Tonight the Plenary took up the 7 MHz allocation table at 11 PM and spent an hour and 10 minutes going through it. The Arab Group and Iran were vociferous in their opposition to change but the chairman, Dr. Veena Rawat, managed to push the discussion through the document. It would be premature to suggest, however, that the document has been approved. Where it stands at this point is that the Arab Group is planning to submit a new footnote for an alternative allocation of 7100-7200 kHz in their countries. We do not yet know exactly what form that footnote will take, or whether their opposition will take other forms. They may try to maintain their right to continue to use the band for broadcasting, which will set off further fireworks.
What was approved is a carefully crafted compromise (excluding the Arab Group and Iran) that provides, effective on 29 March 2009, an amateur allocation of 7100-7200 kHz in Regions 1 and 3. This is achieved by moving the broadcasting allocation up by 100 kHz, to an upper bound of 7450 kHz, in those regions. Broadcasting also picks up an additonal 50 kHz, from 7350-7400 kHz, in Region 2 as a part of the package. There are footnotes to provide for continued use of the new broadcasting allocations by fixed and mobile on a national basis. Finally, and this is the potentially sticky part, there is a footnote for the allocation of 7100-7200 kHz to the fixed and mobile services in certain countries in Region 3, and possibly some in Region 1, as additional services to the amateur service. So far, the countries who have asked to have their country names inserted into this footnote are nearly all in the Far East and Oceania. However, "footnote fever" ften takes hold at a conference and additional country names are likely to be proposed as we grind toward the final Plenary at which business will be conducted on Thursday morning. Fortunately, there is no move by Region 2 countries to put their names into the footnote. The UK had proposed that its overseas territories in the southern hemisphere be included, but when CITEL requested it they withdrew the Falklands and Ascension from the footnote and now have only Diego Garcia, which is in Region 3.
The "temperature of the room" was clearly on our side, but the Arab Group interventions could charitably be described as vituperative and we believe they will do their best to obstruct completion of action on the issue. Some pieces of the 7-MHz puzzle, such as a resolution to keep alive the possibility of completing realignment at the next conference, remain to be discussed.
The compromise package is, of course, not everything we were hoping for. However, if it remains intact it represents a big step in the right direction. First, amateurs in Region 2 lose nothing; the 7000-7300 kHz band remains exclusively amateur in Region 2. Second, 7100-7200 kHz becomes useful 24 hours a day, since the interference potential of the fixed and mobile services that may be put into the band in certain countries is similar to that of amateur stations, and far less than broadcasting. Third, the implementation date of 29 March 2009 is much earlier than many of the proposed dates that were being considered. An "early entry on a secondary basis" footnote that had been championed by CEPT was a casualty of the final compromise to settle the implementation date. Finally, the worldwide band doubles in size, from 100 to 200 kHz, to the great relief of our overseas colleagues -- particularly in Europe.
An essential element of finding the compromise was to find a bridge between the CEPT and CITEL proposals, which were both favorable to us but treated the other services differently. The United States proposal provided that bridge. The U.S. has been a solid supporter of the effort to reach a compromise.
There will be more to say later. Again, final action has not been taken and what I have described here could still go off track. So don't break out the champagne quite yet!
73,
Dave Sumner, K1ZZ
for a tired but rather happy IARU team
