Speech by ITU Secretary-General, Houlin Zhao​

World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-15) : Opening Remarks

02 November 2015, Geneva, Switzerland

Excellencies,
Distinguished colleagues,
Ladies and gentlemen,

It is a great pleasure and a privilege to address you this morning at the opening of the 2015 World Radiocommunication Conference.

WRC-15 – like the Radiocommunication Assembly last week – represents an important landmark in the life of ITU's Radiocommunication Sector.

As you know, World Radiocommunication Conferences are responsible for updating the Radio Regulations, the international treaty governing the use of the radio-frequency spectrum and the geostationary-satellite and non-geostationary-satellite orbits.

The preparation for WRC-15, which started nearly 4 years ago, has seen an increasing participation of the ITU-R membership that resulted in thousands of pages of ITU-R Recommendations and Reports developed and approved to address all the required technical and regulatory issues on the WRC-15 Agenda. 

There are around 40 topics on the WRC-15 agenda. Some of the main issues to be discussed at the conference will be:

• The provision of additional frequencies to meet the rapidly growing demand for mobile broadband communications.
• The allocation of frequencies for advanced broadband public protection and disaster relief (PPDR).
• New allocations for earth-exploration satellite services with higher resolution radar imagery for improved global environmental and climate change monitoring.
• Spectrum for the aeronautical sector, related to the use of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), and wireless avionics intra-communications (WAIC).
• The consideration of spectrum for Global Flight Tracking for Civil Aviation, following the decision of the last Plenipotentiary Conference of the ITU.
• Enhanced maritime communications systems, to facilitate the use of on-board digital transmissions and automatic identification system on vessels for improved navigation safety.
• The allocation of frequencies for short range, high-resolution radars for collision avoidance systems in vehicles for increased road safety.
• Allocation of spectrum for broadband satellite systems, providing for earth stations on-board moving platforms, such as vessels, and improving coordination procedures to make more efficient use of spectrum and satellite orbits.
• Examining the feasibility of achieving a continuous reference time-scale, by modifying Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).

We can see that this conference will address important topics that are of crucial relevance to governments, industry and individuals all over the world.

We have prepared a special edition of the ITU News Magazine on WRC-15, to help inform the ITU community as well as members of the public on the main issues at stake here, and on the potential impact of the Conference's decisions.

Distinguished colleagues,

Let me congratulate Mr. Festus Daudu for his nomination as Chairman of WRC-15, as well as the Vice-Chairmen. Mr Daudu, I have every confidence in your abilities to ensure a smooth and efficient running of the conference over the four coming weeks.

Ladies and gentlemen,

In conclusion, WRC-15 will define new and better ways to regulate radio services and applications.  In a world where radiocommunications are playing a more and more important role in connecting people, I am convinced that the outcome of the conference will represent a major contribution in making the world a better place for all.

I wish you a productive and successful WRC-15.

Thank you.