Ep 32: Spectrum availability and allocation at WRC-23

In this episode we are talking about critical changes coming for critical communication spectrum at the upcoming World Radiocommunication Conference 2023 (WRC-23).

Please read the TCCA Spectrum Position on World Radiocommunications Conference Agenda Item 1.5 whitepaper here: TCCA Spectrum Position Paper

We talk about why spectrum is important for our industry, what the key spectrum requirements are for the critical communications community, and what spectrum options exists today.

Then we get to key World Radiocommunication Conference agenda items and ask what the critical communications industry wants to see from WRC-23 and what the spectrum needs are here.

WRC-23 Agenda Item 1.5 reviews the spectrum, use and spectrum needs of existing services in the UHF frequency band 470-694MHz in Region 1 (comprising Europe, Africa, the Middle East west of the Persian Gulf, including Iraq and Mongolia).
Some administrations have expressed interest in using a portion of the band 470-694MHz for Public Protection and Disaster Relief (PPDR) applications, with an expressed requirement of 2x10MHz.
This band under discussion meets all requirements in terms of propagation characteristics, available bandwidth, timely availability and potential synergies with narrowband infrastructure.

We believe that we are still very much at a position where advocacy from individuals, individual agencies and national regulators is still really important. Your voice can, and should, be heard!

In this episode we are joined by 2 expert speakers: Luz Fernández del Rosal from BDBOS and Noel Kirkaldy from Nokia.

Luz is responsible for the coordination of the international activities and partnerships at the German Federal Agency for Public Safety Digital Radio (BDBOS) and is vice-chair of the Critical Communications Broadband Group (CCBG) of the TCCA.

Noel has over 30 years in the telecoms industry and has been instrumental in the development of Mission Critical solutions in several markets in the MEA region and globally. He has worked closely with Governments and Regulators and associated Industry organisations, including TCCA, to enable the allocation of additional spectrum that is required to develop these markets.

A massive thank you to both of our guests today and to TCCA for their ongoing efforts leading the global development and promotion of standardised critical communication solutions.

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