16 October 2007
Ambassador Discusses Benefits of Expanding Technology Worldwide
USINFO Webchat transcript, October 11
Richard M. Russell, U.S. Ambassador to the 2007 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC) in Geneva and deputy director for technology in the Office of Science and Technology Policy in the Executive Office of the President, answered questions in an October 11 USINFO webchat on the benefits of expanding technology worldwide.
Following is the transcript:
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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Bureau of International Information Programs
USINFO Webchat Transcript
Radiocommunication Conference 2007: The U.S. Commitment to Expanding the Benefits of Technology
Guest: Ambassador Richard Russell
Date: October 11, 2007
Time: 1:00 p.m. EDT (1700 GMT)
Moderator: Welcome to today's webchat. We look forward to your questions. The webchat will begin today at 17:00 GMT.
You may begin sending in your questions now.
Moderator: Dear participants, we will not answer visa-related questions during today's chat. Please check our upcoming webchats for the next visa chat.
Ambassador Richard Russell: We live in an increasingly global community, in which information can travel around the world at the blink of an eye, changing lives and bringing people closer together. More and more, the telecommunications services and devices we use are wireless, and that means they rely on radio waves – which we collectively call radio-frequency spectrum. While spectrum may be invisible, it is increasingly the life-blood of economies and the mode by which people build their communities and stay close to their families.
Behind the scenes, however, the global spectrum resource must be shared, and its use must be coordinated among all of the world’s countries. That coordination is done roughly every four years, at the World Radiocommunication Conference or “WRC” held by the International Telecommunication Union. The next WRC begins in just a matter of days, on October 22, and will run through November 16 in Geneva, Switzerland. At this Conference, decisions will be made that will affect the future – not only of telecommunications – but of space exploration, disaster prevention, national defense and climate and weather monitoring. The future of cell phones, computers, satellites and other wireless systems will be on the agenda.
As the U.S. Ambassador for WRC-07, I lead a U.S. delegation of 140 spectrum engineers and other experts, many of whom have been working for years on technical solutions to maximize the opportunities for new technologies in the coming years. We are looking forward to working with all the other nation’s delegations in Geneva – and I am looking forward to answering your questions this afternoon.
Question [Regina]: Also related to WiMAX. This seems like an ideal technology by which less developed nations may leapfrog into the future? Do you agree?
Answer [Ambassador Richard Russell]: Yes, WiMAx, among other wireless broadband technologies, can serve as an important platform to deliver high-speed mobile broadband to both the developed and developing world. This is one of the reasons that the U.S. supports inclusion of technologies such as WiMAX in IMT (International Mobile Telecommunications). The question of which bands should be internationally recognized (identified) for IMT will be a significant topic of discussion at the WRC.
Moderator: Welcome to our webchat. For those of you just joining the chat, Ambassador Russell is reviewing your questions. Please submit your questions now.
Q [Regina]: I have been following the question of whether WiMAX should be considered one of the technologies in the IMT category. What is the U.S. position on this?
A [Ambassador Richard Russell]: As you indicated, in February of 2009, the United States will cease television broadcasting in analogue and will switch over to exclusively digital TV broadcasts.
The spectrum currently being used for analogue broadcasting will be auctioned off next year and new advanced wireless services will roll out across the U.S. in this spectrum. By globally identifying the 700 MHz band (where this digital conversion is taking place) for advanced wireless services (also known as IMT), technology and service providers will be stimulated to develop new and better technologies and services for this band. This is even true for countries that will not convert to exclusively digital broadcasting for many years. Each country will move to digital broadcasting at their own rate.
However, if the international community, through the WRC, identified the 700 MHz band for IMT, more technologies and services will be available to these countries when they choose to switch over to digital TV than if we fail to identify this band.
Moderator: We see your questions coming in. Thank you.
We ask for your patience as the Ambassador reviews and responds to your questions.
Q [Chris2]: You mention your support of WiMAX. Do you also provide the same type of support for technologies such as LTE and UMB? Is the U.S. technology neutral in its wireless policy?
A [Ambassador Richard Russell]: As a policy matter the U.S. has been -- and will continue to be -- technology-neutral. We believe in making as many technologies as possible available to consumers, to stimulate competition and speed the growth of our economy. As long as technologies meet the appropriate specifications -- including not causing harmful interference -- we support them.
Moderator: Ambassador Russell continues to work on answers to your questions. Thank you for joining us!
Q [Chat Participant]: As you state "The future of cell phones, computers, satellites and other wireless systems will be on the agenda." Can you please explain who are the stakeholders in this--industry? Government? And who is making decisions?
And how will end user consumer benefit or not benefit from the outcomes of WRC?
A [Ambassador Richard Russell]: With respect to stakeholders, both government and the private sector have considerable interests associated with the outcome of the WRC. That is why there has been a multi-year consultative process to reconcile the needs of both the public and private sectors, and a delegation of 140 members, divided almost equally between public and private sectors, has been appointed to attend the conference from the U.S.
The decisions are made with input from the private sector and critical government agencies, such as the Federal Communications Commission, the Department of State, the Department of Commerce and the Department of Defense, among others. Their recommendations are vetted through a delegation process that culminates with U.S. proposals being submitted to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
If the U.S. prevails at the WRC, both the public and federal agencies will benefit. The public will benefit through enhanced public services and the faster rollout of new technologies such as wireless broadband services, and the government through enhanced opportunity to provide important functions such as forecasting the weather and facilitating space exploration.
Q [Chris2]: What are the United States Government delegation's top five objectives to accomplish at WRC2007 in terms of mobile wireless spectrum and technologies?
A [Ambassador Richard Russell]: The U.S. government wants to ensure that new wireless technologies can roll out as quickly as possible, through the identification of appropriate bands for IMT. That's one.
Objective two: the U.S. government wants to ensure that critical new terrestrial wireless systems scheduled for rollout in the U.S. do not suffer harmful interference from foreign satellites.
Objective three: The U.S. wants to protect important government systems from harmful interference.
Objective four: The U.S. wants to expand the amount of spectrum available for aviation -- for both flight testing and communications.
And finally, the U.S. is committed to ensuring that the agendas for WRC-11 is focused and productive.
Q [S. Billquist]: Other than the items on C-band, identification of frequencies for IMT-2000 and possibly HF broadcast, are any issues emerging that look like they're going to eat up a disproportionate amount of time during the WRC?
A [Ambassador Richard Russell]: The two defining issues of the Conference are likely to be Agenda Item 1.4, which takes in the IMT items you mentioned -- and Agenda Item 1.9. That item addresses the protection of terrestrial services in the 2.5 GHz range from satellite interference. I believe both these items will be discussed at length during the WRC.
Q [Erick]: Ambassador, will U.S delegation to WRC 2007 coordinate efforts with Canada and Mexico as a single region in teleccomunication policies?
A [Ambassador Richard Russell]: The U.S. has, and will continue to, coordinate with not only Canada and Mexico, with which we have strong and fruitful relationships, but with the entire region of the Americas. The U.S. is part of CITEL, the regional organization that represents all the countries in North, Central and South America. The U.S. hosted CITEL in Orlando this summer, and, based on that meeting, the U.S. has been joined by many of its regional neighbors on most of the important proposals, allowing them to be submitted to the WRC as Inter-American proposals instead of simply U.S. proposals.
Q [Marek]: Please elaborate on U.S. position regarding European initiatives to include digital broadcasting into the high frequency bands. Will this be a topic of debate at the WRC?
A [Ambassador Richard Russell]: The question of whether additional spectrum is available for broadcasting in the HF range will be a topic of debate at the WRC. The U.S. does not support designating additional spectrum for HF broadcasting, since all the current spectrum is being used for other important applications, including emergency communications. This is a view shared by a majority of the other countries in the world.
Q [Abu Morgan]: I understand that this year's WRC meeting will discuss the allocation of radio spectrum for personal communications services (the so-called IMT services). Why should the average person care about how the radiocommunications spectrum is split up among different usages? Thank you.
A [Ambassador Richard Russell]: Domestically, how spectrum is divided directly impacts which services are available to consumers. If the domestic regulator determines that one spectrum band should be used for satellite services, then that band will not be available for terrestrially based cell phones, for example. The reverse would be true as well.
Internationally, the impact is different. Through the WRC, harmonization of spectrum bands for specific types of services reduces the cost of the technologies for those services by expanding the customer base. The more countries that use the 700 MHz range for wireless broadband, the lower production costs will be for those handsets, lowering prices for consumers.
Ambassador Richard Russell: Thank you for participating in this online chat. It is time for me to go to another meeting. I enjoyed the opportunity to answer your questions, and I hope you have found this discussion informative.
Moderator: We wish to thank Ambassador Russell for joining us today. The webchat is now closed.
Please visit USINFO's Webchat Station homepage for more information on upcoming events and a transcript of today’s discussion (posted within one business day).
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(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
