[SFDXA] ARLB036 WRC-23 Concludes with Wins for Amateur Radio and Agenda Items Designated for the Next Two Events

[Bill]

> SB QST @ ARL $ARLB036
> ARLB036 WRC-23 Concludes with Wins for Amateur Radio and Agenda
> Items Designated for the Next Two Events
> 
> ZCZC AG36
> QST de W1AW  
> ARRL Bulletin 36  ARLB036
> From ARRL Headquarters  
> Newington CT  December 19, 2023
> To all radio amateurs 
> 
> SB QST ARL ARLB036
> ARLB036 WRC-23 Concludes with Wins for Amateur Radio and Agenda
> Items Designated for the Next Two Events
> 
> The following report comes from International Amateur Radio Union
> Secretary Joel Harrison, W5ZN:
> 
> After 4 hectic weeks of the 2023 World Radiocommunication Conference
> (WRC-23), and a preceding week of Radiocommunication Assembly
> meetings, WRC-23 concluded on Friday, December 15. Amateur radio
> fared very well overall, despite the enormous pressures across the
> radio spectrum from LF to terahertz. This is a tribute to the effort
> of the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) team, who at times
> had to work from 8:00 AM to as late as 2:00 AM the next morning, as
> well as on the weekends.
> 
> At the top of the amateur radio priority list was Agenda Item (AI)
> 9.1b, regarding the coexistence of the secondary amateur and
> amateur-satellite allocation with the primary radionavigation
> satellite service in the 1240 - 1300 MHz band. This had seen 4 years
> of strenuous effort prior to WRC and resulted in a recommendation
> being agreed upon at the Radiocommunication Assembly, followed by
> WRC-23 participants agreeing to mention the recommendation in a new
> footnote for the allocation. Both the recommendation and the
> footnote are an excellent outcome for the amateur services.
> 
> Other items were relevant to the amateur service and were
> prioritized beforehand:
> 
> * AI 1.12: 40 - 50 MHz radar sounders. These are now largely limited
> to the polar area.
> 
> * AI 1.14: 231.5 - 252 GHz re-allocations for Earth sensing.
> Fortunately, our secondary 241 - 248 GHz allocation is unchanged,
> and the primary allocation of 248 - 250 GHz is unaffected.
> 
> * AI 9.1a: Space weather sensors was an item of major interest. A
> clear definition for such sensors was confirmed, with frequency
> protection being agreed upon as an agenda item for WRC-27.
> 
> * AI 1.2: More broadband in the 3.3 GHz and 10 GHz bands (in Region
> 2). This is a difficult challenge, as the amateur services are
> secondary with numerous (mainly South American) countries allocating
> mobile broadband by way of footnotes. Instead of a region-wide
> designation for IMT at 10.0 - 10.5 GHz in Region 2, there is a
> footnote limited to a dozen countries.
> 
> Every WRC agreed to an agenda for the next conference under AI 10.
> This AI had an unprecedented number of proposals for WRC-27 and
> preliminary ones for WRC-31. Following the relatively quick
> agreement on AI 9.1b, the IARU team switched most of its efforts to
> the following future proposals to reduce the impact on the amateur
> services, as numerous amateur bands were under consideration.
> 
> WRC-27
> 
> The WRC-27 agenda will have 19 items. The following are the most
> relevant to the amateur services:
> 
> * 1300 - 1350 MHz: A previous proposal for this band, adjacent to 23
> centimeters, was suppressed, providing certainty for our secondary
> allocation.
> 
> * Space Weather: This potential AI was initially very concerning, as
> the 0.1 - 20 MHz and 28 and 50 MHz bands were initially under
> consideration, until concerns were raised, and a team effort
> resulted in these allocations being removed from the topic.
> 
> * Lunar Communications: This future agenda item initially included
> 70 centimeters and other bands where Earth-moon-Earth could be
> restricted. Fortunately, the UHF aspect of this AI was modified to
> exclude 430 - 440 MHz.
> 
> * 10 GHz: We were fortunate that this band was withdrawn from
> another round of consideration for mobile broadband, especially in
> Region 1.
> 
> WRC-31
> 
> A record number of preliminary item resolutions were agreed on. The
> following two are especially relevant:
> 
> * Wireless Power Transmission (WPT): Both near-field and beamed are
> being considered as part of the International Telecommunication
> Union radio regulations, whilst minimizing the impact from
> interference.
> 
> * 275 - 325 GHz Allocations: This will include an opportunity for
> the amateur and amateur-satellite service.
> 
> The IARU team worked effectively to minimize the amateur bands from
> future studies, which is a great result for amateur radio.
> 
> IARU is very pleased with the overall result of WRC-23. The IARU
> team has already started to discuss and consider how to engage and
> resource for the next cycle leading up to WRC-27. IARU WRC
> Coordinator and Vice President Ole Garpestad, LA2RR, expressed his
> pleasure with the results and complimented the extraordinary effort
> of the dedicated team of IARU volunteers who worked long hours to
> achieve the results that will benefit all amateurs.
> 
> The IARU team includes ARRL Technical Relations Specialist Jon
> Siverling, WB3ERA. WRC-23 ran from November 20 - December 15, 2023.
> NNNN
> /EX