Trump Letter Well-Received, Helped WRC Negotiations, Officials Say
A letter from President Donald Trump to ITU helped rather than complicated U.S. outreach at the 2019 World Radicommunication Conference, Grace Koh, U.S. ambassador to WRC-19, told reporters Friday. FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said he was at WRC with a broad focus to advocate for U.S. positions. Also on the call was Douglas Kinkoph, acting NTIA deputy administrator. Friday was day five of the conference in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.
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Koh welcomed the one-page letter, which some say raised more questions (see 1910310071). It expressed general support for the WRC process and said the U.S plans to work with “like-minded nations” to promote 5G security. Trump also committed the U.S. to seeking consensus.
Koh said she’s not sure “exactly where those concerns are coming from.” At WRC within an “isolated … bubble,” the letter was well received, she said in response to our question. ITU Secretary General Houlin Zhao of China was pleased to receive the letter and the president’s support for both the U.S. delegation and “the best efforts by the ITU, and the work that’s been done,” she said.
The correspondence “was perfectly well received,” Pai said: “The substance of what was in the letter actually aided our discussions.” The letter makes clear ITU is “the appropriate forum for hashing out these issues” and “what our goals are, and that’s always helpful” when you’re starting a negotiation, he said. Kinkoph also welcomed the letter.
During a news-media call fours year earlier, then-FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler emphasized the importance of language on using the 600 GHz band for broadband (see 1511050041). The FCC sold licenses in the band in the TV incentive auction, which started four months later but didn’t get what it was seeking from the WRC.
Pai declined to comment on U.S. advocacy on 6 GHz, 24 GHz or any particular band. “I am here as part of the United States delegation and so my priorities are the priorities of the U.S. delegation,” he said. “We want to take a balanced approach to each of these agenda items to ensure that all technologies have a chance to thrive in the time to come, whether it’s satellites given all the incredible innovation that’s happening in space, whether it’s 5G where we want America to lead the world in investment and innovation, whether it’s Wi-Fi.”
The U.S. wants a framework “that allows all of those technologies to thrive,” Pai said. “I’ve been gratified by the fact that all members of the delegation share the view that we are not here representing our particular organization or company or even technology. We’re here to represent the United States.”
Pai has been impressed by “the level of collaboration” among members of the U.S. delegation. “It’s a very large delegation, but I have consistently been impressed on how much we have kept our eye focused on the prize, which is advancing the U.S. and the regional position on many of these issues to ensure that technology, of all kinds, can benefit the citizens of our country and consumers around the world,” he said.
Other nations are “receptive” to the U.S. message, Pai said. “We have many people express an openness, if not outright willingness, to see the United States’ position in new light given our thoughtful advocacy,” he said. “That is a testament to the fact that we bring to the table well-considered judgments across the United States government and with … private sector delegation colleagues. So when we come to the table, it is with a proposal that could advance the ball, not just for ourselves.”
The delegation has heard repeatedly that the perspective of the U.S. “matters,” Koh said. U.S. positions reflect “a delicate balance between stakeholders,” she said. Pai's and Kinkoph's attendance shows the world that senior U.S. officials are “invested in this conference,” she said.
The day WRC-19 started Pai circulated an order that would ban equipment from Chinese vendors Huawei and ZTE from networks funded by the USF (see 1910280054). Huawei objected to a report, cited in the draft order, by the Finite State cybersecurity firm. The draft says the report highlights “the unique threat posed by Huawei’s ‘high number’ of security vulnerabilities.” That report is “replete with basic errors,” Huawei filed, posted Friday in docket 18-89: “Although it asserts otherwise, the Finite State Report evaluated old versions of Huawei’s products and identified issues that had been fixed in updated versions of these products.” Finite State “failed to follow general practices of responsible security testing companies, which typically involves dialogue between the security company and vendor about alleged vulnerabilities to help ensure a complete and accurate picture of security vulnerabilities,” Huawei said.
Finite State didn’t comment .