Spectrum harmonization meetings–CITEL meeting in June will focus on WRC-03 and band harmonization in the Americas

Delegates representing major countries in the Western Hemisphere will in Ottawa this summer to discuss spectrum harmonization on this side of the Atlantic. They will also begin formulating a common front in preparation for the next World Radiocommunication Conference, scheduled for 2003. The Inter-American Telecommunication Commission (CITEL) meetings are scheduled to take place from June 11 to 15. CITEL member countries have been trying to band together to form a voting block to gain a larger voice at International Tele-communication Union for some time. It wants to counter the large groups that have formed in Europe and to a lesser degree blocks that have been created in Asia, Africa and the Arab countries. "It’s a major activity because there are a lot of items on the agenda and the idea here is to eventually develop CITEL common proposals," says Veena Rawat, deputy director of the spectrum engineering branch at Industry Canada. "So before you get to the proposals, you have to develop the views, and we would be advancing those views and achieving as much commonality as possible." Rawat says it’s too early to tell which of the 38 topics on the June agenda will be the most contentious. "Right now there are a number of technical issues which are being addressed at the ITU and the first part of the process is to make sure all the participants understand (the issues)," she adds. The main focus of the meetings will be on preparing for the upcoming WRC conference. Rawat estimates that three solid days will be devoted to WRC-related issues. The rest of the time will focus on issues specific to North, Central and South America, like third generation wireless systems. "The objective (of this meeting) is to be looking for harmonization of frequency use in the Americas and we will continue to address the issue of third generation and the harmonization of frequency bands used for licence-exempt low-power devices, among other issues," she told Report on Wireless. Third generation wireless will remain a hot topic although Rawat concedes little can be decided until certain issues in the U.S. are resolved. The Ottawa meeting is expected to discuss two major reports that came out at the end of March – one from the Federal Communications Commission and the other from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration. A final spectrum allocation is expected in the U.S. at the end of July (RoW, Jan. 22/01 and Nov. 13/00). The June meeting will also include delegates from the European telecommunication organization, CEPT. Rawat says it’s important to have non-CITEL representatives involved in order to advance the development of global spectrum harmonization. Western Hemisphere needs to band together to have larger voice at the ITUThe Inter-American Telecommunications Commission (CITEL) is attempting to follow the lead of its counterparts in Europe and Asia by creating a hemispheric voting bloc on issues of common concern. As the U.S. discovered during the last WRC, individual countries – no matter how large and powerful – have little clout at international meetings where every nation has a single vote (RoW, July 24/00). "(CITEL) allows us to speak with a louder voice in the ITU and it prevents the CEPT – the European telecommunication commission and equivalent to CITEL – from being able to dominate technical issues for their own market advantage," says Ted Campbell, executive director of the Radio Advisory Board of Canada. The need to gain an equally loud voice at the International Telecommunication Union was demonstrated in the mid 1990s when the CEPT and the American delegation were dominating discussions at very high levels, and the smaller nations were left to sit on their hands waiting for the outcome. Countries in the Asia-Pacific were quick to react and banded together to form APTEL. The African and the Arab countries are also forming similar organizations to gain a stronger voice within the ITU. "There’s certainly an interest from western hemisphere companies in ensuring that (their) products meet global standards and that we don’t suddenly get a European or Asian standard rammed down our throats," says Campbell. "We need to make sure our requirements and our regional differences or peculiarities are taking into account."

Spectrum harmonization meetings–CITEL meeting in June will focus on WRC-03 and band harmonization in the Americas

News | 04/30/2001 4:00 am EDT

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