AWF-7/ OUT-24

/ ASIA-PACIFIC TELECOMMUNITY
The 7thMeeting of the APT Wireless Forum / Document
AWF-7/OUT-24
23 - 26 September 2009, Phuket, Thailand /

26 September2009

REPORT OF THE AWF-7 MEETING

1. PROCEEDINGS

The Seventh APT Wireless Forum Meeting was held at the Arcadia Grand Ballroom of the Hilton Phuket Arcadia Resort & Spa, Phuket, Thailand, from 23 to 26 September 2009. The Meeting was organized and hosted by Asia Pacific Telecommunity. The agenda and the program of the meeting are covered in Document AWF-7/ADM-01 and AWF-7/ADM-02.Objectives and expected outputs of the Meeting are given in Document AWF-7/INP-04.

The Meeting was attended by 165 participants representing Members, Affiliate Members, International/Regional Organizations and observers from participating companies. Document AWF-7/ADM-03Rev.2 contains the list of participants of the meeting.

2. OPENING SESSION

2.1 Welcome Address by Mr. Kraisorn Pornsutee, Deputy Secretary General, Asia Pacific Telecommunity

Mr. Kraisorn Pornsutee, Deputy Secretary General ofAsia Pacific Telecommunity in his opening address welcomed the participants in the beautiful resort city of Phuket. He conveyed his sincere gratitude to all participants for participation at a large number at this meeting. He also thanked the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology of Thailand and Intel Corporation for sponsoring dinners and other contributions for making the meeting a successful event. He mentioned that the APT is committed to promote applications of radio technologies, facilitate members’ co-operation for spectrum harmonization and assist Members to explore new technologies, and the benefits and applications of each, including the rapidly advancing wireless broadband technologies. He also thanked Dr. Youngkyun Kim, Chairman of AWF and other office bearers of AWF who are working dedicatedly for the success of the forum.

Mr. Pornsutee’s welcome address is in document AWF-7/INP-01.

2.2 Opening Address by Dr. Youngkyun Kim, Chairman of AWF

Dr. Youngkyun Kim, Chairman AWF in his opening address extended a warm welcome to all the participants at this meeting of APT Wireless Forum. He recalled that the last 6th AWF meeting in Danang, Vietnam was very successful with outstanding meeting outcomes.He recalled that last year we all faced unexpected global economy crisis and it still impacts our lives, and our young generation has been facing a tough time finding good jobs and they are under pressure of keeping their competitive works. However, surprisingly we are now seeing a positive sign of recovery particularly in this AP region.He expected that the global economy downturn won’t last long and this region is taking a lead in the economic recovery.. He further reiterated that as Chair of AWF, he has been blessed working with a world-class leadership team and with full support of all members, he felt confident that the WG/TG chairpersons, Mr. John Lewis, Mr. Hiroike, Dr. Wiseto and Ms. Onanong and the Editorial Chair, Mr. Bhatia would continue to enjoy and handle their challenging works effectively. He also expressed his special thanks to Mr. Thomas Ewers, Chairman of ECC, CEPT to give an invited presentation and hoped to have a fruitful discussion on future cooperation between APT and CEPT on the global/regional spectrum matters. He also thanked again for Ministry of Information and Communication Technology, Thailandfor hosting this 7thAWF meeting and appreciated the efforts of all supporting local staffs and APT Secretariats for their outstanding preparations.

Dr. Kim’s opening address in on document AWF-7/INP-02.

2.3 Inaugural Address by Mr. Nimit Damrongrat, Advisor to the Minister, Ministry of Information and Communication Technology, Thailand

Mr. Nimit Damrongrat, Advisor to the Minister, Ministry of Information and Communication Technology, representing Her Excellency Second Lieutenant Ranongruk Suwunchwee, the Minister of Information and Communication Technology of Thailand, who could not be present due to prior official engagements, welcomed all the participants to this beautiful resort city of Phuket in his inaugural address. On behalf of the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology of Thailand conveyed his sincere gratitude to the Asia Pacific Telecommunity or APT for organizing this important Forum and also congratulated the APT on its 30th Anniversary this year. He noted that the Kingdom of Thailand, as the host country of APT Secretariat, is very proud of APT’s achievement in the field. Declaring the forum open, he was very pleased to see that APT Wireless Forum has made an outstanding progress in promoting regional wireless industry development and the cooperation and exchanges between APT members and conveyed his wishes for the success of this meeting and for all the participants to enjoy the south breeze of the Andaman Sea in Phuket.

The address of Mr. Nimit Damrongrat, Advisor to the Minister, Ministry of Information and Communication Technology, is in on document AWF-7/INP-03.

3. FIRST PLENARY MEETING

3.1 Adoption of Agenda

The provisional agenda and tentative programme were approved. The agenda and programme are in Documents AWF-7/ADM-02 and AWF-7/ADM-03 respectively.

Decision no. 1 (AWF-7)
The Plenary approved the Agenda and Program, of the Meeting.

3.2 Objectives of the Meeting (Doc. No. AWF-7/INP-04)

Ms. Juyeon Song, AWF Forum Coordinator summarized the objectives and the expected outputs of the AWF-7 meeting contained in document AWF-7/INP-04. The objectives and the expected output of the meeting were approved by the meeting.

Decision no. 2 (AWF-7)
The Plenary approved the objectives and expected output of the Meeting.

3.3 Presentation of the Progress Reports of Working Group and Task Groups Chairpersons

3.3.1 Report of the spectrum working Group(Doc. AWF-7/INP-05): Mr. John Lewis, Chairman of Spectrum Working Group presented his report on the issues and objectives of the Spectrum Working Group at this meeting which is in Document INP-05. .

The work of the Spectrum Working Group at the AWF-7 meeting will continue in the established Sub-Working Groups, in the new Sub-Working Group 7 (dealing with software-defined radio and cognitive radio systems)as well as in plenary sessions of the SWG and in any special groups and ad hoc groups that would be appropriate. He informed that document INP-05 provides, in summary form, the tasks proposed for these different groups. He then briefly introduced the activities of each of the Spectrum Sub Working Groups. He also mentioned about the study of possibility of removing regulatory restrictions on the FSS in some bands in the 10-15 GHz range. He also pointed the standing agenda items for the Spectrum Working Group. At this AWF-7 relevant presentations and discussion of the above issues will take place, including consideration of any related input documents.

Mr. Lewis informed that Spectrum Working Group would consider the input contributions and would provide outputs accordingly. Meeting noted the report of activities of the Spectrum Working Group as presented by Mr. John Lewis.

Decision no. 3 (AWF-7)
The Plenary noted the report of the activities of the Spectrum Working Group.

3.3.2Report of IMT Working Group (Doc. AWF-7/INP-08):

Mr. Akira Hiroike, Chairman, WG-IMT indicated that the IMT Working Group (WG-IMT) initiated its activity at the last AWF meeting in Danang as the succeeding group for former TG-1.

The Terms of Reference (ToR) of the group are;

-To review activities on the future development of IMT-2000 and IMT-Advanced discussed in the ITU-R Working Party 5D (WP5D)

-To study service and technology related aspects of the future development of IMT-2000 and IMT-Advanced as well as the requirements and needs of the developing countries

It is expected that activities of WG-IMT help AWF members prepare for ITU-R WP5D meeting and understand service and technology related aspects with regard to IMT.

In AWF-6, WG agreed the following short-term work plan after AWF-6 towards AWF-7 & 8.

1)To review activities on future development on IMT-2000 and IMT-Advanced conducted inside and outside of ITU-R WP5D

2)To conduct information gathering by receiving a report (so-called country report) from each country, which describes the latest status of introduction/deployment of IMT system and related services, etc., and review gathered information

3)To identify new activities on WG-IMT at appropriate timing, based on the results of the work defined in above 2)

It is proposed that at this meeting, WG-IMT reviews WP5D activities carried out after AWF-6, focusing on IMT related recommendations and submission and evaluation of candidate radio interface technologies of IMT-Advanced. In addition, other recent IMT related activities conducted outside ITU-R are introduced.

Next, WG-IMT reviews and considers input documents regarding service and technology related aspects of IMT as well as the requirements and needs from each country. Especially, any report on latest status of introduction/deployment of IMT system and related services in each APT country (so-called country report) is welcomed this time.

Finally, through above discussions, future work plan and possible deliverables are to be discussed.

The meeting noted the report of the IMT Working Group presented by Mr. Hiroike.

Decision no. 4 (AWF-7)
The Plenary noted the report of the activities of the IMT Working Group.

3.3.3 Report of Convergence Working Group(Doc. AWF-7/INP-38(Rev.2)):Dr. Wiseto Agung, Chairman, Convergence WGmentioned that the objectives of Convergence working group are:

  • To study and identify current, emerging and future issues of radio communication that are affected by the convergence of ICT, including fixed-mobile and telecommunication-broadcasting convergences
  • To study and identify the implications of the continued development of convergence, which may affect the operators / service providers, broadcasters, content providers / aggregators, end users and regulators,
  • To study and identify the convergence scenarios which would be promoting the rural and under-served areas particularly in developing countries

The study and identification may include but is not limited to the aspects such as technology, services, economics strategy, business model, regulatory issues and standardization.

He informed the meeting that the Convergence WG consists of 2 (two) sub-working groups:

  • Sub-Working Groups on Fixed Mobile Convergence (Sub-WG A)
  • Sub Working Group on Telecommunication and Broadcasting Convergence (Sub-WG B)

Sub-WG A was working on the standardization and regulatory aspect of the Fixed Mobile Convergence.

Sub-WG B was working on the:

  • Identifying the wide range of current and future activities on the convergence of telecommunications and broadcasting technologies, and also possible application scenarios
  • Conducting survey on economic issues such as business model of convergence service
  • Conducting survey on regulatory issues to facilitate convergence service

Dr. Agung then listed out the objectives of the Convergence Working Group for the AWF-7 Meeting.

The meeting noted the report of the Convergence Working Group as presented by Dr. Agung.

Decision no. 5 (AWF-7)
The Plenary noted the report of the activities of the Convergence Working Group.

3.3.4 Report of Task Group on modern Satellite applications(Doc. AWF-7/INP-77) Ms. Onanong Petnim, Chairman, TG-SATmentioned that the Task Group on Modern Satellite Applications was established at the AWF-5 meeting in Macau, China. The objectives of its terms of reference (TOR) of the TG-SAT are to identify the service and technical requirements of modern satellite applications and to identify the service and technical development of modern satellite applications.

Explaining the workplan and the deliverables of the Task Group, Ms. Petnim informed the objectives and workplan of the Task Group for AWF-7. She mentioned that at AWF-6 the Task Group developed a questionnaire which was circulated to the members. At this meeting the Task Group would review the responses of the members on the questionnaire and develop working document on survey result and develop survey report on “The Service Trends and Satellite Technology of Modern Satellite Applications”

.

The meeting noted the report of the Task Group on Modern Satellite Applications as presented by Ms. Onanong Petnim, Chair of the Task Group.

Decision no. 6 (AWF-7)
The Plenary noted the report of the activities of the Task Group on Modern Satellite Applications.

3.4Liaison Statement by ASTAP (Doc. No. AWF-7/INP-09)

The plenary noted the liaison statement from Dr. Syed Mostafa Safavi Hemami

Chairman, ASTAP regarding information on AWF studies on short range devices and agreed to keep the ASTAP informed with respect to AWF studies on Short Range Devices .

Decision no. 7 (AWF-7)
The Plenary noted the Liaison Statement by ASTAP.

3.5Liaison Statement by APG (Doc. No. AWF-7/INP-10)

The plenary reviewed the liaison statement from Chairman, APG regarding the AWF offer to undertake compatibility studies to meet and satisfy the requirements of Agenda Item 1.2 and noted that the APG has not yet identified any specific issues to be studied by the AWF. AWF also thanked the chair APG for its agreement to make use of the AWF's expertise should it identify any specific issue for which studies are to be undertaken.

Decision no. 8 (AWF-7)
The Plenary noted the Liaison Statement by APG.

3.6Discussions on the Document approval procedure

The Chairman of the Spectrum WG mentioned that the recent experience has shown that the time taken to obtain document approvals under the approved document approval procedure was relatively long and AWF needs to review the process. He mentioned that three of the four documents approved at the last AWF meetings were not able to meet the deadlines set by ITU-BR for the submission of input contributions to, in particular, ITU-R Working Parties 5A and 5D. The delegates of Korea and Japan also concurred that these types of documents need to be available in a timely fashion, especially noting the fast moving developments in the field of modern wireless communications and the busy program of many ITU-R meetings.

Based on the discussions, the plenary decided to create an adhoc group to consider this issue and prepare a proposal for consideration by the plenary meeting. Mr. John Lewis was appointed to chair this group.

Decision no. 9 (AWF-7)
The Plenary decided to form an Ad Hoc Group for reviewing the AWF Document Approval Procedure under the chairmanship of Mr. John Lewis.
The Plenary instructed the Ad Hoc group to report the outcomes at the closing plenary.

3.7Consideration of the Document No. INP-46 from Japan proposing to establish a working group on Intelligent Transport Systems

The representative of Japan presented document INP- 46 and indicated that Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) are applied to services such as provision of road traffic information and electric toll collection, and the introduction of ITS has started in the Asia-Pacific region. Considering the fact that active discussions have been held in ITU-R SG5 WP5A and Global Standards Collaboration (GSC) regarding ITS radiocommunications issues, Japan proposed that the topics of ITS should also be discussed within the Asia-Pacific region. Therefore, in order to facilitate the exchange of information and views on ITS radiocommunications inside the Asia-Pacific region, Japan proposes that the AWF should set up a new Group to consider ITS radiocommunications and to conduct their relevant works. The details of the proposed candidate radiocommunications systems for ITS to discuss in the new group and the proposed Terms of Reference, Work plan and Possible deliverables have been provided by Japan in this document. The plenary agreed to constitute an ad hoc group to consider this proposal and make suitable proposal for consideration by the plenary meeting.

Decision no. 10 (AWF-7)
The Plenary decided to form an Ad Hoc Group for considering Document No. INP-46 from Japan to form a Working Group on ITS under the chairmanship of Japan.
The Plenary instructed the Ad Hoc group to report the outcomes at the closing plenary.

3.8Invited Presentations

There were two invited presentations in the plenary meeting. The plenary noted these presentations and thanked the presenters in bringing very useful information for the attention of the AWF.

  • Presentation on the CEPT Reforms by MR. THOMAS EWERS, ECC Chairman, Federal Network Agency, Germany ( Document AWF-7/INF-08)
  • Presentation on “The Mobile Internet Here. Now” by Mr. ALI TABASSI, Senior Vice President, Clearwire, USA (Document AWF-7/INF-09)

Mr. Thomas Ewers, Chairman, ECC of CEPT informed that the CEPT is interested to increase further cooperation between APT and CEPT in the issues of Radiocommunication which are not the part of WRC preparatory process. He mentioned that APT Wireless Forum has made significant progress in the area of Radiocommunication handling the non WRC related issues. He commented that the CEPT is looking to increase the exchange of information and further cooperation with the AWF on the common issues of Radiocommunication. He promised the CEPT would meet at least once annually with AWF for this purpose.

The meeting noted the comments made by Mr. Ewers and welcomed the cooperation between APT and CEPT through AWF on the issues of Radiocommunication.