Subject: [NEXTEL-1] ITU Tackles Challenges

From: [email-masked]
Date: Mon, 30 Jun 2003 03:22:02 -0400

ITU Tackles Challenges
Jun 18, 2003

The International Telecommunication Union's World Radiocommunication Conference
(WRC) wrapped up its first week in Geneva with an ambitious agenda of
spectrum-related initiatives. Among the list of 48 agenda items is an effort to
earmark spectrum for the increasingly popular aeronautical mobile satellite
services (AMSS) that will enable airline passengers to access broadband services
in-flight.

In an interview with Interspace, U.S. ambassador to the WRC, Janice Obuchowski,
explained the issue this way: "The band in which the [AMSS] is proposed
[14-14.5GHz] already has an incumbent with primary status. MSS is secondary in
this band, but aeronautical has always been excepted from this.

We are trying to get rid of the exception language so that aeronautical MSS could
operate in this band. At this point, Boeing [NYSE: BA] is operating with
experimental licenses but in terms of a broadbased deployment and the kind of
permanency you would want for such a major investment, there is a need to remove
the limitation on the MSS aeronautical services. The U.S. and just about everyone
else is pushing for the removal of this limit."
Another issue concerns sharing of spectrum between fixed satellite services (FSS)
and military radars. Some WRC delegates want to allow the FSS industry to deploy
dishes smaller than the current 4.5-meter limit in the 13.75 GHz to 14 GHz band,
but there is concern that this will cause interference with existing radar
systems.

Another WRC agenda item is how radionavigation satellite services (RNSS) - i.e.,
U.S. GPS, Russia's GLONASS and Europe's planned Galileo system - will share access
to spectrum with other services, such as aeronautical radio navigation service.
Obuchowski said the WRC delegates are trying to see how an upgrade of GPS by the
United States and the deployment of Galileo from the Europeans can be done while
protecting existing services in the shared band.

The WRC is also tackling the issue of the minimum size of the antenna used by
broadcast satellite services (BSS). Europe and Asia want the minimum size of
BSS antennas set at 60 centimeters, whereas the U.S. and the rest of the
Americas want to keep the minimum antenna size at 45 centimeters. --Fred
Donovan

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