Satellite operators have long been aware of the challenge they face from terrestrial broadband providers for C-band spectrum at the World Radio-communication Conference (WRC-2015) this November in Geneva. The question is what they're going to do about it. The answer, at least as of this past June, was, not enough, according to one key official at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations agency that deals with spectrum issues and hosts the WRCs, which are held every few years. Yvon Henri, chief of the space services department at the ITU's Radiocommunication Bureau, said June 10 that the satellite industry has essentially rested on its laurels after fending off a similar attack at the 2007 WRC. This time, he warned, "the attack is much more serious." Indeed, the terrestrial wireless industry, driven in large part by the explosion in the use of smartphones and their bandwidth-intensive applications, is far more hungry and powerful than it was just eight years ago. Moreover, it seems that more governments, notably in Europe and the Middle East, are sympathetic to the wireless industry's desire for more spectrum, in particular C-band frequencies traditionally reserved exclusively for satellite use. Early indications are that other regions might be siding with the terrestrial broadband providers.
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