The long-awaited World Radiocommunication Conference 2019 (WRC-19) gets under way on October 28 in Egypt and continues until November 22. The Conference Preparatory Meeting Report provides details on the technical, operational, regulatory, and procedural matters that delegates to the international gathering will consider. Amateur Radio’s 50 MHz allocation in ITU Region 1 (Europe, the Middle East, and Africa) is Agenda Item 1.1. The full, updated report is more than 900 pages long.

WRC-19 was tasked at WRC-15 to come up with an allocation that will “harmonize” with the 6-meter allocations in the other two regions, in accordance with WRC-15 Resolution 658, which seeks an allocation of 50 – 54 MHz in Region 1. Other proposals have been put forth, and the harmonization could be full or partial. According to the report, Amateur Radio’s spectrum needs have been quantified in two studies using an application-based approach. One indicates that 4 MHz of spectrum is required, while the other indicates that 1.75 MHz is required.

Studies undertaken to assess the possibility of sharing with incumbent Broadcasting, Land Mobile, and Radiolocation services have demonstrated that large separation distances would be needed to make such sharing possible. The 50 – 54 MHz band is allocated to Broadcasting on a primary basis in Region 1, with additional or alternative allocations to the Amateur, Fixed, Mobile, and/or Radiolocation limited to wind profiler radar (WPR) services in some countries.

Other possibilities include a secondary allocation in Region 1 of 50.080 – 50.280 MHz or 50 – 52 MHz, a hybrid primary-secondary allocation in all or part of 50 – 54 MHz, or no changes. Regulatory text is also provided for implementation of the proposed methods. Regional agreements remain in force for the band 47 – 68 MHz in Region 1. No impact on Amateur Radio allocations in Regions 2 and 3 is anticipated.

Other agenda items affecting Amateur Radio include allocations for 5G services in the 47 GHz band (Amateur Radio has an allocation at 47.0 – 47.2 GHz in the US) and elsewhere, and studies concerning wireless power transmission for electric vehicles (WPT-EV) to assess the impact on radiocommunication services and to study suitable harmonized frequency ranges which would minimize the impact on radiocommunication services from WPT-EV.

ITU member-states may introduce proposals of their own at the conference. WRC-19 delegates will also determine the agenda for the next WRC in 2023 and any needed technical studies.

The International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) Administrative Council (AC) met in September in Lima, Peru, to conduct a final review of its preparations for WRC-19.

Other WRC-19 documents are available.