Cost Cutting Measures Sought to Ensure World Radiocommunication Conference in 2015
Questions about how to finance the next World Radiocommunication Conference and Radiocommunication Assembly have prompted discussion about the possibility of delaying the meetings from 2015 to 2016, according to officials and documents we obtained. The ITU Council had agreed on the dates last year. The council will further discuss the matter in June.
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Timing of WRC-15 is one of the important items on the June ITU Council meeting, said a Canadian official at the May 22-24 meeting of the Radiocommunication Advisory Group (RAG). If the WRC for some reason doesn’t happen in 2015, summer 2016 is the only time available, an ITU official said, citing venue availability. The ITU Council in 2012 decided to hold the Radiocommunication Assembly Oct. 26-30, 2015, and the World Radiocommunication Conference Nov. 2-27, 2015, said a report by the ITU secretary-general to the council.
The ITU secretary-general said the two world meetings weren’t included in the financial plan for the four-year period from 2012, according to the report. ITU’s financial planning is done by a variety of groups, including the four secretariat bureaus, the council and the organization’s top policy setting conference held every four years.
"The decision of WRC-12 to allocate the frequency band 694-790 MHz in [Africa, Europe and Commonwealth of Independent States] to the mobile service effective immediately after WRC-15 is dependent upon a conference in 2015,” the U.S. said in a submission to the June meeting of the ITU Council. Consideration of spectrum allocations required for implementation of mobile broadband at WRC-15 is essential for addressing the digital divide and introducing new broadband technologies, the U.S. said.
Convening the world conference and Radiocommunication Assembly in 2015 should be a top priority for the 2014-2015 budget, the U.S. said. “It is unclear why these core activities were removed from the initial drafts of the program of work and budget for 2014-2015,” the U.S. submission said. The U.S. noted the secretariat’s efforts to have a balanced budget and the effect of the economic crisis on the need to reevaluate priorities and to take measures to reduce expenditures.
The report by the secretary general to the council said about $5.21 million would need to be withdrawn from the reserve account, which had a balance of $29.6 million at the end of last year. Countries in the Inter-American Telecommunication Commission used up reserve accounts over recent years. Other measures for reducing expenditures should be investigated rather than delaying the conferences or taking the money from the reserve account, the U.S. said.
The U.S. told the RAG that the preparatory meeting for the subsequent world conference should immediately follow WRC-15 because of government budget cutbacks. Germany said some time is needed between WRC-15 and the first conference preparatory meeting for the subsequent conference to allow for development of proposals. ITU’s top policy setting conference in 2014 will likely consider the timing for the first preparatory meeting following WRC-15.