By Laju Iren

THIS year’s World Radio communication Conference is not without great expectations. The International Telecommunications Union, ITU-led conference scheduled to hold in Switzerland next month will allocate new spectrum for radio communications and International Mobile Technology, IMT.

It is no wonder therefore that preparations are underway by many countries to strategise on getting the biggest slice of the pie. Commonwealth countries have also joined hands, embarking on a preparatory meeting in London last week.

The London meeting which took place last week was an opportunity for members of the Common Wealth regional groups to better appreciate the views and positions of other regions and help achieve greater consensus.

These nations seem to have an eight-point agenda which include: Garnering strong support for identification of additional spectrum for IMT in most parts of the L band; a resolve to protect digital terrestrial television in the UHF band; future studies on potential use of part of the S band for IMT; Mechanisms to achieve consensus on the lower part of the C band taking into account the growing demand for mobile broadband and the needs of countries like in the Pacific which depend heavily on satellites.

The Commonwealth nations also plan to champion support for future studies for IMT above 6 GHz to accommodate 5G, excluding Ku and Ka satellite bands; A mechanism for further engagement with various regions on the possible use of FSS for unmanned aircraft, taking into account aviation safety concerns; Support for global harmonisation on Earth Stations on Mobile Platforms; and Recognition of the importance and urgent treatment of global flight tracking taking into account studies in the Director’s report.

Sharing his satisfaction at the end of the three-day meeting, the CTO’s Secretary-General Shola Taylor said he was satisfied that “this meeting has helped to better understand the various positions by different regions, and has also highlighted areas where clarity was still required, and we are grateful to the ITU for its contributions throughout our discussions”.

“For Commonwealth countries, this meeting gave a clearer sense of the likely outcomes of WRC-15, so we encourage our members to be proactive and contribute to deliberations in Geneva as efficient as possible,” Mr Taylor added.

The meeting elected a Bureau to coordinate the views of Commonwealth countries during the Conference next month.
The Bureau includes Dr Edmund Katiti (Uganda) as the WRC Commonwealth Coordinator; representatives from Canada, India, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, UK and the Caribbean as Vice-Coordinators; and Edmund Fianko (Ghana) as the WRC Commonwealth Rapporteur. Agenda Item Coordinators were also appointed.