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CITEL develops common positions and draws up more than 200 Inter-American proposals for the ITU World Radiocommunication Conference

The Working Group for the Preparation of CITEL for the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC) will be in session in Geneva, Switzerland, 22 January - 17 February 2012. The World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC) is normally held every three to four years for four weeks. Over 3000 participants from around the world are expected to attend the Conference, which takes place at the Geneva International Conference Centre and which will focus on 37 agenda items.

This Conference works through the presentation of Regional Groups such as CITEL for the Americas, and it is mandated to review and revise the international regulatory framework for Radiocommunications, the Radio Regulations. This international treaty governs the use of radio-frequency spectrum and satellite orbits to the global demand for spectrum so as to take into account the rapid evolution of information and communication technologies (ICT) and to ensure that reliable radio services are available everywhere and at every moment. A scarce resource, radio-frequency spectrum is the basis of ICT, which, in turn is recognized as the driving force behind the world’s economic and social systems. Spectrum is critical and increasingly valuable for the achievement of the global connectivity goals in the 21st Century.

The Radiocommunication Assembly is held during the week immediately prior to the WRC, 16-20 January 2012, and is responsible for setting future work programs on many technical issues of a worldwide character in the field of radiocommunications and for approving worldwide radiocommunication standards which provides the necessary technical basis for the work of the Conference. For the first time 4 multi-country proposals were presented by the Americas to the Assembly and coordination was done during the meeting so as to provide a view of the needs of the Americas region.

CITEL began working on 2007 for the WRC-12 and developed 220 inter-american proposals and 50 multi-country proposals focusing on: revision of the Radio Regulations; management of the radio-frequency spectrum to provide new opportunities for radiocommunication services, including those for maritime and aeronautical transport as well as for scientific purposes related to the environment, meteorology, disaster prediction and detection, mitigation and relief; management of satellite orbital slots and associated spectrum resources; new capabilities of systems and the introduction of mobile broadband and other advanced technologies; and the use of digital dividend resulting from the switch over to digital TV.

The outcome of this international treaty-making conference will have worldwide ramifications in the field of communications. CITEL will be in session for the whole Conference so as to ensure that the interests of the Americas region are taken into account.

Reference: AVI-003/12