Radio spectrum regulation as a matter of international affairs: discussing the effectiveness of the European Union at World Radiocommunication Conferences
| Date | 13 August 2018 |
| Published date | 13 August 2018 |
| Pages | 373-398 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/DPRG-09-2017-0049 |
| Author | Maria Massaro |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Information management & governance,Information policy |
Radio spectrum regulation as a matter
of international affairs: discussing the
effectiveness of the European Union at
World Radiocommunication Conferences
Maria Massaro
Abstract
Purpose –This paper aims to discuss the effectiveness of the European Union (EU) at World
RadiocommunicationConferences (WRCs) by comparing EU objectivesprior to and outcomes of recent
WRCs.
Design/methodology/approach –A thematic analysis of qualitative data extracted from documents is
conducted. The effectiveness of the EU is discussed by using the concepts of agenda-setting and
coalition-building,borrowed from internationalrelations literature.
Findings –A clear conclusion on EU effectiveness could not be drawn based on the degreeof match
between EU objectives and WRCoutcomes. Other factors need to be included in the analysis, such as
relevanceof the EU’s participation at WRCs to the EU member states and availabilityand allocation of EU
resourcesto the various stages of the WRC process.
Research limitations/implications –Further researchis encouraged to investigate the role of the EU at
WRCs. In particular, interviews with experts involved in the WRC process may help gather relevant
informationon EU relevance and EU resource availabilityand allocation.
Originality/value –This paper contributes to existing research on international radio spectrum
regulationby drawing attention to the role of the EU as an internationalactor.
Keywords European Union, Regulation, Radiofrequencies, ITU,
World Radiocommunication Conference, CEPT
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
The international treaty regulating radio spectrum use worldwide, the so-called Radio
Regulations (RR) (ITU-R, 2016a), is planned to be revised at the next World
Radiocommunication Conference (WRC), to be held in 2019 (WRC-19). WRCs are
organised every three-four years by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), a
specialised agency of the United Nations (UN). At these conferences, countries, members
of the ITU, discuss and revise the RR, taking into consideration recent technological and
market developments (ITU, 2018a). The advent of the fifth generation (5G) of cellularmobile
technology has thrown countries around the world into turmoil, national governments,
telecommunications operators and other relevant stakeholders racing to gain first-mover
advantage in shaping the future of 5G. 5G is expected to bring substantial social and
economic benefits, enabling digitalisation across all sectors reliant upon mobile
communications, including transport, energy, education and health. As society comes to
increasingly hinge on mobile connectivity, major changes to the RR are expected to
accommodate 5G spectrum needs(ITU-R, 2015a).
Maria Massaro is PhD
Candidate at Department of
Technology Management
and Economics, Chalmers
University of Technology,
Go
¨teborg, Sweden.
Received 19 September 2017
Revised 15 March 2018
Accepted 28 March 2018
This paper is a revised version
of a conference paper which
has been awarded the 2017
Yale M. Braunstein Student
Prize Award from the Pacific
Telecommunication Council.
DOI 10.1108/DPRG-09-2017-0049 VOL. 20 NO. 5 2018, pp. 373-398, ©Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 2398-5038 jDIGITAL POLICY, REGULATION AND GOVERNANCE jPAGE 373
The European Union (EU) aims to steer the debate among EU member states on future
spectrum allocations to 5G at the upcoming WRC-19 (EC, 2016a). The EU began to
develop a community approach to radio spectrum use in the late 1980s, when it became
clear that coordinated radio spectrum use across the EU was instrumental for the creation
and functioning of the EU internal market for telecommunications (EC, 1987). In 2002, the
EU established its own policy and legal framework for radio spectrum to promote
coordination across EU member states (EP & Council of the EU, 2002a).By virtue of the so-
called 2002 Radio Spectrum Decision (EP & Council of the EU, 2002b), the role of the EC as
rule-maker was institutionalised. A mechanism involving the EC and two committees, called
Radio Spectrum Committee (RSC) and Radio Spectrum Policy Group (RSPG), was
introduced to develop radio spectrum policy and regulation at the EU level. Since then, the
EU has been systematically involved in international discussions on radio spectrum
regulation. Recently, the EC published a 5G Action Plan (EC, 2016a) and a legislative
proposal to establish the so-called European Electronic Communication Code (EC, 2016b),
upholding the necessity to adopt a EU coordinated approach to radio spectrum to support
5G deployment in the EU.
Despite its involvement in multilateral negotiations on radio spectrum regulatory issues, the
participation of the EU in WRCs has beenpoorly investigated. Shahin (2011) provides some
insights on EU performance, although in the broader context of international
telecommunications policy and regulation. In addition, Ala-Fossi and Bonet (2018) address
aspects of EU participation at WRCs. However, they focus on the division of competences
within the EU, in particular between the European Commission (EC) and the EU member
states. Instead, this paper attempts to assess the performance of the EU in recent WRCs
by looking at the EU as an entity by itself, disregarding the nature of the EU as an
international organisation comprising 28 countries.
In particular, this paper aims to address the following research question: to what extent has
the EU been effective in influencing the outcomes of recent WRCs, held in 2007 (WRC-07),
2012 (WRC-12) and 2015 (WRC-15)? The termeffectiveness is intended as the ability of the
EU to achieve its objectives in specific multilateral settings (Jørgensen et al., 2011;Van
Schaik, 2013;Wessel, 2011). To assess the effectiveness of the EU, a comparison is made
between the objectives of the EU, set prior to WRCs, and the outcomes of WRCs. The
degree of match between the objectives of the EU and the outcomes of WRCs is taken as
explanatory of the EU’s capability to fulfil its objectives through international negotiations.
The scope of investigation in thispaper is limited to aspects of radio spectrum regulation for
cellular mobile technology, which have become particularly relevant during WRC-07, WRC-
12 and WRC-15 because of the increasing demand for radio spectrum to support mobile
broadband services (Clegg,2012;EC,2007, 2015;Rancy, 2007).
This paper builds on existing studies on international radio spectrum regulation, which
ascertains that the urge of developing countries to promote their own interests related to
mobile communications recently challenged the historical leading role of European
countries in the ITU (El-Moghazi et al., 2014,2016,2017). Preceding WRCs, held in 2000
and 2003, had been considered particularly successful by European countries, which
sought and obtained allocation of additional spectrum to be used for the third generation of
mobile cellular technology (EC, 2000;EU, 2003). However, the traditional European
dominance has been gradually overcomeby new emerging coalitions (Gregg, 2009).
Against this backdrop, this paperputs the emphasis on the participation of the EU at WRCs.
Since the foundation of the EU inthe 1950s, several European countries have been involved
in a process of political and economic integration. This has led to a gradual transfer of
legislative power from nationalto EU institutions, also with respect to the radio spectrum, for
the creation of the so-called EU single market. Although Europe has a broader span than
the EU, the expansion of the EU’s power to regulate the radiospectrum and the consequent
PAGE 374 jDIGITAL POLICY, REGULATION AND GOVERNANCE jVOL. 20 NO. 5 2018
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