A finite resource, radio-frequency spectrum is the bedrock of state-of-the-art ICT, which, in turn is the driving force behind the world’s economic and social systems. The future points towards a wireless world.

Last held in the summer of 2003, the World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-07) is the international forum for revising the Radio Regulations — the international treaty governing the use of the radio-frequency spectrum and satellite orbits.

WRC-07 will also deal with any radiocommunication questions with worldwide ramifications. The WRC-07 agenda focuses on some 30 items related to almost all terrestrial and space radio services and applications, including aeronautical telemetry and telecommand systems, satellite services, mobile communications, maritime distress and safety signals, digital broadcasting, satellites for meteorology, and the prediction and detection of natural disasters.

WRC-07 will consider options to improve the international spectrum regulatory framework. It will examine the evolution of existing, emerging and future applications, systems and technologies in order to meet the growing demand for spectrum, orbit access and operations — an inevitable consequence of the accelerating convergence of radiocommunications services as well as the rapidly changing regulatory environment.

WRC-07 will run until 16 November. More than 1500 delegates were present on the opening day. Over 3000 participants from around the world are expected to attend the Conference, which takes place at the Geneva International Conference Centre.

Addressing participants at the opening session, the Chairman of WRC-07, Mr François Rancy said, "This Conference will influence the future of international wireless communications. The objective of WRC-07 is to allow each country to use the spectrum for its own needs, as long as it does not affect the capacity of other countries to share the resource." Mr Rancy said that it was an honour for him, for France and for Europe to serve as Chairman of WRC-07.

Dr Touré, addressing his first World Radiocommunication Conference as Secretary-General of ITU, said that if at all there is a chance to meet the 2015 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), now less than 8 years away, we will have to rely on ICT to meet those targets. "ICT are omnipresent tools with profound implications for all economic sectors," he said. "The convergence of broadcasting, telecommunication and information technologies create more potent and effective tools." Dr Touré pointed to the critical need of connecting remote and underserved regions of the world to the benefits of ICT and to the importance of radiocommunications in the event of a natural disaster.

"WRC-07 is the supreme instrument to maintain and update the framework for international radiocommunications," said Mr Valery Timofeev, Director of the ITU Radiocommunication Bureau. "It will continue the development that has taken place through recent conferences to improve regulatory procedures and to provide frequency and orbit resources for new technologies, which are essential for the operation of all wireless services."

To prepare for a truly wireless future where ubiquitous systems using spectrum will abound, WRC-07 will make decisions on the most rational and efficient ways to exploit the limited resource of radio-frequency spectrum and manage satellite orbits, critical and increasingly valuable for the achievement of the global connectivity goals in the 21^st Century.

The issues to be debated and discussed during WRC-07 reflect the pressing needs relating to spectrum and regulation for different wireless services and applications:

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