The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) World Radiocommunication Conference 2023 (WRC-23) began November 20 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and will continue through December 15, 2023. During WRC-23, the ITU’s 193 sovereign Member States, each with one equal vote, will address items on a formal agenda in an effort to reach consensus on revisions to the ITU Radio Regulations, the international treaty governing the global use of radio-frequency spectrum and satellite orbits.
WRC’s are held every 3 to 4 years and include the Amateur and Amateur Satellite Service allocations.
The International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) is a Sector Member of the ITU and globally represents the interests of amateur radio. A contingent of representatives from IARU and ARRL in the US are attending the meetings. ARRL serves as the International Secretariat of the IARU.
The agenda of items to be reviewed for WRC-23 was established at the completion of the last conference in 2019. Of primary importance to the Amateur and Amateur Satellite Services is Agenda Item 9.1 topic b, which addresses the amateur use of the 23 – centimeter band and the co-frequency use by several radio navigation satellite service (RNSS) systems in the 1240 – 1300 MHz band.
The work at WRC-23 involves several committees, working groups, and sub – working groups that negotiate spectrum matters in an effort to reach consensus on the conference agenda items to subsequently be presented and formally adopted during the final plenary session.
A report on items of interest to amateur radio from WRC-23 will be reported at its conclusion.