R.1-1 Final acts of world radiocommunication conferences, updated Ra dio Regulations
The World Radiocommunication Conference 2015 (WRC-15) was held in Geneva from 2 to 27 November 2015, attended by 3 275 participants representing 162 Member States and 130 observer organizations. The updated version of the Radio Regulations (2016 edition) was published in December 2016 and made freely available to the public in electronic form.
The Conference adopted a number of decisions, which are reflected in the updated Radio Regulations or recorded in the minutes of plenary sessions. The key topics included consideration of spectrum to facilitate global flight tracking for civil aviation (as mandated by PP-14), global allocations to the mobile, fixed-satellite and Earth-exploration satellite services, as well as global identifications of frequency bands for the operation of IMT.
In addition, the Conference approved various resolutions relating to WRC-19 and WRC-23 and requesting studies by ITU-R, which are conducted with the support of the regional groups and other international organizations and will be consolidated by the Conference Preparatory Meeting in March 2019. They address, in particular:
- Earth stations on board unmanned aircraft [3]
- Earth stations in motion, Non-geostationary systems in the fixed-satellite service, High-altitude platform stations (HAPS) [4]
- International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT) [5]
- Wireless Access Systems including radio local area networks (R-LAN) [6]
- Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) [7]
- Meteorological-satellite and Earth exploration-satellite services (space-to-Earth) [8]
- Machine-type communication infrastructures [9]
R.1-2 Final acts of regional radiocommunication conferences, regional agreements
No regional radiocommunication conferences were organized during the considered period.
R.1-3 Rules of Procedure adopted by Radio Regulations Board (RRB)
After the election of its members by PP-14, the Radio Regulations Board (RRB) met three times in 2015, 2016 and 2017. The RRB adopted
40 new or revised Rules of Procedure (RoPs) relating to decisions by WRC 15 and to practices by the Bureau in the application of the Radio Regulations and Regional Agreements. These were published as part of the
2017 edition of the RoPs.
R.1-4 Results of the processing of space notices and other related activities [10]
As shown in the table below, over the period 2014-2017, there was a significant increase in the treatment time for satellite notices (e.g. from four months in 2014 to six months in 2016 and 2017, for coordination requests). This was due to 1,336 Advance Publication Information
- modifications and updates in processing software as a result of WRC-15 decisions, and identification and correction of anomalies, which stalled the process for several months;.
- multiple submissions of massive non-geostationary constellations in the fixed-satellite service;
- an increase in the number and complexity of geostationary satellite network notices received since WRC-15, as a result of decisions by WRC-15
-
|
Year |
Coordination and notification requests / corresponding number of assignments in unplanned bands |
Requests for broadcasting-satellite and associated feeder links Plans / corresponding number of assignments |
Requests for fixed-satellite service Plan / corresponding number of assignments |
| 2014 |
829/319 818 |
94/43 996 |
89/3 530 |
| 2015 |
970/804 560 |
61/34 052 |
81/5 322 |
| 2016 |
1267/414 865 |
100/25 484 |
84/4 087 |
| 2017 |
1186/1 017 489 |
79/45 522 |
55/1 692 |
| Total 2014-17 |
4252/2 556 732 |
334/149 054 |
309/14 631 |
These difficulties have been regularly reported to RRB and the Radiocommunication Advisory Group (RAG), and corrective measures, including the recruitment of additional staff, have been implemented. The situation with respect to treatment time is expected to return to normal in 2018.
After years of development, the software for the assessment of conformity of non-geostationary satellite constellations with the regulatory limits to protect geostationary satellite networks became operational by the end of 2017, which enabled the processing of the 46 filings of massive constellations received since 2013.
Concerning satellite cost recovery in application of Council Decision 482, the total invoiced amount (excluding free entitlements) increased from CHF 13'745'128in 2014, CHF 14'727'833 in 2015 to CHF 17'688'111 in 2016 and CHF 18'865'668 in 2017. The percentage of invoices paid in a timely manner (i.e. within six months of the date of issue) remained constantly higher than 99% over the period 2014-2017. The implementation of this Decision by BR did not give rise to any specific administrative difficulty. At its 2017 session, the Council instructed BR to provide elements toward the application of full cost recovery for non-geostationary satellite systems. These elements were discussed in ITU-R study groups and the RRB and made available to the Council at its 2018 session.
BR also acted as a facilitator for the resolution of disputes between administrations with regard to sharing access to orbit/spectrum resources, and provided assistance for the coordination of space or earth stations (around 80 cases of assistance for space stations and 350 of assistance for earth stations on average per year over the period 2014-2017). BR was also involved in the resolution of a number of cases of harmful interference (around 10 to 30 cases per year). The ITU membership was kept regularly informed of processing activities through circular letters.
R.1-5 Results of the processing of terrestrial notices and other related activities [11]
BR continued to process notices to terrestrial services in accordance with the procedures set out in the Radio Regulations and Regional Agreements within the defined periods. The table below summarizes the various areas and corresponding outputs of this processing for the period 2015-2017: [12]
| Notices recorded in the MIFR/Plans |
549 070 |
| Review of findings for terrestrial stations recorded in the MIFR |
44 111 |
| Suppression from the MIFR at the end of the transition period defined by the GE06 Agreement (17 June 2015) |
17 554 |
| Notifications of coast and ship stations for recording in the ITU maritime database |
1 428 875 |
| High-frequency broadcasting requirements |
60 037 |
| Monitoring observations concerning the monitoring programme at 2 850- 28 000 kHz and 406-406.1 MHz |
115 483 |
| Reports of harmful interference |
7 062 |
| |
|
On 17 June 2015, following the end of the transition period defined by the GE06 Agreement, all UHF and relevant VHF analogue entries were cancelled from the GE06 Plan. Examination of the status of the analogue television assignments recorded in the MIFR resulted in the suppression of 17 554 assignments of 28 administrations, and the retention in the MIFR, for information only, of 26 330 assignments of 56 administrations.
Significant progress was made in resolving recurring cases of harmful interference/spill-over in the VHF/UHF band (broadcasting and mobile), through multilateral meetings between the administrations concerned, mediated and assisted by the BR.
The ITU membership was kept regularly informed of processing activities through circular letters, website real time updates and regulatory and service publications according to standard mechanisms:
- The BR International Frequency Information Circular (BR IFIC), published in DVD-ROM format.
- The List of Coast Stations and Special Service Stations (List IV) and the List of Ship Stations and Maritime Mobile Service Identity Assignments (List V) published every two years and every year respectively, in CD-ROM format, with a quarterly update of all changes notified to ITU.
- The High-Frequency Broadcasting Schedules (HFBC), published monthly.
- The Manual for Use by the Maritime Mobile and Maritime Mobile-Satellite Services, published after each WRC.
R.1-6 RRB decisions other than the adoption of Rules of Procedure
The Board adopted its Report on Resolution 80 (Rev. WRC-07), which brought several issues to the attention of WRC-15 on cases presented to the Board. All of the Board's reported decisions were endorsed by WRC-15. RRB decisions taken in 2015-17 on specific cases of satellite networks are summarized in the following table [13]
| Extension of the regulatory deadlines of satellite networks |
Cases referred to WRC while continuing to take into account the satellite network |
Maintain satellite networks in or suppress them from the MIFR |
Resubmission of satellite networks |
Reinstatement or re-examination of satellite networks with unchanged date of receipt |
Transfer of a satellite network to another notifying administration |
|
13 cases accepted (9 for force majeure, 4 for co-passenger delay)
Other cases were referred to WRC-15 or WRC-19 (see next column)
|
5 cases referred to WRC-15 (4 late requests for suspension, 1 case of extension of date of bringing into use)
2 cases referred to WRC-19 (2 late positioning of real satellites but no force majeure or co-passenger delay)
|
2 cases maintained
4 cases suppressed
|
1 case accepted
1 case noted
|
4 cases accepted (2 due to late payment, 1 related to CS Article 48, 1 related to Appendix 30B)
2 cases refused (1, related to Resolution 553, 1 related to § 6.6 of Appendix 30B)
|
1 case rejected
1 case not accepted based on elements provided
|
The RRB regularly reviewed the longstanding situation of harmful interference caused by Italian television and sound broadcasting stations in the VHF and UHF bands to its neighbouring countries. Concerning television, a three-year legal, financial and regulatory effort by the Italian Administration resulted in the successful switch-off of Italian TV transmissions causing harmful interference to the services of other countries on 61 frequencies.
The RRB also regularly reviewed the harmful interference caused by the Iridium satellite network (HIBLEO-2) to the radio astronomy service (RAS) in the band 1 610.6 – 1 613.8 MHz. Resolution of this issue is expected once the new constellation of Iridium satellites becomes fully operational in 2018
R.1-7 Improvement of ITU-R software
Over the period 2015-2017, the Bureau continued to develop software applications and databases to enable efficient and timely processing of notices and to facilitate the use of ITU-R outputs by the ITU membership. Activities for space applications resulted in the following achievements: [14]
- Delivery of new and updated versions of the reference databases.
- Migration of several software applications from Ingres to SQL Server.
- Development of a secure communications system with and among administrations, in response to Resolution 907 (Rev. WRC-15), with expected delivery in 2018.
- In 2015, delivery to administrations of the web application for the electronic submission and publication of space network filings, in line with Resolution 908 (Rev. WRC-12), upgraded in 2018 following WRC-15 decisions.
- In 2018, delivery of the Space Interference Reporting and Resolution System (SIRRS), in response to Resolution 186 (PP-14).
- Delivery of new and improved versions of space services processing software for external use (BR IFIC (Space)).
- In 2017, integration of the software for the assessment of conformity of non-GSO constellations with the regulatory limits (epfd)
For terrestrial services, these activities resulted in the following achievements:
- In 2016, delivery of new and updated versions of all terrestrial services processing software and reference databases, both for internal (TerRaSys) and external (BR IFIC (Terrestrial)) use, taking into account WRC 15 and RRB decisions
- Continuing integration of the various terrestrial Plans in TerRaSys (GE06, GE75, RJ81)
- Development of web applications providing online access to the MIFR and validation of notices
- Migration from Ingres to SQL server of various databases used in the processing of terrestrial notices
- Integration of the relevant BR outgoing correspondence in the myAdmin portal for broadcasting services, ensuring reliable communications with administrations
- Delivery of additional online calculation tools for Regional Plans and regional frequency coordination activities in the VHF and UHF bands
Te above-mentioned online web applications are currently used by more than 175 administrations. The Bureau also continued to improve the security aspects of its databases and software applications, including disaster recovery and business continuity procedures, isolation and protection from outside exposure. In addition, the Bureau developed new application tools, which were made available to the membership in 2017/2018:
[3] WRC-15 Res. 155; WSIS AL C2; SDG Targets 2.3, 2.4, 2.a, 14.a
[4] WRC-15 Res. 158, 159, 160; WSIS AL C2; SDG Target 9.c
[5] WRC-15 Res. 238; WSIS AL C2, C3, C7; SDG Targets 1.4, 3.8, 4.2, 4.3, 4.7, 5.b, 8.1, 8.2, 9.1, 9.3, 9.c, 10.2, 11.2, 13.1, 13.3, 16.7, 16.10
[6] WRC-15 Res. 239; WSIS AL C2, C3, C7; SDG Targets 3.8, 4.2, 4.3, 4.7, 5.b, 8.1, 8.2, 9.c, 10.2, 16.7, 16.10
[7] WRC-15 Res. 237; WSIS AL C2, C3, C7; SDG Targets 3.6, 9.5, 9.c, 11.2
[8] WRC-15 Res. 766; WSIS AL C2, C3, C7; SDG Targets 1.5, 2.4, 3.9, 11.5, 11.b, 13.1, 13.3, 13.b, 14.1, 14.2
[9] WRC-15 Res. 958; WSIS AL C2, C3, C6, C7; SDG Targets 2.3, 2.4, 2.a, 3.6, 11.2, 11.5, 11.b, 13.1
[10] Art. 12 of the CV; Council Dec. 482; Articles 9, 11, 13, 14, 15, 21 and 22, Appendices 4, 5, 7, 8, 30, 30A, 30B of the RR; Res. 4 (Rev.WRC-03), 49 (Rev.WRC-15), 55 (Rev.WRC-15), 85 (WRC-03), 148 (Rev.WRC-15), 539 (Rev.WRC-15), 552 (Rev.WRC-15), 553 (Rev.WRC-15); WSIS AL C2; SDG Target 9.c
[11] Art. 12 of the CV; Art. 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 19, 20, 21, 23, 24, 27, 28, 43, 50, 51, 52, 56, 58, Appendices 4, 5, 17, 25, 26, 27 of the RR; Res. 1 (Rev.WRC-97), 12 (Rev.WRC-15), 13 (Rev.WRC-97), 122 (Rev. WRC-07), 205 (Rev.WRC-15), 207(Rev.WRC-15), 331 (Rev.WRC-12), 339 (Rev.WRC-07), 356 (Rev.WRC-07), 417 (Rev. WRC-15), 424 (WRC-15), 535 (Rev.WRC-15), 612(Rev.WRC-12), 647(Rev.WRC-15), 749 (Rev.WRC-15), 760 (WRC-15), 906 (Rev.WRC-15); Regional Agreements ST61, GE75, RJ81, GE84, GE85-M, GE85-N and GE06; WSIS ALC2; SDG Target 9.c
