A senior executive delegation from the UAE Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) is representing the United Arab Emirates at the World Radio-communication Conference 2007 (WRC-07), which will take place on October 22 – November 17, 2007, at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.
The WRC takes place every four years and plays a major role in reviewing radio regulations, revising the use of radio-frequency spectrum, and the geostationary and non-geostationary satellite orbits. Revisions are made on the basis of an agenda determined by the ITU Council, which takes into account the recommendations made by previous WRC’s
In this respect, H.E. Mohamed Al Ghanim, TRA Board Member & Director General, stated: “The TRA has been elected last year to be in the ITU Council for duration of four years, thus, we have headed numerous regional meetings and task teams related to the ITU events. As for what is related to the Radio-communication field, the TRA hosted in Dubai the 3rd Meeting of the GCC Team Assigned to Prepare for the WRC-07, on June 9 – 11, 2007. The Meeting discussed the special issues and the required procedures to prepare for the WRC-07. One of the most important issues that was discussed in the Meeting was to come with unified GCC viewpoints regarding the agenda items of the coming WRC-07, to act as a prologue for presenting the papers at the Arab Permanent Spectrum Team that followed in July in Syria, which discussed accrediting these papers as Unified Arab Papers for the Arab Group participation in the WRC-07.”
Mr. Al Ghanim continued clarifying that, “the TRA also hosted in Dubai, in coordination with the Telecommunications Bureau of the Kingdom of Bahrain, the 25th Coordination Meeting between the GCC and representatives from the United States Department of Defense (US DoD), on June 12 – 13, 2007. The Meeting’s discussions focused on the Radio-communications interference and the coordination with the Americans on the usage of joint spectrum in the Gulf Region. The Meeting succeeded in reaching coordinated and unified viewpoints among the GCC members, serving the Telecom Sector in the Gulf Region.”
In his turn, Mr. Tariq Al-Awadhi, Director of Spectrum Affairs at the TRA, commented: “The agenda, which contains about 30 items related to almost all space radio services and applications, comprises mobile communications, including 3G and future generations satellite services including meteorological applications, digital broadcasting, and the use of radio in the prediction and detection of natural disasters.” Mr. Al-Awadhi clarified that, “under the terms of the ITU Constitution, the WRC can revise radio regulations and any associated frequency assignment and allotment plans, address any radio communication matter of worldwide character, instruct the Radio-regulations Board and the Radio-communication Bureau; and review their activities, determine questions for study by the Radio-communication Assembly (RA) and its study groups in preparation for future Radio-communication Conferences.”
Furthermore, the Arab Group proposed and supported Mr. Nasser Bin Hammad, Manager for Spectrum Coordination at the TRA, to be the Vice-Chair of one of the ITU Radio-communication Study Group, which is responsible for the space services activities for the coming four years (2007 – 20010).
The delegate of the TRA Senior Executives also attended the Radio-communication Assembly 2007 (RA-07) Meeting, which took place prior to the WRC-07, at the International Conference Centre of Geneva, on 15 – 19 October, to decide the structure and program of the Radio-communication study groups according to the developing needs that will be issued in the upcoming conference.
