90-year of radiocommunication, testifies sustainable development to wireless ecosystem - ITU

ITREALMS:

The global telecom agency, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) has described the 90^th anniversary of radiocommunication as the testimony to sustainable development to wireless ecosystem, reports ITRealms.

This, ITRealms gathered culminated in the radiocommunication stakeholders high-level assembly from around the globe in Geneva Tuesday, November 21.

The achievements of the ITU-R Study Groups, ITRealms also reports, was recognized as a testimony of the inspiring global collaboration to produce universally applied regulations, standards and best practices, as illustrated by the continuous growth in the use of wireless communications in the last thirty years and of an ubiquitous wireless world connected by ITU.

The anniversary celebrations in Geneva were attended by more than 266 participants from 57 administrations, including ITU-R sector members, associates and academic experts; former ITU officials; former directors of the ITU Radiocommunication Bureau; current and former members of the Radio Regulations Board (RRB); former members of the International Frequency Registration Board (IFRB); as well as ITU-R Study Group chairmen and former CCIR Study Group chairmen.

The event included addresses by Malcolm Johnson, ITU's Deputy Secretary-General, and François Rancy, ITU Radiocommunication Bureau Director. A panel discussion on the importance of CCIR/ITU-R Study Groups activities and their contribution to shaping and enabling the global wireless ecosystem was held in conjunction with the first ITU inter-regional preparation workshop for the 2019 World Radiocommunication Conference. Industry partners attending the ceremony's panel discussions included representatives of the GSM Association (GSMA), EMEA Satellite Operators Association (ESOA), European Broadcasting Union (EBU), World Meteorological Organization (WMO), European Commission, Tetra Critical Communications Association (TCCA), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Science Committee on Frequency Allocations for Radio Astronomy and Space Science (IUCAF), Rohde & Schwarz and the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU).

"Please join me in congratulating the CCIR*/ITU Radiocommunication Sector Study Groups on their 90th Anniversary, which represents a successful global collaboration that has gone a long way to develop universally applied regulations, standards and best practices, to enable the sustainable development of the wireless ecosystem," said Houlin Zhao, ITU Secretary-General.

Currently, more than 5,000 specialists, from administrations, the telecommunications industry and academic organizations throughout the world, participate in the work of the ITU-R Study Groups on topics including: efficient use and management of spectrum/orbit resources, radiowave propagation, definition of future radiocommunication systems characteristics and performance, including fixed communications, aeronautical, maritime and land mobile communications, public protection and disaster relief, sound and television broadcasting, radiolocation, satellite communication and radionavigation, Earth exploration, meteorology, space science and radioastronomy.

Key ongoing activities of ITU-R Study Groups include 5G (IMT-2020) and radio-controlled watches, radio headsets to equipment for home and office networking, radio positioning systems for navigation, intelligent transport systems, smart cities, advanced immersive UHDTV technologies, Earth imagery and meteorological satellites, and emergency communications and disaster warning systems.

"Amongst other major achievements is the development and adoption of the IMT mobile broadband standards, which have revolutionized the way people communicate and access the internet, by enabling 3G and 4G, and now the future 5G generation of standards," said Mr Johnson.

"The work of ITU–R Study Groups and before it, that of CCIR, harnesses technological progress to the benefit of all and enables the long-term sustainability of the radiocommunication ecosystem, which has flourished over a century and become a fundamental part of today's world," said Mr Rancy.

ITU-R Study Groups develop the technical bases for important decisions taken at the quadrennial World Radiocommunication Conferences. They also develop Global Standards (Recommendations), Reports and Handbooks on radiocommunication matters.

Chuks Egbune/GEE

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ITU RA-12 initiates studies on mobile broadband

The 2012 Radiocommunication Assembly  organised by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) concluded this year’s session with new directions in radiocommunications including initiating of a new studies on mobile broadband.

The week-long deliberation, ITRealms Online gathered holds every three to four years, while the Radiocommunication Assembly deliberated on the future direction of radiocommunications and reached significant decisions that will impact the future mostly in an increasingly wireless environment.

The Radiocommunication Assembly (RA-12) chaired by Mr. A.R. Jamieson of New Zealand, had over 500 participants from 102 countries in attendance the Assembly.

RA-12 approved a series of Recommendations and Resolutions that established the International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT)-Advanced technologies and initiated further studies for the development of global mobile broadband communications.

According to the Secretary-General, ITU, Dr. Hamadoun Touré, the Radiocommunication Assembly, like the World Radiocommunication Conference represents an important landmark in the life of ITU’s Radiocommunication Sector.

This Assembly, he said, has once again demonstrated the central role that the Radiocommunication Sector plays in the global development of information and communication technologies.

Based on the new milestone in global mobile broadband, he said, the specifications for the next step in mobile broadband wireless technology – IMT-Advanced; were agreed by the Assembly.

He pointed out that with the completion of an intensive programme developed by ITU’s Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R) to stimulate global development of the future IMT technologies.

He emphasised that following a detailed evaluation against stringent technical and operational criteria, ITU has determined that LTE-Advanced and WirelessMAN-Advanced should be accorded the official designation of IMT-Advanced.

He explained that IMT-Advanced systems include new capabilities that go beyond IMT-2000, widely deployed since 2000 and referred to as 3G mobile technology.

ITU, therefore, specified the standards for IMT-Advanced, the next step in global wireless broadband communications.

Stressing that IMT-Advanced provides comprehensive support for broadband wireless data and brings major improvements.

These, the Assembly outlined to include increased spectrum efficiency to handle more users at higher data rates per radio channel; a fully packet-based architecture for reduced costs; lower latency leading to more responsive Internet and multimedia applications.

Additionally, the Assembly underscored the fact that improved radio resource management and control would enhance quality of service, and new capabilities for the radio interface such as wideband radio channels and multiple-input and multiple-output  (MIMO) for the use of multiple antennas at both the transmitter and receiver-end to improve communication performance.

The RA-12 also decided to conduct further studies related to the development of a continuous time standard in order to address the concerns of countries that use the current system of the leap second in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).

The decision, ITRealms Online gathered, was reached to ensure that all the technical options related to the issue are fully addressed, adding that these studies will involve further discussions within the ITU membership and with other organizations that have an interest in the matter related to the suppression of the leap second and will be referred to the next Radiocommunication Assembly and World Radiocommunication Conference scheduled for 2015.

Further, the Radiocommunication Assembly it was gathered planned for future technologies and based on the approved resolutions to focus studies on new radiocommunication techniques and applications, such as cognitive radio systems, and on the potential for radiocommunications to act as a catalyst to reduce the impact of human activity on the environment.

RA-12 also agreed on changes to streamline the working methods of the ITU Radiocommunication Sector in adopting recommendations and elected the chairmen and vice-chairmen of the Study Groups that will conduct the work in the next four years.

The Radiocommunication Assembly provides the necessary technical bases for the work of the World Radiocommunication Conferences, sets future work programmes on many technical issues of a worldwide character in the field of radiocommunications, and approves worldwide radiocommunication standards (ITU-R Recommendations).

Remmy Nweke
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