ITU members are satisfied over support for terrestrial TV at WRC-15

The first week of the ITU World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-15) has given national and regional authorities the opportunity to present their positions on the future allocation of radio spectrum among broadcasting and mobile services.

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) is encouraged to note that the overwhelming majority of proposals support a ‘No change’ position for the UHF band 470-694/698 MHz. This band is currently allocated to terrestrial TV and the radio microphones that are essential for content production.

Despite calls from a minority of countries to re-allocate the band to mobile telecommunications services, the coordinated regional positions of European and African countries, the Arab States, the Commonwealth of Independent States, and the Asia-Pacific Telecommunication Union, as well as a joint proposal from 14 South American countries are all clearly opposed to such a move.  

This position is consistent with the views of the EBU and its sister organisations representing more than 630 broadcasters from all parts of the world. They argue that WRC-15 decisions should reflect the reality that more than 95% of audiovisual content is delivered over broadcast networks and Wi-Fi, rather than over mobile networks.