CPG PT4 - Rome

Project team PT4 of the Conference Preparatory Group (CPG) met on 6-7 September 2005 in Rome, Italy. PT4 is responsible for preparing European positions on agenda items of the 2007 World Radiocommunications Conference (WRC07) of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) that concern maritime mobile services, amateur service and radiocommunications services operating in the frequency bands between 4 MHz and 10 MHz.

At this meeting PT4?s activity focused on preparing meetings of the ITU-R groups scheduled for the months of September, October and November 2005. It was decided that the proposals to modify the briefs on the various items being considered would be studied during the next meeting.

Among other documents, PT4 studied two contributions on eventual situations for re-allocating and sharing HF (short wave) bands between 4 and 10 MHz by the fixed, mobile and audio broadcasting services. Based on these two contributions, France and the United Kingdom will submit to the ITU-R working groups, specifically WP8A, WP8B, WP6E and WP9C, a joint proposal for text to include in the CPM (Conference Preparatory Group) report.

The Russian Federation had serious reservations, from both the regulatory and technical standpoints, about the proposals being considered in PT4 to re-allocate and share HF bands. It holds that it is important to wait for results of the ITU-R studies before making any decision on this subject.

The results of the third HF frequency monitoring campaign undertaken by PT FM22 were also considered. Detailed analysis of the results obtained will be carried out at the next CPG PT4 meeting, scheduled for November 2005.

Regarding revision of the operational procedures and requirements of the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS), PT4 agreed to remove Appendix 13. It was consequently decided to go ahead with revision of Chapter VII of the Radio Regulation, so as to also include the regulatory and operational procedures for the non-GMDSS system. As for the procedures to transfer to Chapter VII there was still no consensus, and the question thus remains open. In this regard, the United Kingdom and Denmark are to submit contributions in line with the CPG PT4 decisions to WP8B consideration (September 2005).

Regarding the allocation of maritime mobile service identities (MMSI) to other equipment that is not mobile and installed aboard vessels, PT4 considered a draft European common proposal (ECP) taking two situations into account: on the one hand, revision of article 19 (station identification) in order to accommodate new MMSI formats to assign to aircraft involved in search and rescuer (SAR) operations, and also the new MMSI formats that enable identification of navigational radio aids, including land, island or sea-based buoys; and on the other hand, revision of Recommendation ITU-R M.585-3 with respect to the proposed new MMSI formats.

PT4 agreed to closely study this proposal at its next meeting, to be held in Denmark on 15-16 November 2005 at the offices of the European Radiocommunications Office (ERO).