14th Transportation Working Group Meeting
Seoul, October 19-23,1998

Steering Committee SE TPT/14/SC/SE/4.6

Review of existing projects
Satellite Navigation and Communication Advisory Committee
Report of the Satellite Navigation &
Communications (SN&C) Systems Advisory
Committee

UNITED STATES

Seoul, Korea

The Satellite Navigation & Communications (SN&C) Systems Advisory Committee met on Monday, October 19, and Tuesday, October 20, 1998, during the 14th meeting of the APEC Transportation Working Group (TPT-WG) in Seoul, Korea. Eleven Economies were represented at the meeting including Australia, Brunei, Canada, China, Japan, Korea, Philippines, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Thailand and the United States. Also participating as observers were representatives from the Airports Council International, Asia-Pacific and the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Asia and Pacific Office.

The Chair began the meeting by reporting that, at the 13th meeting of the APEC Transportation Working Group, held in Mexico City, Mexico in April 1998, the report of the Advisory Committee’s intercessional meeting in Singapore was endorsed. Also, the Advisory Committee’s statement on the protection of the GNSS spectrum was highlighted by the report of the Steering Committee on Safe and Environment-Friendly Transportation Systems and the Chair’s report of the TPT-WG 13.

The Chair accepted nominations for the election of a permanent Vice Chairperson, the position currently held by Singapore on an interim basis. Nominations were received from a number of Economies asking that Singapore be appointed as permanent Vice Chairperson. Singapore thanked the Advisory Committee members for their support, but only agreed to continue in the position as interim Vice Chairperson as the current representative is from the aviation sector. The Advisory Committee agreed that Singapore should continue as interim Vice Chairperson, with the understanding that a permanent Vice Chairperson representing the maritime sector would continue to be sought.

The Advisory Committee also discussed a potential time frame for completing its work. It was decided that some follow-up work would be required of the Advisory Committee until at a minimum the completion of the "Forum on Intermodalism and Satellite-based Transportation Technologies," to be held in May 1999.

Action items from the Singapore meeting of the Advisory Committee were reviewed. Singapore gave an update on preparations for the "Forum on Intermodalism and Satellite-based Transportation Technologies," to be held May 5-7, 1999 at the Singapore Aviation Academy in Singapore. The Chair noted that he had attended the interim meeting of the APEC Intermodal Task Force and secured their intent to co-sponsor the forum. Singapore distributed a promotional flyer for the event which outlined the program, proposed demonstration events, and technology exhibit.

The Chair asked members to provide names of possible panel moderators and speakers for the event before November 15, 1998, so that invitations could be sent shortly thereafter. The Chair also asked for volunteers to coordinate the panel discussions with the moderators and speakers for the various sessions.

The forum program and associated events and flyer were endorsed by the Advisory Committee members. The Advisory Committee recommended that the Lead Shepherd of the TPT-WG send a letter inviting the Economies to attend the event.

The Secretariat gave an update on the status of the bibliography of SN&C resources. She noted that the documents requested at the Singapore meeting had been distributed in the spring of 1998. After some discussion, it was agreed that the Secretariat would provide a one-time placement of the bibliography as established in February 1998 on the APEC Transportation Working Group home page. The Secretariat would accept additions to the bibliography over a three month period before the bibliography was placed on the home page. The bibliography would indicate contact information for obtaining copies of any resources listed in the bibliography.

The Secretariat gave an update on the status of including information on the activities of the Committee on the APEC TPT-WG home page. She noted that Australia had debuted a new TPT-WG home page and that all experts groups, steering committees, etc. would be encouraged to make available copies of working documents, final reports, etc. on their particular site. The Secretariat agreed to pursue placing the final reports of the Advisory Committee on the new TPT-WG home page. The Secretariat will be the point of contact for the Advisory Committee for all documents to be placed on the TPT-WG home page.

The Advisory Committee members also agreed that a mailing list of interested organizations would be established and that the Chair would periodically provide a written update of the activities of the Advisory Committee to these organizations. It was agreed that the Advisory Committee would not seek out further organizations for Advisory Committee observer status.

The Chair reviewed the TPT-WG’s full endorsement at its 13th meeting of the Steering Committee’s recommendation that "each economy develop a policy statement at the Ministerial level to protect the spectrum band width for the sole use of the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) for all transportation modes." The policy statement was to be developed and provided to the lead economy prior to September 1, 1998 so that a report could be prepared for TPT-WG 14. The Chair acknowledged that the issue was very controversial for many Economies, including the United States, and that many Economies had requested further guidance on preparing such a statement.

The representative from ICAO provided a report on a resolution regarding this issue at the recent ICAO Assembly. ICAO noted that it has been in contact with the Asia-Pacific Telecommunity regarding this issue. He also requested that the APEC TPT-WG continue to support the protection of the GNSS spectrum.

After much discussion, it was agreed that the Advisory Committee would prepare a draft ministerial statement on the protection of the GNSS spectrum for all transportation modes. The draft ministerial statement (attached) will be sent to the Steering Committee on Safe and Environment Friendly Transportation Systems and the TPT-WG for their collective endorsement. The Advisory Committee will recommend that the draft ministerial statement be sent to all Economies for their review and comment by January 15, 1998 to the lead Economy, the United States. The ministerial statement will then be revised to include comments received from the various Economies and will be resent to the Economies for a brief, final review and comment period. The final ministerial statement will be provided by the United States to the Ministers intercessionally for their endorsement.

The Advisory Committee agreed that it would provide copies of supporting studies on this issue to the TPT-WG Heads of Delegation as background information. Also, the Advisory Committee will recommend that the Lead Shepherd of the TPT-WG send a letter to the APEC Telecommunications Working Group noting the TPT-WG work on this issue.

The Chair then asked the representative from ICAO to give a summary of the information papers which he provided to the Advisory Committee regarding (1) WGS-84 implementation in the Asia-Pacific region, (2) status of ICAO development of CNS/ATM standards and recommended practices (SARPs), and (3) a summary of the major activities of the ninth meeting of the ICAO Asia and Pacific Air Navigation Planning and Implementation Regional Group or APANPIRG.

ICAO also presented an information paper on the status of ICAO actions to prompt States to address the Year 2000 date change problem. Singapore presented a summary of the results of their survey, as endorsed by TPT-WG 13, regarding the Year 2000 problem on air traffic control and airport systems in the APEC region. Singapore noted that they will present a similar summary of their survey results to the Steering Committee on Safe and Environment-Friendly Transportation Systems. The Advisory Committee members agreed that the status of Year 2000 problem should also be examined by the other modes of transportation within the APEC region and that this should be brought to the attention of the Steering Committee.

Australia and Singapore provided updates to the Advisory Committee on the status of production of electronic navigational charting data and the evaluation and implementation of augmented GPS positioning systems.

The Chair thanked the Advisory Committee members for their contributions to a very successful meeting and hoped that everyone would be able to participate in and/or attend the forum in May 1999 in Singapore. He agreed to contact the members regarding the need for an intercessional meeting of the Advisory Committee.

DRAFT
Statement of the APEC Transportation Ministers
on the
Protection of the Global Navigation Satellite System Spectrum
for all Modes of Transportation

The 1997 International Telecommunications Union World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC) took place in Geneva, Switzerland, from October 27, to November 22, 1997. Over 2000 delegates participated, representing 131 States and several international organizations. One proposal made at WRC-97 was to provide a co-primary spectrum allocation to the mobile satellite service (MSS). The conference did not adopt the proposal, but resolved to complete a study of the potential for spectrum sharing between the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) and MSS before WRC-2000 so that a final decision could be made at that time.

The 1559-1610 MHz band is currently used for the Global Positioning System or GPS (operated by the United States) and Global Navigation Satellite Service or GLONASS (operated by Russia) and has been identified by the international transportation community as the sole frequency band available to support the spectrum requirements of the emerging Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS.)

We, the APEC Transportation Ministers,

recognizing the importance of maintaining and protecting GNSS spectrum for safety of life applications and services, including air, marine and other modes of transportation;

noting the studies conducted by the International Civil Aviation Organization, the International Maritime Organization, as well as the Economies of Australia and the United States which have shown that the worldwide sharing of the spectrum band 1559-1610 MHz, which is currently allocated for radionavigation satellite services, with mobile satellite services, will encroach on the existing uses of this band and will adversely impact distress and safety of life applications and other transportation services;

noting the work required of Economies to prepare for the WRC-2000 in regard to allocation of aeronautical radio frequencies, frequency interference and its effect on such applications;

strongly endorse and emphasize the importance of retaining the spectrum band 1559-1610 MHz for exclusive use by radionavigation services. In making this endorsement, we acknowledge that the continued safety and growth of all modes of transportation will be adversely affected if this frequency band is not protected, and

agree to retain the current allocation of the spectrum band 1559-1610 MHz for exclusive use by radionavigation services and support this position.

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