LONDON — Satellite operators and equipment vendors hailed the outcome of their campaign at the World Radicommunications Conference to protect the users of its C-band spectrum from terrestrial interference.
Backers of WiMAX also won the last of their hard-fought battles to cement the technology's acceptance as a mobile broadband standard.
The WRC agreed that radio frequencies used for WiMAX throughout the world: the 2.3 to 2.4GHz and 3.4 to 3.6GHz band are to be designated as IMT radio frequency bands.
Inmarsat and SES New Skies welcomed the last minute decisions at the WRC in Geneva, held under the auspices of the International Telecommunications Union over the past four weeks. They managed to ensure that as well as maintaining uninterrupted use of the C-band, the conference, held every four years, gave satellite operators assurances that any future IMT (International Mobile Telecommunications) networks will provide them with full protection from interference.
The endorsement of the satellite industry's use of the spectrum in the 3.4 to 4.2 GHz band will ensure that operators will also have adequate bandwidth to roll out future service " especially in those regions where they are most in demand, including the developing world, large industrialized countries, and remote regions.
Delegates from most countries also supported the idea of making part of the spectrum available for other uses, such as WiMAX, suggesting a major geographic split in the way the mobile ibroadband technology is likely to deployed.
