Views of the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine on Agenda Items of Interest to the Science Services at the World Radiocommunication Conference 2019

The radio frequency spectrum is a limited resource with ever increasing demand from an expansive range of applications—all the way from commercial, such as mobile phones, to scientific, such as hurricane monitoring from space. Since radio waves do not stop at national borders, international regulation is necessary to ensure effective use of the radio spectrum for all parties.

Every 2 to 5 years, the International Telecommunication Union convenes a World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC) to review and revise the international radio regulations. This report provides guidance to U.S. spectrum managers and policymakers as they prepare for the WRC in 2019. While the resulting document is targeted primarily at U.S. agencies dealing with radio spectrum issues, other Administrations and foreign scientific users may find its recommendations useful in their own WRC planning.