Hard 'Slog' WRC-19 Pointing to Complex '23 Issues, More Contentiousness

Likely marquee items for the 2023 World Radiocommunication Conference will include space-to-space satellite links, and big mobile and satellite industry focus on the 6 GHz band, U.S. WRC delegates said at an FCBA event Thursday. Boeing Global Spectrum Management Vice President Audrey Allison said as spectrum use increases, such issues are becoming more contentious.

WRC-19 was successful for satellite but "a harder slog" for U.S. terrestrial interests, said Erin McGrath, aide to FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly. She said some countries were pushing geopolitical agenda items and trying to block U.S. interests. There was blocking of 28 GHz studies to provide security for incumbents. 24 GHz was a compromise that's inconsistent with FCC rules. She said these issues are why O'Rielly contemplated "a G-7 type" collection of nations with similar wireless interests.

WRC-19 U.S. Ambassador Grace Koh said identifying 17.5 GHz of millimeter wave spectrum for 5G was “a big win,” and that almost 15 GHz of it is globally harmonized is “great news.” WRC-2023 will look at issues like allocations in the 17.3-17.8 GHz band for satellite and further technical study of spectrum for sub-orbital flights. Koh said another U.S. priority at WRC-19 was approval of Iridium as a global maritime distress and safety system service provider. The company plans to offer GMDSS service this year (see 2001140002). EchoStar Senior Vice President-Regulatory Affairs Jennifer Manner said WRC-19 was largely successful for the U.S. There's glaring need for process reform, she added.

One U.S. failure at WRC-19 was outdoor Wi-Fi use rules, with the U.S. and some other nations ultimately adopting a reservation statement saying they didn't support the WRC approach and will implement national policies instead, said FCC International Bureau International Radiocommunication Branch Chief Dante Ibarra. The U.S. allows outdoor Wi-Fi use in the 5 GHz band, and submitted studies showing doing so doesn’t hurt incumbents, but Europe, Russia and China pushed back to a 5 GHz rules change, he said. Now “the door is closed” on 5 GHz and the focus will be on the 6 GHz band for Wi-Fi use, he said.

Getting the world to adopt the U.S. 5 GHz outdoor rules was never likely, and the final resolution opens the door to outdoor better use, despite heavy Russia and China opposition, said Patricia Paoletta, Harris Wiltshire spectrum lawyer. She said China wanted all of 6 GHz studied for 5G but just the upper 100 MHz will be studied globally, which is a win for the Wi-Fi industry. Paoletta said WRC-23 would likely have "a battle royale" over the study of the 600 MHz band for 5G, with possible conflicts with broadcast.

Asked about examples of the U.S. blocking priorities of other nations at WRC-19, NTIA Office of Spectrum Management Telecommunications Specialist Amy Sanders said 4.8-4.99 GHz were proposals to lift all restrictions on the band. She said the U.S. and a lot of nations pushed back on that and “contain[ed] it.”

WRC-19 delegates said particularly contentious between the U.S. and Europe were some millimeter wave bands for 5G use. ITU identified the 26 GHz band for mobile broadband, which overlaps with but doesn’t completely line up with the 24 and 28 GHz bands targeted for 5G use in the U.S. Harmonization tuning range technology should make that still essentially harmonized between Europe and the U.S., said CTIA Regulatory Affairs Director Jennifer Oberhausen.

Boeing's Allison said allowing satellite use of the millimeter wave bands came with the introduction of a new ITU regulatory paradigm. She said a regulatory framework had to be crafted above 30 GHz, with satellite operators filing for systems there. She said the new approach relies on coordination and aggregate limits instead of equivalent power flux-density limits. The continuous coordination approach should allow more flexibility and larger numbers of operators, she said. Allison said WRC-2023 will undoubtedly have fine-tuning of the satellite milestones rules adopted at '19 (see 1911200058).

It’s unclear how WRC-19 outcomes will affect FCC policies and agenda, said the FCC's McGrath. In many cases, the agency already has acted on items or is considering them now, or WRC agenda items “are behind us.” She said tuning ranges will affect how spectrum policy is set because there's less stress on having the same bands in each country.