The Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (Macra) on Thursday engaged the country’s information, communication and technology (ICT) and radio operators to strategise on a common country position to be presented at the World Radio Communication (WRC) Conference.
The conference starts in Geneva, Switzerland next week.
The WRC conference is organised by the radio communications section of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) every three or four years to discuss technical issues pertaining to radio communication services in the world.
The conference focuses on all technical, operational and regulatory issues concerning radio spectrum management.
Opening the consultative meeting in Blantyre yesterday, Macra director of finance Ben Chitsonga said the conference is of significant importance to Malawi as it will address critical issues in the telecommunication and broadcasting industry.
“Some of the issues on the agenda at the conference include reviewing the international regulatory framework applicable to radio communications as established in Resolution 951 [Rev. WRC-07]. This review should reflect the convergence of some radio services arising from the development of next-generation networks and new radio applications using new radio technologies.
“The identification of appropriate mechanisms to make the best use of the digital dividend in the UHF and other frequency bands, providing new opportunities for the radio communication services in those frequency bands,” said Chitsonga.
He further said the conference will also discuss issues of the identification of additional spectrum sources and required protection for scientific and other radio communication services which are key services for operations related to the environment, metrology and climatology as well as disaster prediction, mitigation and relief.
The conference comes two years before the date for countries to start migrating from the analogue system of broadcasting to a digital platform.
LWC Radio’s Patrick Kamkwatira described Thursday’s meeting as significant, arguing that it is important for local operators to work on similar platforms with the rest of the world.
Kamkwatira said Malawi cannot afford to operate in isolation in this globalised world.
