The Politics Of International Telecommunications Regulation by James G Savage

Author:James G Savage [Savage, James G]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Language Arts & Disciplines, Communication Studies, Business & Economics, Industries, Media & Communications
ISBN: 9780813376820
Google: APG3AAAAIAAJ
Publisher: Avalon Publishing
Published: 1989-08-30T04:56:47+00:00

Conclusion

Spectrum management is an indispensable task. Given the fairly diminutive size of the IFRB, the recalcitrance of several larger administrations, and the hostility which exists between several others, it often seems miraculous that international registration and coordination of frequencies takes place at all. The Board has evolved into far more than just a registrar of frequencies: it is at the center of global frequency use and management. Developing countries rely on its advice and, as was seen in the southern African case, its impartiality in accommodating the needs of all spectrum users. Developed countries rely upon its skill in supervising the intersessional work between two-session WARCs as well as maintaining the Master Frequency List employed by all countries.

The IFRB faces new challenges—of increased burdens and decreased resources—but challenges are not new to the Board. From its earliest gloomy prospects as the compromise-ridden successor in the prewar Bern Bureau List, it has slowly evolved from an overly ambitious planner to a careful registrar of frequencies in use to a technical center of information and advice. It has had to confront early Eastern bloc accusations of American dominance, personality conflicts, later American attempts to do away with the Board, new technological challenges such as DBS and the GSO, and recent budget constraints.

It is traditionally argued that the ITU could not fulfill its spectrum management role without the Conference Preparatory Meetings (CPMs) and Interim Working Parties (IWPs) of the CCIR. The CCIR is deeply involved in pre-WARC planning and the exploration of policy alternatives. Some observers believe the CCIR could have even greater influence. The administrations at ORB-85 and the 1987 HF WARC second session made far less use of the CCIR material than they could have. Likewise, the burdensome intersessional activities delegated to the popular IFRB illustrate an aversion—chiefly on the part of developing countries—to allowing too great a role for the CCIR. This imbalance will continue to exist as long as the CCIR is so heavily weighted toward developed country representation. Increased LDC input in the CCIR, particularly if that input seeks social or political redistribution goals, could result in an equally unattractive diminishing of the CCIR's technical ability. For the first time, the directors of the CCIR and CCITT will be elected at the 1989 ITU Plenipotentiary instead of being elected at a CCI Plenary Meeting. This could alter the nature and direction of the CCIR and could, by the turn of the century, greatly remold the way in which the CCIR takes part in spectrum management.

It is the WARCs and RARCs, however, which are the ultimate expression of ITU activity in the field of spectrum management. From the earliest days of radio technology it has been these periodic international conferences which have enabled national administrations to coordinate and plan the use of new radio services, from primitive radiotelegraphy to direct broadcasting by satellite. General WARCs, such as those held in 1932, 1947, 1959, and 1979 are immense affairs which make thousands of highly technical decisions encompassing all aspects of radio communications.

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