Valery Timofeev, Director-Elect, Radiocommunication Bureau
Before being elected as Director of the ITU's Radiocommunication Bureau at the ITU's plenipotentiary meeting in Marrakesh in October of this year, Mr Valery Timofeev was Deputy Minister for Communications and Informatisation in the Russian Federation where he was responsible for amongst other things the effective management of the radio-frequency spectrum and the Russian Administration's participation in the work of various international bodies, including the ITU. Mr Timofeev is the author of more than 60 scientific publications on various aspects of radiocommunication, is a co-author of five monographs and the author or co-author of nine patents on different inventions in the field of radiocommunication.
Q: Congratulations on your election as Director of the Radiocommunication Bureau of the ITU. Your predecessor, Mr Robert Jones, instituted for the first time annual operational plans for the Bureau. Do you think these measures have been successful? What else do you think could be done to improve the running of the Bureau?
A: The measures introduced by my predecessor are not only appreciated by myself and those in the Bureau, but by the whole of the ITU. The plenipotentiary has actually modified its convention based on Robert Jones' ideas. Now it applies to all parts of the ITU. Everyone must put together four-year plans which are reviewed by advisory groups and approved by the Council.
I think that we must continue along the path of improved efficiency. I would like to see these reforming ideas carried forward. It would be of help if chairmen and vice chairmen of study groups were more directly involved with budgets, for example.
But I don't just want to see change for change's sake.
There is much within the bureau that is running perfectly well. But I want to see the ITU's existing high levels of expertise combined them with new sources of expertise and innovation. When it comes to filling posts, for example, I believe we should look at outsiders as well as well-established staff.
And we must learn to operate within increasingly tough budgetary constraints. That means that we will have to get better at prioritising. In my opinion preparation for the World Radiocommunication Conferences and getting on top of the infamous backlog regarding our role in the international coordination of satellites must be the highest priorities.
Re this last point, the very big number of notices and the complicated procedures have meant that the Bureau has not been able to keep up with its original timetable.
With enough funding it is technically and commercially possible to launch a satellite within 18 months of first planning for it. But the delay in allocating slots makes this impossible in reality. It takes two years alone to get a request published and considered.
We must find ways of making the process more efficient and make the necessary resources available to provide a better service to the world's satellite communications community.
Q: New ideas for commercially exploiting the radio spectrum are emerging constantly and the usage levels of existing radiocommunications-based services are growing at a phenomenal rate. What specific measures do you propose to help enable the ITU's radiocommunications related resources to cope with these growing demands?
A: The Bureau is directly involved in the drafting of recommendations by study groups. In this way we are helping to create the right legal and standards environment to facilitate innovation.
Also, the World Radiocommunication Conferences give legitimisation to these new ideas. I think we are currently keeping up with the flow and I am confident that we shall do so in the future.
Q: Unregulated spectrum bands - particularly the so-called industrial, scientific and medical bands
- are proving popular for new commercial applications. Do you think this is the beginning of a new trend of less or looser regulation of radio spectrum and greater reliance on the market and technology to avoid interference?
A: I don't think one should overestimate the future for unregulated bands. Yes, they are proving popular. But in the longer term I feel there should be a balance struck between the two approaches - the traditional regulated approach and that of unregulated spectrum.
Both have their areas where they excel. The latter may be suitable for short-range communications, personal use or collective reception, for example. But I don't think it is very suitable for air navigation systems, for example. That could be very dangerous.
These are two extremes. The right approach must be somewhere in between.
Q: Recent experiences with spectrum auctions to allocate spectrum usage rights for Third Generation cellular radio systems have caused quite some controversy. In your opinion, are spectrum auctions a good or a bad way of allocating the usage rights to radio frequencies? Would you like to see the practice spread or contract?
A: I think auctions and economic measures to regulate the use of spectrum will inevitably have a big future. And this, despite the bad experience with Third Generation (3G) spectrum auctions.
I believe that the 3G experience was not so much about auctions as about 3G. The value of a 3G licence was thought to be higher than it has turned out to be - at least for now.
But just because the 3G experience has been bad does not mean that idea of auctioning itself is bad. Not that auctioning is the answer to every question. I believe that there will also be room for other methods - such as beauty contests where each application is reviewed for its merits, and licences awarded to those that are judged to look the best.
By the way, the Radiocommunication Bureau has had a study group which published a report on this topic. It is available to any member who wants help with making a decision on this matter.
Q: We are moving increasingly towards an era of global radiocommunication-based services requiring global spectrum allocations. And anyway, radio waves do not respect national borders. Is it time to replace national sovereignty over radio spectrum usage with some sort of global regulatory body, perhaps based on the ITU's Radiocommunication Bureau?
A: Even today there is no strict national sovereignty when it comes to radio spectrum usage. By signing up to the agreements arrived at by our World Radiocommunication Conferences, members are agreeing to use spectrum according to internationally agreed conventions.
I believe, however, that we are still a long way away from a single global regulator be it based on the ITU's Radiocommunication Bureau or not. There are still a lot of national differences. To get some idea of the national differences all you need do is look at the number of national footnotes at the bottom of new radio regulations. No, I don't think we'll see a global regulator soon ? certainly not during my term.
Q: It is often stated that radio spectrum is a scarce resource. Is radio spectrum really scarce? Or is it just inefficiently used?
A: Yes, spectrum is often referred to as a limited resource. And no doubt it is, but only in that moment in time. The technology is constantly advancing and when it does it changes our ability to use spectrum
Twenty years ago, for example, all satellite communications took place in the 4 to 6 GHz bands. Today we also use the 20 and 30 GHz bands. The future is unlimited. But every given moment is limited by its current technology.
Here and there demand can exceed supply but at the end of the day it's a race between innovation and saturation. And it's very difficult to say who's winning on any given day.
Q: Are there any great unmined resources in the radio spectrum? Are new technologies allowing the use of frequencies which were previously thought unusable?
A: The process of the migration of spectrum formerly used by the military in many countries towards more commercial use is still underway. And there are also new technologies which are allowing more efficient use of the spectrum.
But it is not always easy to introduce new technologies even when the technical aspects are worked out. It can be hard to persuade thousands, letalone millions, of users to adopt a new technology just because it makes more efficient use of the spectrum. Especially if persuading them entails getting them to throw their existing processions away and buy new equipment.
Q: Do you think fears about health hazards arising from radio frequency electro-magnetic radiation are justified? What role, if any, do you think the ITU should play in investigating health effects arising from radio waves, in informing users about potential hazards or in reassuring them about the safety of using radio devices?
A: I think the UN agency to whom the health hazards issue should be addressed is the World Health Organization (WHO); not the ITU.
I certainly do not think that it will ever be possible for the ITU to provide some sort of certification - a stamp - telling consumers that radiocommunications devices are safe to use from a magnetic irradiation point of view. As I said, it is a health issue, not a technology one.
If the WHO asks us to help them with our technical expertise, we will give them all of the help we can.
Q: Have the predictions of orbital congestion of satellites in geo-stationary orbit come true? What role, if any, should the ITU play in preventing orbital congestion?
A: As I indicated in one of my previous answers there are definitely problems in this area.
Demand for geo-stationary orbit slots and associated spectrum is greater than supply, for example. That's why there is a need for international co-ordination.
The problem is exacerbated by applications for future satellites that may never be built. The 4 to 6 GHz bands are already fairly occupied by real satellites.
At the same time it is important to give everyone the possibility of having a slot in the future. So there needs to be long-term planning too.
There have even been suggestions that the matter should be dealt with by the General Assembly of the United Nations. But personally I don't see it as an issue for the General Assembly. When it comes down to it is quite a technical problem and I believe the ITU is better equipped to deal with it.
Right now at least, only the ITU is in a position to regulate and co-ordinate the international use of the space and the spectrum. It's the only way of ensuring that users of these satellites will be able to operate without interfering with each other.
May I add, during my time as the person responsible for satellite communications in my native country, I saw very few instances of interference. I think that that is a good indication that the current system is working very well.
Q: Can you identify any new radiocommunications-based technologies which you believe could be particularly helpful in bridging the gap between developed and developing countries? What can the ITU do to help these technologies along? Should it promote their adoption?
A: I believe we can play a significant role in helping to narrow the Digital Divide.
Many telecommunications issues in developing countries are very much like telecommunications issues in the rural areas of the more developed ones. Many of the same technologies can prove useful. Take digital microwave, wireless access or satellite communications, for example.
There is a role for the Radiocommunication Bureau in providing information on the existence of these technologies, providing the regulations to facilitate them and providing some expertise in the field. But this last element is mainly the role of the Telecommunication Development Bureau.
Q: When you come to the end of your term in office, what would you most like to be remembered for?
A: I would like to know the answer to that too. I have, after all, only just been elected. But as far as my plans for my tenure in this position are concerned, as I have previously indicated, I am not in favour of unnecessary change. The Bureau already has many good people with many good ideas and some notable achievements of which they can be proud. But I am in favour of necessary innovation. That means that if change proves necessary then we will have change.
Before being elected as Director of the ITU's Radiocommunication Bureau at the ITU's plenipotentiary meeting in Marrakesh in October of this year, Mr Valery Timofeev was Deputy Minister for Communications and Informatisation in the Russian Federation where he was responsible for amongst other things the effective management of the radio-frequency spectrum and the Russian Administration's participation in the work of various international bodies, including the ITU. Mr Timofeev is the author of more than 60 scientific publications on various aspects of radiocommunication, is a co-author of five monographs and the author or co-author of nine patents on different inventions in the field of radiocommunication.