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13 June 2000
US Department of State
International Information Programs
Washington File
_________________________________
07 June 2000
(Arrangements made for global wireless networks) (1080) By Phillip Kurata Washington File Staff Writer Washington -- The month-long World Radiocommunications Conference (WRC) in Istanbul, Turkey has laid a regulatory foundation for a new generation of wireless communications that will have far-reaching impacts on daily life. The technical agreements on radio frequency bandwidths set global standards for the introduction of hand-held wireless communications sets. Those sets will be capable of receiving and transmitting voice and data from any point in the world, conference participants say. By 2010, the number of wireless communications users is expected to quadruple to 2,000 million. Their hand sets will enable them to exchange e-mail, talk on the telephone, shop on the Internet, and engage in video-conferences. Such devices are known as third generation wireless systems. Today's cell phones are the second generation. Ambassador Gail Schoettler, the head of the U.S. delegation to the Istanbul conference, jokingly said that improved wireless communications could make ordinary car transportation more dangerous. "Everybody on the highway will be less safe because you'll be playing your new digital (device), watching TV or reading e-mail. It's going to provide a whole variety of services ranging from e-mail to Internet access to video, digital music and so on," Schoettler said after the conference ended June 2. The technology for third generation wireless communications already exists, but an international consensus on standardized band use was needed to deploy the technology on a global scale. The consensus was achieved at the Istanbul conference, which drew 2,363 participants from 150 countries. The conference was organized by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). The consensus was hammered out during marathon negotiations that began May 8 and ended June 2. The long list of highly technical agreements, which emerged from the conference, are collectively known as International Mobile Telecommunications-2000 (IMT-2000). The crucial point to enable third generation mobile systems to be used globally was the agreement to use three bandwidths, not one, in each hand set. "This landmark decision now provides a stable basis for investors to back up the industry and gives a clear go-ahead to manufacturers to start building equipment for IMT-2000 for their customers -- operators and consumers alike," said ITU Secretary General Yoshio Utsumi. The three bandwidths would accommodate different wireless communications systems developed by various countries. IMT-2000 arrangements provide for a high degree of flexibility to allow each country to deploy its wireless network according to market and other national considerations, the ITU said. The second major achievement of the WRC was the negotiation of flexible arrangements to allow the United States, the European Union (EU) and Russia to protect and develop satellite-based tracking and navigation systems. The U.S. system is known as the Global Positioning System (GPS), which is already operational. Russia, likewise, has a functioning tracking system called Glonass, while the EU is in the planning stage of its Galileo system. The GPS is capable of locating ships at sea, airplanes in the air and hikers lost in the mountains. It has commercial, military and humanitarian applications. It can be used to help blind people cross streets, enable aircraft to land in storms, and find military pilots shot down in combat. Going into the conference, the United States was intent on protecting its GPS radio frequencies from encroachment from other users, said Gregory Rohde, assistant secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information. Not only did it achieve that but it also won the right to expand its GPS bandwidth. U.S. negotiators sought more GPS bandwidth in order to make the system more accurate. "Radio navigation systems will become more accurate as a result of GPS," said Robert Jones, a member of the U.S. negotiating team. "GPS will affect our lives. Safety of flight can be assured using GPS techniques." In exchange for exclusive use of radio frequencies for the GPS, the United States agreed to a similar demand from the EU to develop its Galileo system. The United States considers the Galileo a duplication of the GPS, which the United States makes available worldwide free of charge. The EU plans to make the Galileo a pay-for-use system. Ambassador Schoettler said she thinks the EU will have a difficult time making the Galileo commercially viable. "They (EU) have a long way to go before they have a system designed and actually there in the sky. We're (U.S.) perfectly happy with having them there. We just think if you charge for a service that the U.S. provides for free, you're going to have a hard time building your market," she said. Rick Reaser, a member of the U.S. delegation, said the United States unsuccessfully urged the EU to use the same frequencies for Galileo that GPS uses. Reaser said the fact that the offer was declined complicates the problem of receiver design for the Galileo. Without going into detail, he said the Galileo project has raised concerns in the U.S. State Department and Defense Department. Reaser added that the United States has philosophical differences with the EU over the commercial use of GPS and Galileo. Unlike the EU, Reaser said the United States does not believe in charging money for safety of life services, such as air and water navigation systems. Russia won the right to maintain its frequencies for its Glonass system, which is primarily used for military purposes. U.S. officials said Russia does not plan to expand Glonass at the moment for economic reasons. Schoettler said the Istanbul conference also helped resolve broadcasting issues between Israel and the Palestinians. Palestinian negotiators demanded use of television channels controlled by Israel, Jordan and Egypt. Schoettler said a huge amount of work was expended to get Israel to sign a letter agreeing to open discussions with the Palestinians over this issue within a month. The conference also resulted in agreements to increase the number of satellite broadcasting channels in several regions. Schoettler said Europe and the Middle East received frequency allocations for 10 additional analog channels, while Asia and Australia received frequencies for 12 new channels. One issue that the conference did not resolve was problems caused by communication stations on ships. Apparently, Schoettler said, a ship was broadcasting as it entered port in the United Kingdom and knocked out their cell phone service for several hours causing widespread confusion. (The Washington File is a product of the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: usinfo.state.gov)