The mine for HAPS spectrum is the ITU-R

One of the evergreen topics of radio spectrum management is the extent to which the ITU-RThe International Telecommunication U... is relevant to radio spectrum management.

FCC Commissioner Michael O’Rielly, for example, would waste no opportunity to disparage the UN-affiliated international body, including in the final speech he gave as FCC Commissioner. Political support for his potential replacement, Nathan Simington, appears more related to his loyalty to President Trump, according to US Senator Blumenthal at a hearing for the former, than his attitude to international cooperation.

Nevertheless, much of US spectrum policy continues to ignore the ITU-R. A recent example of this is its decision to make the 5925 – 7125 MHz band available for unlicensed services, despite a WRC-23 agenda item on IMTInternational Mobile Telecommunications (I... at 7025 – 7125 MHz.

Advocates of High Altitude Platform Station (HAPSHigh Altitude Platform Systems (HAPS) are ...) networks, however, work through the ITU-R processes, particularly the World Radiocommunication ConferencesThe World Radiocommunication Conference (W.... In the research note, Spectrum for High-Altitude Platform Stations, we set out the WRC Resolutions that establish the identifications that make the international service possible. This includes potential future identifications for HAPS as high-altitude IMT based stations (HIBSHIBS or High Altitude IMT Base Stations ar...) at 1885-1980 MHz, 2010-2025 MHz and 2110-2170 MHz.

The research note is available to Spectrum Research Service subscribers, along with the other HAPS Dossier articles, which analyse the key policy issues in the field.