Paul Coverdale, VE3ICV
Special Advisor for World Radio Conferences
Radio Amateurs of Canada is pleased to welcome Paul Coverdale, VE3ICV, RAC Special Advisor at the World Radiocommunication Conferences and their Preparatory Meetings.
It is the job of a WRC to review and, if necessary revise, the Radio Regulations, the international treaty governing the use of the radio-frequency spectrum and the geostationary-satellite and non-geostationary-satellite orbits.
Paul was first licensed in 1965 as G3TZJ in England. Emigrating to Canada in 1974, he became VE3ICV. His Amateur interests are primarily HF DXing and CW contesting, with outdoor QRP operation in the summer. He also enjoys antenna experimentation.
Paul has been a member of the Ottawa Amateur Radio Club for many years, serving twice as its President, and is a member of Radio Amateurs of Canada.
Professionally, Paul spent 30 years with Nortel Networks, where he held a number of engineering and management positions related to the specification, design, verification and standardization of wireline and wireless products, He took early retirement in 2004 and since then has acted as a consultant in the area of Quality of Service / Quality of Experience of telecommunications networks.
Paul has been active for many years in international Standards Forums and has participated in many meetings of the International Telecommunications Union’s Telecommunication Standardization Sector (ITU-T). He is a member of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and is a registered Professional Engineer.
Going forward, Paul’s main activity in participating in ITU Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R) meetings as a RAC Special Advisor will be to monitor proposals, and lobby to protect Canadian and worldwide Amateur Radio interests, in the run-up to WRC-23, the next World Radiocommunication Conference.
What are World Radio Communication Conferences?
International Telecommunications Union describes World Radiocommunication Conferences as follows:
“World Radiocommunication Conferences (WRC) are held every three to four years.
It is the job of WRC to review, and, if necessary, revise the Radio Regulations, the international treaty governing the use of the radio-frequency spectrum and the geostationary-satellite and non-geostationary-satellite orbits.
Revisions are made on the basis of an agenda determined by the ITU Council, which takes into account recommendations made by previous World Radiocommunication Conferences.
The general scope of the agenda of World Radiocommunication Conferences is established four to six years in advance, with the final agenda set by the ITU Council two years before the conference, with the concurrence of a majority of Member States.”
WRC Preparatory Meetings
RAC Special Advisor Paul Coverdale, VE3IPC, attended the Preparatory Meetings in Geneva for the 2023 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-23) which was held from November 20 and December 15, 2023 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
In the lead-up to each WRC, detailed technical work is carried out in ITU-R Working Parties. These Preparatory Meetings are usually held at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) headquarters in Geneva and are of two weeks’ duration. Paul is part of the Canadian delegation to a specific Working Party (WP5A) which includes Amateur Radio in its scope.
What issues are Amateurs following here? An important Agenda Item (AI 9.1b) concerns co-existence between the Amateur Service and the Radio Navigation Satellite Service (GPS, Galileo, Glonass and others) in the band 1240-1300 MHz (23 cm amateur band). Paul will be working closely with delegates from IARU and will introduce a contribution supporting Canadian Amateur interests in this topic.
Paul will also be including a report in the next issue of The Canadian Amateur magazine at the conclusion of the meetings.
Stay tuned to this website for additional information.
Calendar of Events: https://www.itu.int/en/events/Pages/Calendar-Events.aspx?sector=ITU-R
Articles about World Radio Conferences by Bryan Rawlings, VE3QN:
- “The Importance of Showing Up” (PDF file; 319 KB)
- “An Amateur Radio Approach to Spectrum Sharing Studies” (PDF file; 1.7 MB)