The WRC-07 addressed some 30 agenda items related to almost all terrestrial and space radiocommunication services and applications. These covered future generations of mobile telephony, aeronautical telemetry and telecommand systems, satellite services including meteorological applications, maritime distress and safety signals, digital broadcasting and the use of radio in the prediction and detection of natural disasters.

An unprecedented number of delegates (over 2800 delegates representing 164 Member States and 104 observers) attended the conference, which was marked by intense negotiations on the future of wireless communications.

The most significant decisions taken by the conference were the allocation and identification of globally harmonised frequency bands at 450 MHz, 700 and 800 MHz, 2.3 GHz and 3.5 GHz, for use by International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT), the concept that embraces advanced broadband mobile technologies for use on a global basis.

As an illustration of the convergence of developing and developed countries requirements for broadband mobile spectrum, the six regional groups (APT, ATU, League of Arab States, CEPT, CITEL and RCC) fully collaborated to make these decisions possible by overcoming the difficulties faced by all countries and regions in respect of existing systems in the corresponding bands.

The decisions made at WRC-07 represent a major landmark for the future of ICT, which provides every country with the means of reducing the digital divide, in particular by implementing the digital dividend arising from the digitization of terrestrial broadcasting and switch-off of analogue broadcasting.

​Text contributed by Mr. François Rancy (Chair of the 2007 WRC)

For more information, visit the World Radiocommunication Conference (Geneva, 2007) web site.