SATRC Working Group Meeting on Specturm

7 – 9 May 2024: The Asia-Pacific Telecommunity (APT) organized the meeting of the South Asian Telecommunication Regulators’ Council (SATRC) Working Group on Spectrum (WG SPEC) from 7 to 9 May 2024 in Lalitpur, Nepal with physical attendance as well as virtual/online participation through Zoom meeting (i.e. hybrid meeting). The meeting was hosted by Nepal Telecommunications Authority (NTA). It was attended by 50 delegates including the enlisted experts of this Working Group from 9 SATRC Members and 6 Affiliate Members of APT.

The meeting of SATRC Working Group on Spectrum was organized as a part of the activities of SATRC Action Plan Phase IX (SAP-IX) which was adopted at the 24th meeting of SATRC (SATRC-24) held in 2023. It was the first meeting of this Working Group under SAP-IX and discussed the Work Items assigned to the Working Group by the Council.

SATRC WG SPEC has been assigned the following work items for SAP-IX:

• Work Item 1: Spectrum approaches and regulatory requirements for NGSO satellite constellations for space-based communication services
• Work Item 2: Current practices of licensing and spectrum assignment in land mobile radio systems particularly in VHF and UHF person-to-person voice communication system in SATRC countries
• Work Item 3: Spectrum approaches and regulatory requirements to enable Satellite-IMT integration
• Work Item 4: a) Spectrum outlook in SATRC countries, b) Registration of frequency assignments in MIFR by SATRC countries
• Work Item 5: Backhaul infrastructure readiness and requirements for 5G deployment in SATRC countries
• Work Item 6: Efficient valuation and pricing of spectrum in SATRC countries

The meeting discussed the assigned Work Items in detail. The delegates from SATRC Members and the Affiliate Members also presented on the Work Items for better understanding.

The key outcomes of the meeting are as follows:

–        Appointment of the Lead/Co-Lead Experts of the assigned Work Items.

–        Development of Work Plan of the SATRC WG SPEC for SAP-IX.

–        Development of Questionnaires on Work Items to obtain the necessary information from the SATRC member countries.

Upon obtaining the necessary information from the SATRC Members, WG SPEC will conduct monthly/bi-monthly e-Meetings to develop the draft Reports on the Work Items.

The next face-to-face meeting of the WG SPEC is scheduled to be held on Q3, 2025 in Maldives.