The United States led calls on Monday to allocate a prime tranche of the radio frequency spectrum for use by digital television, in a move that would create a multi billion-dollar market for that technology.
On the opening day of a month-long conference at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), US delegation leader Richard Russell said it was important that countries identify sections or "bands" of wavelengths to be used exclusively for advanced wireless services.
The ITU is empowered to allocate frequencies for commercial use among its member countries. Washington is particularly interested in getting the 700 megahertz (MHz) band allocated for such technology in advance of the replacement of analogue television with digital services in the United States in 2009, and other countries later.
"It's excellent spectrum to use for all sorts of different applications," he told reporters in Geneva. "Irrespective of when individual countries are actually going to make the move from analogue to digital, if we identify the TV bands now, specifically the 700 band, we will be ready when that transition occurs with more new technologies, more new services, and a lower price," he said.
Identifying frequency space for digital television and other wireless technologies would act as an incentive for companies to develop such products for a global market, Russell said.
He estimated the market value of freeing up spectrum space could be worth 10 billion dollars to 15 billion dollars in the United States alone. "It is extremely valuable," Russell said.
Most weighty decisions in the ITU conference, which will also look at efforts to prevent interference between frequencies as well as issues affecting meteorology, maritime distress and safety, and aeronautical systems, are expected to take place in the week before its conclusion on November 16. Some 1,500 government and industry representatives have come to Geneva for the meeting, which takes place every four years.
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