The global satellite industry emerged today from four weeks of successful negotiations to protect the users of its C-band spectrum from terrestrial interference. With its unequivocal “no change” campaign, the satellite industry at WRC-07 has ensured its uninterrupted, interference-free use of C-band for the future. The 2007 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-07) of the UN’s International Telecommunication Union (ITU), is the place where 191 Member States assemble every four years to work out the rules by which countries get to use the precious radio frequency spectrum.
The WRC has decided against the global identification for IMT, including Wimax, in any part of the satellite C band (3.4-4.2 GHz). In effect, the ITU table of allocations remains unchanged and the limited number of countries in favour of change are identified in an opt-in footnote. With this approach, the world’s regulators participating in the WRC have clearly signaled that these bands are not globally harmonised for IMT. The WRC further restricted IMT, including Wimax, by imposing stringent requirements for the protection of existing and future satellite services in the band, including transborder protection.
