UNION INTERNATIONALE DES TELECOMMUNICATIONS INTERNATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATION UNION UNIÓN INTERNACIONAL DE TELECOMUNICACIONES Yaounde, 28 November 1994 Regional Radiocommunications Seminar for African countries Opening address by Dr. P. Tarjanne Secretary-General, ITU It gives me great pleasure to be with you today, to share with such a distinguished gathering some thoughts on the results of the work of the VGE. To start with I would like to extend our warmest thanks to the Administration of the Republic of Cameroon for having hosted this VGE information meeting which, I believe, is of much importance for providing the radiocommunications community of your Region with a clear picture of the changes proposed by the VGE. This is the second information meeting to be held since the ITU Council transmitted to the WRC 95 the VGE Final Report. The report concluded more than 3 years of in-depth analysis of the present radio regulatory regime as well as intense collective study on possible improvements of the Radio Regulations. The work of the VGE could be carried out thanks to a wide representation of the most skilled and experienced experts in that field, presided by Mr. Krister Björnsjö. His role deserves much appreciation and credit for leading and navigating the VGE through the many difficult and intricate problems which it has had to face. The quality and scope of the study has been ensured by the participation of more than 140 experts from 35 Member-countries and 8 international organisations and operating agencies. The active cooperation of experts from 18 developing countries should be particularly emphasised. Such a wide and qualified participation implies that the recommendations developed by the VGE have been thoroughly "filtered" so that due account of the specific requirements of countries with different levels of development have been taken into account, and that no "harmful interference" was caused to other international organisations and telecommunications operators. During these two days you will have the opportunity to get acquainted with the main principles of the proposed modifications of the Radio Regulations and to discuss those complex questions which will be reported to you by the distinguished speakers. Although I do not want to enter into the details of the work of the VGE, nevertheless, there is one basic point I would like you to keep in mind; the study carried out by the VGE has suggested that there is little possibility from a one time action to resolve all the problems resulting from 90 years of progressive congestion of the radio- frequency spectrum and almost 30 years of exploitation of the Geostationary-Satellite Orbit (GSO). That is why the VGE recommendations can be divided into two categories: those to be considered for implementation by the WRC-95 and those which should be qualified as long-term recommendations. The long-term recommendations should be considered as guidelines for future activities of the Radiocommunication Sector and, in particular, the Conference Preparatory Meetings (CPM) within the Sector's structure. With this in mind, WRC-95 (October - November 1995) has been invited to set up a timetable establishing priorities for future consideration of those actions recommended by the VGE which will require additional studies. The Plenipotentiary Conference, Kyoto, 1994, decided that, to the extent possible, the simplification of the Radio Regulations should be completed within the period 1995 - 1999. This objective will be achieved through the new biennial cycle of WRCs associated with Radiocommunication Assemblies (RA) and Conference Preparatory Meetings (CPM). Introduction of the new conferences mechanism together with the important role which Radiocommunication Study Groups will play in preparing and subsequently reporting to conferences on radio regulatory procedures as well as technical and operational matters, will streamline and provide for the implementation of the recommendations developed by the VGE. The Plenipotentiary Conference also set the stage for a comprehensive review of the regulatory regime for coordination of new satellite networks using either geostationary or non-geostationary satellite. The Council's session of 1994, having noted the results of the VGE work, invited administrations to use the Final Report of the VGE as a basis for preparing their positions for WRC-95, as an aid in streamlining their contributions and as a framework to discussions during the Conference. Although Part C will be a basic input document for agenda item 1 of WRC-95, I would like to add that the VGE recommendations contained in Part A of the Report should also be taken into account when preparing for other agenda items of that Conference, for example, those dealing with allocation matters for mobile- satellite services and the review of Resolutions and Recommendations of previous radio conferences. In order to maximize the benefits to participants this VGE information meeting is associated with a regional Radiocommunication Seminar on frequency spectrum management. I will not consider the task of the seminar, other than to say that it seems to be a very good opportunity to compare the present procedural situation, and trends and perspectives in frequency management development, with what has been recommended by the VGE. I am confident that these two seminars will help you in your preparations to the WRC-95. I consider these meetings as an important step forward towards the concrete accomplishment of the objective of the newly structured Radiocommunication Sector of the Union. This objective is the new vision of telecommunications as a business enterprise and its convergence with information technology - a tremendous challenge to the ITU, stimulating it to adapt its working methods in general and the radio regulatory regime in particular to the changing telecommunications environment. On behalf of my colleagues from the Headquarters and on my own behalf, I wish you every success in achieving this objective. - 2 - 30.11.94