Bandwidth is by no means an unlimited resource. Your family’s smartphones, your in-home WiFi, and the dozens of Bluetooth devices in your automobile all take bites of different slices of the larger bandwidth pie. The rollout of 5G wireless is like someone walking up to that pie and shoveling a big scoop out of the center with both hands.

Who determines how to split the remainder of the pie? Who determines who should be compensated for the pie that was lost? OmniSpace Chief Regulatory and International Strategy Officer Mindel De La Torre joins us for this episode — a primer for those who don’t understand how the International Telecommunication Union’s (ITU) World Radiocommunications Conference (WRC) works and an explanation of how it impacts the everyday consumer.

Before joining OmniSpace, Mindel was chief of the International Bureau at the FCC for over 7 years where she managed a staff of 120 attorneys, engineers, economists, and international relations specialists. On Orbit will be having conversations with several of our industry’s brilliant regulatory minds throughout the year. After listening to this episode, we hope you’ll understand why we started with Mindel.

Mindel and I talk about what was gained and lost at the WRC-19 conference and whether or not the conference made significant progress to enable 5G rollout. I also ask Mindel what she thinks the satellite industry needs to do in order to both protect their business interests and cooperate with the larger telecommunications industry to realize 5G.

Episode Links: 

• The ITU’s WRC Conference Website
• Mindel’s Bio on IICOM.ORG
• OmniSpace Website
• Follow On Orbit on Twitter!