposal to propose a WRC-23 agenda item to study sharing the 144 MHz spectrum with aeronautical services. IARU has submitted a paper that includes background on amateur usage and regulatory concerns. It also includes a basic technical analysis showing the impracticality of such a proposal and believes there are much more appropriate parts of the spectrum for this study. 
• 1296 MHz band: IARU has asked its member societies to discuss with their regulator the best way of resolving concerns about a few cases of interference to the Galileo navigation system that are specific to its ‘E6’ sub-band at 1260 – 1300 MHz from amateur signals. It is IARU’s firm view, and stated in the paper it has submitted, that this should be properly studied in CEPT, rather than proposed as an agenda item for WRC-23. 
• 5 GHz and 47 GHz bands: IARU will be seeking support from Region 1 administrations for a ‘No change’ approach to the current regulatory situation in the 5650 – 5850 MHz and 47−47.2 GHz frequency bands. IARU experts will be present in CPG to explain the IARU position on these topics and monitor other agenda items of interest.