Next WRC Critical to Industry, Pai Tells WRC Prep Committee

for American industry and ultimately American consumers,” Pai said, according to his written remarks. “You have all seen it firsthand, many of you over the course of several conferences. Spectrum decisions made at the WRC will have an impact that lasts long after the conference lights go dark.” The next WRC must “promote a stable, predictable regulatory environment,” Pai said. “This is the best way to facilitate long-term investments in a multi-trillion dollar communications industry and to usher in new services to consumers.” The next WRC will look at high-frequency spectrum for broadband, high-altitude platform stations, massive constellations of Non-Geosynchronous Orbit satellite systems and “communications to and from planes, trains and automobiles,” Pai said. The FCC advisory committee represents the interest of industry in U.S. preparation for the WRC. “Your efforts will ensure that the FCC represents effectively a broad spectrum of views during international negotiations and in the course of domestic decision-making,” Pai said. Former Chairman Tom Wheeler briefly visited the last WRC when it met in Geneva in 2015, where he pressed for a worldwide approach to broadband in the TV bands, before the start of the U.S. TV incentive auction (see 1511050041).