Here's a good article on some of the issues and frequencies under consideration at the WRC. The article contains much non-amateur radio stuff (not surprising since this will be the bulk of the WRC), but it looks like the HF spectrum will also come into play.
DOD also has an interest in whether the ITU decides to protect high-frequency (HF) spectrum from encroachment by shortwave broadcasters worldwide. All three military services rely on HF for long-range terrestrial communications.
Fighting to retain control of the HF bands might seem like a last-ditch stand to keep horse-drawn buggies, some spectrum experts say. Broadcasters, such as the BBC, have moved from HF and now rely on satellite and Internet feeds.
But the development of high-quality digital radio broadcasting technology has changed the picture and made HF suddenly more appealing. Shortwave broadcasters worldwide want the ITU to allocate to them as much as 800 KHz of additional spectrum in the HF band from 4 MHz to 10 MHz.
A new golden age
Analog shortwave broadcasts are typically interrupted by hisses and pops. But the new technology, Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM), will enable shortwave broadcasters to transmit programs thousands of miles with the signal quality and audio clarity of FM radio, said Nigel Holmes, transmission manager at Radio Australia.
DRM could lead to a golden age for shortwave broadcasting, Holmes said.
Broadcasters worldwide — the BBC, Deutsche Welle in Germany, Radio France, Radio Sweden, Radio Canada and Radio New Zealand — have embraced it. The National Association of Shortwave Broadcasters in the United States, most of whose members are religious broadcasters, supports DRM, and it has urged the FCC to push for allocating additional HF spectrum for broadcasting.
But Eric Johnson, professor of engineering at New Mexico State University and a member of the AFCEA International HF Industry Association, said HF is equally well-positioned to support a golden age of data communications. Thanks to new standards, some of which Johnson helped develop, HF can support data rates of 9,600 bits/sec in a 3 KHz channel and 64 bits/sec in a 12 KHz channel.
In an era in which users can access the Internet at speeds measured in megabytes of data, 64 bits/sec does seem like horse-drawn buggy speed, but it exceeds the data rate of satellite communication systems on some of the Navy’s smallest ships, Johnson said. The Air Force already relies on HF in its High Frequency Global Communications System to transmit e-mail messages to airlifters the Air Mobility Command operates.
The Homeland Security Department’s Customs and Border Protection organization operates a nationwide HF network to communicate with its boats, planes, helicopters and vehicular assets, Johnson said. Australia and the United Kingdom recently installed new HF networks. Those DHS and overseas networks could be undermined if shortwave broadcasters receive expanded HF spectrum allocations, Johnson said.
Younes said HF spectrum is critical to DOD’s combat operations in Afghanistan and Iraq and relief operations such as those DOD conducted in late 2004 and early 2005 after a tsunami hit many Asian and Indian Ocean countries. DOD must protect HF spectrum from broadcasters’ incursions as it develops new Internet-based applications for HF, he said. HF is essential for communications with partner countries in multinational coalitions, many of whom use it as their sole means of communications, he added.
The FCC has deliberated but has not reached a decision about whether to back the shortwave broadcasters or the government’s tactical and mobile users of HF spectrum. Johnson said the FCC needs to side with DOD and other federal stakeholders and do so well ahead of the conference to protect HF spectrum that DOD and other federal agencies use. Many countries are waiting to learn the U.S. policy position before they solidify their own, and an early signal from the United States could slow the broadcasters’ momentum in seeking additional HF spectrum, he said.
Full article at
http://www.fcw.com/article97846-03-12-07-Print