International Journal of Communications Law & Policy

OBSERVATIONS FROM WRC-03
By Liching Sung

Download the Paper in PDF Format: IJCLP Web-Doc 10a-8-2004

Abstract

The 2003 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-03) was the largest radio spectrum allocation conference since 1992 and one of the largest WRCs ever held by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). The conference was instrumental in facilitating the extension of broadband wireless networks from corporate offices to public spaces, and from land to the sky and the sea. It was also notable for a maturation of the regionalization trend, developed over past decade, in international spectrum diplomacy. Most significantly, this conference provides a window to understanding the tensions in contemporary international spectrum policy-making. The tensions came from three sources: (1) equitable access to space communication; (2) spectrum access as a component of international economic competition; and (3) potential paradigm shift in spectrum management. This paper reviews major decisions of this conference according to these three themes.

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