The aviation industry is battling to preserve its radio frequency spectrum
Emma Kelly/LONDON
In May, the aviation industry will face one of its toughest battles, when it fights to protect its radio-frequency spectrum. Aviation met the first serious sortie on its spectrum at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC) in 1997, when the aeronautical spectrum was threatened by mobile satellite communication operators.
At the time, the ITU - the controller of radio frequencies - reprieved the aviation industry and decided against the expansion of mobile satellite services (MSS) into the bands allocated to aeronautical navigation systems. But the reprieve was limited. The mobile telecommunication industry is to mount a major campaign for the aeronautical radio spectrum at this year's WRC at Istanbul, Turkey, in May-June, at which spectrum allocations will be decided.
The aeronautical voice at the WRC is small. Each country's radio regulatory authority has voting rights, while telecommunications companies and equipment manufacturers can become non- voting ITU members. Aviation bodies, such as the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) and the International Air Transport Association (IATA), can be ITU members, but without voting rights.
The situation is worsened by the fact that rich telecommunication conglomerates enjoy strong political support and have technical and financial resources far greater than those of the aviation industry. There is also little understanding outside aviation of the importance of the radio spectrum in the safety and efficiency of airline operations.
Historically, aviation has a bad name for its inefficient use of the spectrum. "One of the criticisms we face as an industry is that we've not been taking this seriously. We've been sitting on large chunks of spectrum we have not used efficiently," says John White, director of the Infrastructure Support Group of IATA, which has taken on the role of aviation spectrum protector.
Aviation has previously "enjoyed a measure of protection" for its radio bands, but with demand for radio frequency exceeding supply by three to one, this protection is running out, says White. With aviation holding 12% of the spectrum, the industry must justify its requirements.
Aeronautical frequencies have been under pressure since the early 1990s and the liberalisation of telecommunication markets. The threat to aeronautical frequency has never been more dangerous, though, because of moves towards communications, navigation and surveillance/air traffic management (CNS/ ATM) operations, which are reliant on satellite navigation and communications. Failure to protect the aviation spectrum could result in costly modifications to equipment and the scope for new navigation systems will be restricted.
IATA wants to preserve exclusively the 1559-1610MHz frequency band for global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) and believes the 1545-1555MHz and 1646.5-1656.5MHz bands should be given guaranteed access and protected from interference. The GNSS band is particularly attractive to mobile users, but it is vital that aviation protects it for satellite navigation developments.
Up until 1997, IATA and the aviation industry "had pretty much run down its involvement in WRC", but the industry received "a rude wake-up call" at WRC '97, when the MSS operators tried to move into the bands allocated to aeronautical navigation systems. Then, the ITU voted to review the situation at the next WRC, following studies into the feasibility of sharing bands.
That WRC is less than three months away, giving the aviation industry little time to influence the world's radio bodies. "We are trying to fill in many of the holes and do our best to ensure that there is no one out there in any position of influence who does not understand that we are about to get a very bad deal," says White. Sharing many of the bands with other users would be costly - and even dangerous - to aviation.
ICAO's official position for WRC 2000 was distributed in July. With the aviation industry having no direct voice at WRC, IATA has urged member airlines to lobby their national ministries of telecommunication to support ICAO's position. "We've discovered how little influence we have. State activity is dominated by telecom divisions, not transport divisions. As we have non-voting rights, we have to influence the voters," says White.
IATA has initiated a national lobby programme and an international lobby mechanism, held meetings to increase awareness of the problem and attempted to orchestrate a co-ordinated industry campaign. It has established the Spectrum Protection Steering Group (SPSG) to enlist airlines. The SPSG is overseeing development, publication and submission of a harmonised aviation position. The group is also guiding airlines in lobbying their country's governments to support the common aviation position.
A major IATA-led industry meeting in preparation for WRC 2000 is planned for this week, where the industry's position will be finalised. In addition, the association is planning an industry meeting for 8-9 March in London, at which IATA will "try to get together a much larger industry group" and pool all interested parties. Until now the industry's activities have involved technical representatives, with White conceding that "few people really understand the issues".
Recognising the strength of the opposition, however, the issue is being opened to wider areas of the industry. "We've been working the street as hard as we can with the technical people. We've reached a point where the technical work is done, but the message is not going through beyond the technical people," he says. IATA is keen to get the aeropolitical, marketing and public relations representatives involved.
Whether the industry's activities have been enough to protect its position will not be known until June. But, whatever the outcome, aviation will have an ongoing battle. The pressure on the radio frequency spectrum is so great that no sooner has one WRC finished than preparations start for the next. "It [frequency protection] is now a permanent feature of aviation planning and it will get worse. There will be more demands on the spectrum. Our access [to the radio spectrum] is no longer guaranteed," says White.
Source: Flight International
