Things to know about World Radiocommunication Conference held in Sharm el-Sheikh

CAIRO – 28 October 2019: Sharm El-Sheikh, South Sinai, hosts the World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC) organized by the United Nations International Telecommunication Union (ITU) from October 28 to November 22, 2019, under the auspices of President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi.

For the first time in 20 years, the conference is taking place outside the ITU headquarters, a UN organization.

More than 3,500 participants from 140 countries, and over 50 ministers and deputy ministers from around the world, in addition to more than 50 companies and international organizations working in the field of telecommunications will participate in the conference.

World Radiocommunication Conferences (WRC) are held to review the regulations of using the Radio, the radio-frequency spectrum, the geostationary-satellite (earth-orbiting satellite) and the non-geostationary satellite orbits, according to the mission stated by the ITU Council. The WRC is held every three to four years.

Governments participating in this conference are reviewing and revising the Radio Regulations, and the international treaty governing the use of the radio-frequency spectrum. Egypt will chair this edition of the World Conference as the host country.

The conference will endorse an international agreement called the Sharm El Sheikh Document 2019, which will include the identification of 5G frequencies for all countries of the world, as well as the identification of satellite communications services, radio technologies, smart phone standards and technical devices that operate over 5G and the frequencies and stations required for the service.

Under the provisions of the ITU Constitution, the conference may revise the Radio Regulations and any associated frequency assignment and allotment plan. The conference will also address any issue of a global nature related to radiocommunications.