IARU Region 2 Conference Opens in Brasilia

The opening Plenary of the 16th General Assembly of IARU Region 2 was held on Monday morning, 10 September 2007 at the Naoum Plaza Hotel, Brasilia DF, Brazil.

Region 2 President Rod Stafford, W6ROD began the meeting by leading the delegates in a solemn moment of silence for radio amateurs who have died since the 15th General Assembly in 2004.

President Stafford then noted the success that Region 2 has enjoyed in its relations with CITEL and the Caribbean Telecommunications Union, as well as the challenges that must be faced by urging member-societies to do more to promote Amateur Radio in their countries and by finding ways to more effectively represent the radio amateurs of countries where the IARU member-society is not sufficiently active on their behalf.

ANATEL President Ambassador Ronaldo Sardenberg then spoke as the representative of the Minister of Communications. He was pleased to report that Amateur Radio is growing in Brazil, with 36,000 active operators.

An Amateur Radio school is being launched in conjunction with Parana University, an initiative that it is hoped will be replicated throughout the country. He was also pleased to note that the Brazilian administration supports the amateur service in its desire for a low-frequency allocation.

Finally, Ambassador Sardenberg provided some detail of ANATEL’s investigation of radio interference from power line communications (PLC) systems. Initial tests showed a great potential for interference, but more recent tests show some improvement and he expressed optimism that a way will be found to allow PLC to be deployed without endangering radio services.

ITU Regional Administrator Joao Cordeiro then presented greetings on behalf of the ITU. He remarked that the amateur service has an active station, 4U1ITU, at ITU Headquarters in Geneva and that there is increasing appreciation for the role of the amateur service in providing communications in the event of natural disasters.

On behalf of the host society, LABRE President Roberto Batista Pereira, PT7YV, greeted the delegates and expressed the hope that their stay in Brasilia would be pleasant and productive. He also reported that LABRE has been active in monitoring the PLC issue.

The final speaker during the opening Plenary was IARU Vice President Tim Ellam, VE6SH, who conveyed greetings and regrets from IARU President Larry Price, W4RA, who is attending the ITU Council meeting in Geneva and therefore was unable to come to Brasilia as he had planned. Mr. Ellam said that the IARU has a number of objectives for the upcoming World Radiocommunication Conference, WRC-07. He also noted that he is chairing a committee that is developing a proposal for a substantive restructuring of the IARU so that it will be better able to meet future challenges.

The conference will continue for the remainder of the week, culminating with the election of the Region 2 Executive Committee on Friday. Delegates from IARU member-societies throughout North and South America are attending.

IARU-R2 Executive Committee
Brasilia, 10 September 2007

Source: Radio Amateurs of Canada