*EPF313 05/03/00
Broadcast Satellite Dispute Seen as Test for Telecom Meeting
(U.S. seeks to mediate between European, Arab countries) (1080)
By Bruce Odessey
Washington File Staff Writer

Washington -- Quick resolution of differences between Europe and the developing world over broadcasting spectrum allocation is required for an upcoming global telecommunications meeting to succeed, a U.S. official says.

Ambassador Gail Schoettler, head of the U.S. delegation, said she is reasonably confident that participants can achieve some framework for resolving the broadcasting and other disputes in the first week of the four-week World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-2000).

She acknowledged the risk of not achieving resolution, though.

"It's absolutely possible that this could be tied up with the broadcasting issue for four weeks and nothing else happens," she said in a May 2 interview.

Organized by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), WRC-2000 is scheduled May 8-June 2 in Istanbul.

Abetting a successful outcome, Schoettler said, is the Muslim world's eagerness for the first WRC held in a Muslim country to succeed.

WRC-2000 is intended to allocate radio spectrums -- those electromagnetic wavelengths set aside for radio communication -- for a wide variety of services including public safety, air traffic control, military systems, cell phones, data transfer and weather satellites.

About 2,500 people from 150-160 countries are expected to attend. Participants try to decide issues by consensus.

Among the most divisive issues is allocation of the broadcast spectrum in Region 1, which covers Europe, Africa and much of the Arab world.

Developing countries led by the Arabs want to double the number of Region 1 broadcasting channels assigned to them from five to 10, requiring Europeans to give up part of the spectrum they intended to use, Schoettler said.

The developing countries have the votes to prevail if the issue comes to a vote, she said.

Just as crucial for the developing countries is achieving fairer ITU procedures for satellite approval and coordination, she said.

African and Arab states have three broadcasting satellite systems ready for launch now, but cumbersome ITU procedures are delaying any launches for years, she said.

"Right now the lineup for approvals and coordination of satellites at the ITU is about five years long," Schoettler said. "It's just way beyond anything that makes any sense."

She said the United States is an interested bystander in the Europe-Arab negotiations, willing to mediate a settlement if asked and determined to protect U.S. interests.

"Can we work out procedures that will protect our system, both existing and future, and still make a fairer system?" Schoettler said. "We can't agree to anything that's going to undermine our own companies, and they know that."

U.S. companies already using broadcast spectrum bands in the Western Hemisphere want protection from any shuffling of the same bands in Europe, Africa and Asia. Other U.S. companies that have filed proposals for broadcasting networks in Europe, Africa and Asia to create a global broadcasting system want to protect their options.

"The Arabs have threatened to hold up the entire conference if they don't get what they want," Schoettler said while recognizing the developing countries' plea for fairness as justified.

The United States opposes, however, a developing countries' proposal that would essentially interpret existing ITU regulation in order to control the flow of information to their people from other countries' satellite broadcasts.

"They don't want to have a lot of European programs coming into their countries," Schoettler said. "They would like to control the content.

"We, of course, are not about to let that happen, but we tend to be a voice of one in this world," she said.

Another set of issues for WRC-2000 concerns international mobile telecommunications (IMT), specifically the next generation of hand-held wireless communications products for both voice and data transmission.

Proposals for creating a harmonized global band of spectrum for IMT are far apart. The United States favors three bands. Other Western Hemisphere countries favor one band. European countries favor a different band. Some Asian countries favor three different bands. Some Arab and African countries and others, including Russia and India, favor identifying no bands, at least for now.

Schoettler said the U.S. proposal, intended to promote broad access for many different forms of technology rather than to select a single technology standard, could bridge the differences.

First, she said, the system should offer three bands rather than a single wide spectrum. That should help manufacturers design equipment and develop technology, she said.

Second, the system should be flexible so that countries can select which bands they want to use if they want any at all, she said. Also, the system should "refarm" or reassign bands now used by earlier-generation wireless products as those products are retired, she said.

Third, she said, the system should be technology neutral, encouraging wide open innovation, and not tied to any particular technology as Europeans propose.

Schoettler said any WRC-2000 agreement would likely have to include resolution of the broadcasting and IMT issues and perhaps a few others.

One of those other issues is a U.S. proposal for obtaining additional spectrum allocation for an enhanced Global Positioning System (GPS).

Originally intended for U.S. military use, GPS satellites have spawned a huge and growing industry for civilian radionavigation applications. Luxury auto drivers and hikers use it to find their way. Pet owners use it to find their pets. Farmers use it to plow their fields.

Schoettler said the United States wants WRC approval of additional spectrum before it invests in a new generation of GPS satellites that would vastly improve and expand the system.

The United States provides GPS service free to all users worldwide. Just May 1 the Clinton administration announced a policy change effective immediately that gives all users the same high quality data previously available only to the U.S. military and prevents the military from disrupting GPS availability to any user.

Schoettler said the policy change undercuts opposition from Europeans who have argued that GPS availability was unreliable. The Europeans want spectrum for their proposed competing system called Galileo, which would charge a fee for service.

Also, since 1997 the Europeans have sought sharing of the GPS spectrum with mobile satellite services. Although interim studies have shown unequivocally that such sharing is not possible, the Europeans seek further studies; the United States and the rest of the world seek to suppress further studies, Schoettler said.

(The Washington File is a product of the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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