Subject: [NEXTEL-1] WRC-03 begins month long meeting in Geneva

From: [email-masked]
Date: Tue, 10 Jun 2003 23:35:16 -0400

World Radiocommunication Conference
takes up fight over frequencies

By Bob Brewin
JUNE 10, 2003

Global coordination of frequency bands for wireless LANs,
 spectrum for the European Union-backed Galileo satellite
 navigation system, and global frequency allocations for a
 broadband Internet service for airline passengers top the
 agenda at the World Radiocommunication Conference 2003
 (WRC-03),
 (http://www.itu.int/ITU-R/conferences/wrc/wrc-03/index.asp)
 which began yesterday in Geneva.

The month-long event, which UN agency the International
 Telecommunications Union (ITU) (http://www.itu.int/home/index.html)
holds every several years, allocates and manages the radio spectrum on a
global basis for a variety of wireless uses, products and technology. It
involves representation from more than 180 nations and runs through July 4.

The ITU said in a background paper
(http://www.itu.int/newsroom/wrc03/documents/background.html) that the
nations
participating in WRC-03 will work to ensure "fair and efficient use" of
global spectrum resources needed for emerging technologies such as WLANs
while protecting older services that use the same frequency bands.

The ITU said proposals for new frequency allocations for WLANs are expected
to generate considerable discussion at the conference as delegates work to
accommodate "new allocations into an already tightly packed frequency table"
in the 5150-to-5725-MHz band, which is also used by radar, aircraft
navigation systems and earth-sensing satellites.

In the view of the 172-member U.S. delegation to WRC-03, led by Ambassador
Janice Obuchowski, the WRC-03 agenda "touches on nearly every
spectrum-dependent service and application that will drive the technological
developments of the 21st century," according to a statement released by
spokesman John Alden.

New spectrum for WLANs systems -- an industry that's expected to generate
$5.2 billion in hardware sales by 2005, according to the U.S. Federal
Communications Commission -- tops the WRC-03 agenda for the U.S. delegation.
(download PDF http://www.ntia.doc.gov/osmhome/wrc99pre/USPL_1_05_rev2.pdf).

But global coordination of the WLAN spectrum is as important as allocating
new frequencies, said Michael Green, manager of global product compliance at
WLAN chip manufacturer Atheros Communications Inc.

Currently, WLANs in the U.S. that operate under the 802.11a protocol use
frequencies in the 5150-to-5350- and 5725-to-5825-MHz bands. But not all
countries use those bands, Green said. The EU and the U.S. have different
rules for the 5250-to-5350-MHz slice, with the EU restricting it to indoor
use and the U.S. allowing both indoor and outdoor use.

The EU already allows WLANs in the 5470-to-5725-MHz band, whereas the FCC
just last week kicked off an administrative procedure aimed at permitting
WLANs in those bands, Green said.
(download PDF
http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-03-110A1.pdf).

The FCC said it plans to add WLAN service in those bands "consistent with
U.S. proposals to WRC-03."

Dennis Eaton, chairman of the Mountain View, Calif.-based Wi-Fi Alliance,
said WRC-03 approval of a global standard for WLAN spectrum use would reduce
confusion for wireless users who cross borders because there would be
standard frequencies in the 5-GHz band in every country. That could lead to
lower manufacturing costs, lower-priced products and global economies of
scale.

Allocation of frequencies for the EU-backed Galileo satellite navigation
system in the 1164-to-1214-, the 1260-to-1300- and the 1560-to-1595-MHz
bands, as well as rules for power output from new Global Positioning System
(GPS) satellites the U.S. plans to launch, could emerge as another
contentious issue, according to the ITU.
(see story
http://www.computerworld.com/mobiletopics/mobile/story/0,10801,81570,00.html).

In its background paper, the ITU said that although the Galileo system got a
green light at the WRC event three years ago, "a number of follow-up items
remain that could again turn up the heat."

This includes a new generation of higher-powered GPS satellites that the
U.S. plans to launch to defeat enemy jamming. Alden said the U.S. believes
that it has successfully resolved these issues, but the International Civil
Organization, another UN agency, said in its WRC-03 position paper (download
PDF http://www.icao.int/icao/en/anb/cns/wrc2003/icao_itu_wrc2003.pdf) that
it wants power limits on all satellite navigation systems to protect
existing terrestrial navigation systems using the same bands.

Another key item for the U.S. delegation is gaining a frequency allocation
in the 14-to-14.5-GHz band for the Connexion by Boeing satellite-based
broadband Internet service for airline passengers.
(download PDF http://www.ntia.doc.gov/osmhome/wrc99pre/USPL_1_11.pdf).

Terrance Scott, a spokesman for The Boeing Co., said the satellite broadband
service, which Lufthansa AG launched last month (see story
http://www.computerworld.com/mobiletopics/mobile/story/0,10801,77600,00.html),
now operates under an experimental license.

If WRC-03 approves the allocation, Chicago-based Boeing and its customers
would have a global frequency for the service, he said. Boeing expects the
frequency allocation to be approved, Scott said.

http://www.computerworld.com/mobiletopics/mobile/story/0,10801,82007,00.html

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