World Radio Conference 2019 (WRC-19) Delivering the Required Spectrum to Power the 5G futureBharat Bhatia

President, ITU-APT Foundation of India

Chair, ITU-R WP5D SWG PPDR

Chair, AWG Task group on PPDR

WRC-19 was attended by over 3540 delegates from 165 Countries⮚ WRC-19 took place in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt from Oct. 28 to

Nov. 22, 2019.

⮚ 165 countries signed the final treaty on November 22

⮚ 5G SPECTRUM WAS THE KEY AGENDA OF WRC-19

⮚ Decisions at WRC are international treaties (Legally binding on UN member nations)

⮚ 22 Agenda items and 11 issues were addressed.

⮚ Agenda was prepared by the Previous WRC in 2015. WRC-19 prepared the agenda for WRC-23

⮚ WRC-19 was preceded by 4 years of studies. Next cycle of studies for WRC-23 has already started.

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First WRC in 19 years held outside Geneva WRC-2000 was held in Istanbul, WRC-03, 07,12 and 15 in Geneva

Simultaneous work in six languages - English, French, Arabic, Chinese, Russian, and Spanish

5G spectrum in mm wave bands above 24 GHz was the most important agenda item of WRC-19 (1.13)

• WRC-19 identified in the following bands for IMT:

• 24.25-27.5 GHz (26 GHz)

• 37-43.5 GHz (40 GHz)

• 45.5-47 GHz & 47.2-48.2 (50 GHz)

• 66-71 GHz for IMT (70 GHz)

• The key issue at the WRC was to decide the power limits and other conditions to protect satellites in the same and adjacent bands. The agreement for these limits could not be reached during first three weeks despite hectic negotiation that went on almost daily until midnight.

• A closed door meeting convened by the Chairman Dr. Badavi to break the deadlock reached the main agreement on 5G limits after midnight of Wednesday 20th November after 5 hours of intense closed door negotiations reached at WRC-19. India Played a crucial role in this.

The Main Issue for 5G spectrum in 26 GHz band (24.25-27.5 GHz) at WRC-19

was the Protection of Earth Exploration Satellites(EESS) in adjacent band (in 23.6-

24 GHz) and Fixed Satellites (FSS) in band (24.25-27.5 GHz)

H2O Molecular absorption

peak in 23.6-24 GHzKey to accurate measurement of

the vertical water vapour content

Out of band emissions from 5G handsets and Towers in 24.25-27.5 GHz can interfere

with these measurements

EESS

FSSMET SAT

Emissions from 5G Towers in 24.25-27.5 GHz can interfere with FSS satellites in Band

5G Out of Band Emission Limits to Protect EESS

Proposed and the Final Values approved by WRC-19

-60-55-50-45-40-35-30-25-20

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Limits Proposed by India were most reasonable and

quite adjacent to what was finally approved

Country/Region Base HandsetKorea ++ −2 8 −24Americas −28 −28

Arabs + Africa −32 −28India −35 −35

Europeans −42 −38

Japan−42 to

−34−38 to −30

China−44 to

−37−40 to −33

Russia++ −49 −45Final Limits Approved by WRC

Limits Now -33 -29Limits After Sept 2027

-39 -35

WRC also agreed for very light conditions to protect Fixed Satellites (FSS) in

band (24.25-27.5 GHz) from 5G base stations

5G operators asked to take practical measures to ensure the transmitting antennas of outdoor base

stations are normally pointing below the horizon, The mechanical pointing needs to be at or below the

horizon as far as practicable

Base station/Towers of 5G

with EIRP Power per beam

exceeding 30 dBW/200 MHz

should be selected so that

the direction of maximum

radiation of any antenna will

be separated from the

geostationary-satellite orbit

by ±7.5 degrees;

FSS

But 5G will require access to multiple bands of spectrum.

WRC-19 decided only on mm wave bands (above 6GHz)

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eMBB, URLLC,

mMTC (no deep coverage)

High Band Frequencies

Super data layerAddressing specific use cases

requiring extremely high data rates

Above 6 GHz(e.g. 24.25-29.5,

37-43.5 GHz)

Mid Band Frequencies

Coverage & capacity layerBest compromise with capacity & coverage

3 to 6 GHz(e.g. 3300-4200,

4400-5000 MHz)

Low Band Frequencies

Coverage layerWide and deep indoor coverage

Below 3 GHze.g. 600,700,800,

900,1800 MHz

2GHz, 2.5 GHz

eMBB, URLLC

C-Band and Group 30/40 are First global 5G Bands.

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WRC outcomes

Group 30. Group 40 Group 50 Group 70

24.25-27.5 37– 43.5 45-.5-47&47.2-47.8 66-71 GHz

Group 30 in USA/Korea/Japan also includes 28 GHz Band (27.5-29.5 GHz)

C-Band (also called mid band) is the First Global 5G band

34 countries have so far launched commercial 5G services

61 COMMERCIAL 5G NETWORKS IN 34 COUNTRIES

• By the end of 2019, 119 countries had announced they were investing in 5G.

• A total of 61 operators in 34 countries had launched one or more 3GPP-compliant 5G services:Of those…• 49 operators had launched 3GPP-

compliant 5G mobile services (46 full launches, 3 limited availability launches).

• 34 operators had launched 3GPP-compliant 5G FWA or home broadband services (27 full launches, 7 limited availability launches).

Source: GSA

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GEO LEO HAPS

Altitude 36,000km Altitude 1,200km Altitude 20km

WRC Decision on satellite filing procedure will spur growth of Small Satellite Constellations WRC-19

✓ Established Regulatory

procedures

✓ Opening the skies to next-

generation NGSO satellites

✓ Mega-constellations consisting of

thousands of spacecraft

✓ In low-Earth orbit

✓ For global delivery of 5G services

directly to the users

New Manufacturing

techniques to make

hundreds of satellites

A peek into WRC-23 agenda impacting 5G spectrum landscape

• New Mid band spectrum for 5G: 3300-3400 MHz, 3600 3800 MHz, 4800-4990 MHz, 6425-7025 MHz, 7025-7125 MHz

• New mm Wave band for 5G at 10.0-10.5 GHz

• Allow existing cellular spectrum to be used for 4G/5G services from High-altitude IMT base stations (HIBS) located at ~20KM above the ground,

• Earth stations in motion (ESIM) – Conditions to be further defined for communications of ESIMs with non- geostationary space stations in the fixed-satellite service to provide reliable and high-bandwidth Internet services to aircraft, ships and land vehicles.

• Aeronautical mobile applications – Modernizing aeronautical HF radio, new non-safety aeronautical mobile applications for air-to-air, ground-to-air and air-to-ground communications of aircraft systems, and possible new allocations to the aeronautical mobile satellite service to support aeronautical VHF communications in the Earth-to-space and space-to-Earth directions.

• Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS) – Improved communications and additional spectrum and satellite resources to enhance maritime capabilities in GMDSS, such as e-navigation.

In summary, Plenty of new spectrum for 5G allocated by WRCProvisional Final Acts of WRC-19 (567 pages)

1. Additional bands for 5G (IMT) identified by WRC• 24.25-27.5 GHz, • 37-43.5 GHz, • 45.5-47 GHz, 47.2-48.2 and • 66-71 GHz

2. Already allocated mid band spectrum in many countries to be first global 5G band

3. Existing 4G bands also available for 5G in many countries e.g. 700 MHz in Europe, 600 MHz in US, 700 MHz in India , China

4. WRC-19 revised rules for Wi-Fi networks in 5GHz – both for indoor and outdoor usage – that will help reach 5G services to end customers

5. High-altitude platform stations (HAPS) – Additional frequency bands Identified for High Altitude Platform Systems. Studies to use HAPS base stations for 5G will help reach 5G services to remote areas.

THANK

YOU Bharat.Bhatia@itu-apt.org