Radiocommunications Sector No Longer in ITU Limelight
The ITU radiocommunication arm got short shrift at the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference, which focused more than previous conferences on “non-radiocommunication issues,” like bridging the digital divide, top U.S. officials said Tues. Reflecting on the ITU meeting at a Society of Satellite Professionals International lunch, ITU Radio Regulations board member James Carroll told satellite officials to “keep an eye on” changes at the ITU -- especially given the regulatory body’s budget challenges.
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The ITU Radiocommunication Sector “was really not treated much,” at the Nov. Plenipot meeting due to a focus on Internet and development topics, Carroll said: “And it’s not clear how the ITU can initiate these things and where the money is going to come from.”
The Radiocommunication Sector contributes much to ITU’s financing through application fees and spectrum auctions, Carroll said. Over the years, counting only satellite filing fees, the ITU has collected over $30 million Swiss francs, and contributions are predicted to rise, Carroll said. But “R-sector” money is spread across the ITU, supporting sectors that don’t produce revenue.
The ITU budget is tight and may be strained further by future projects, so satellite regulation could be squeezed, Carroll said: “What’s going to happen if funding gets cut across the board? What’s going to happen to the R-Sector, where satellite operators really work gets done?” The R- Sector includes satellite spectrum study groups, notification, coordination and spectrum sharing regulatory groups, he said. ITU officials are considering restructuring it, he said.
“Some folks are kind of worried that we're seeing the ITU rolling over into another U.N. agency instead of a technical regulatory entity to take care of the spectrum users. To me that’s what happened at this Plenipot conference that I would worry about,” Carroll said.
The Plenipot ended Nov. 30, and “people are still digesting the results,” said moderator Jennifer Warren, Lockheed Martin senior dir.-regulatory affairs. Headlines may have focused on the ITU’s future scope, its role in Internet governance and international telecom regulation, “but there was still, as usual, a heavy focus on satellite -- whether from a financial perspective, a regulatory perspective, it was there,” she said.
Plenipot agenda items included satellite-related resolutions 49, 86 and 91, said senior U.S. delegates Ed Davison of NTIA and Frank Williams of the State Dept. “What actually happened? Not much. That’s the good news,” Williams said: “There was no change to access to orbits and frequencies, and no change to installations of defense.”