Strong Minority Pressing at WRC to Use C Band for IMT
GENEVA -- Supporters of identifying C-band spectrum for IMT disagree at the World Radiocommunication Conference on which frequencies to use. And opposition has been strong to identifying all or part of the 3.4 to 4.2 GHz band for International Mobile Telecommunications, said Kalpak Gude, deputy general counsel at Intelsat. Countries from all regions have serious concerns about identifying any portion for IMT, he said. Europe and a few countries are pressing for identification of frequencies for IMT, ITU’s global standard for mobile wireless communications.
Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article
Timely, relevant coverage of court proceedings and agency rulings involving tariffs, classification, valuation, origin and antidumping and countervailing duties. Each day, Trade Law Daily subscribers receive a daily headline email, in-depth PDF edition and access to all relevant documents via our trade law source document library and website.
Countries may roll out mobile services in the C band and some have. Intelsat disagrees due to its view that satellites are important in the band and because “there’s an in-band and out-of-band interference issue,” Gude said. An IMT designation for the C band encourages other countries to follow suit, he said. Rolling out IMT or WiMAX in the band is a de facto decision that “satellites will not be able to practically operate in the same geographic area,” Gude said. A long list of countries supports no change across the band, Gude said. The European common proposal to use 3.4 to 3.8 GHz for IMT is the major exception, he said. Support for a change to C band falls off sharply outside Europe, he said.
A significant minority of countries is looking for some identification for IMT in the C band, a WRC participant said. No easy compromise is apparent, he said. South Korea, Japan and Brazil, for example, want change in the C band, but disagree on which frequencies, Gude said. Brazil wants to identify 3.4 to 3.6 MHz for IMT, because frequencies above 3.6 see heavy use for satellite communications in Brazil, he said. Brazil’s position on 3.4 to 3.6 GHz is very controversial, a WRC participant said.
The Europeans have drawn the line at 3.8 GHz, Gude said. Japan wants the entire band, all the way to 4.2 GHz, he said. Mexico wants 3.4 to 3.7 GHz. Canada wants to identify 3.5 to 3.7 for IMT, a WRC participant said. Canada opposes 3.4 to 3.5 GHz, because military systems use the frequencies, the participant said. Satellite interests are lobbying very hard to protect frequencies above 3.7 GHz, he said. They're also against 3.4 to 3.7 GHz, but Industry Canada decided to support it for IMT, he said. Outside Europe, support for a change in the C band is spotty, Gude said.
Japan still is pressing to use 4.4 to 4.99 GHz for IMT, so the frequencies aren’t off the table as expected. “I don’t get the sense that they're bargaining,” a WRC participant said. “I don’t know who they're negotiating with because they're alone.” The conference as a whole is somewhere else, he said: “I think there is strong majority support in the room for no change” to C-band.
Micronesia, Papua New Guinea, Samoa and Tonga piled on opposition to identification of 3.4-4.2 GHz and 4.4-4 99 GHz for IMT, the countries said in a proposal to the WRC. -- Scott Billquist
* * * * *
Brazil is a sticking point for picking UHF frequencies for IMT at the World Radiocommunication Conference, said a participant. All nations in the Americas but Brazil support identifying UHF frequencies for IMT, the industry participant said. Brazilian officials took a firm position in informal talks, he said. Discussions continue, the participant said. -- SB
----
Correction: Richard Russell, U.S. Ambassador to the World Radiocommunication Conference, said, “There was no international support for having new, specific dedicated spectrum for satellite broadband” (CD Oct 26 p6).