STATEMENT OF 
CHAIRMAN TOM WHEELER
Re:  Presentation on the outcomes of the International Telecommunication Union’s World Radio 
Conference that took place in November 2015
Thank you, Mindel, for that presentation.  More important, thanks to you and the entire FCC team 
for your advocacy on behalf of our agency and our nation at WRC-15. I attended WRC for just a few
days and found the non-stop schedule to be grueling. The Commission’s nine-member team was in 
Geneva for four weeks working round-the-clock. To those of you who spent a month away from your 
home and families representing the Commission -- Alex Roytblat, Dante Ibarra, Mike Mullinix, Larry 
Olson, Sankar Persaud, Chip Fleming, Carlos Flores, Allen Yang, and, of course, Mindel -- thank you for 
your hard work and dedication.
Special thanks to Commissioner O’Rielly, who had his own marathon of meetings in support of 
the U.S. delegation, for his very effective advocacy. 
And I believe the entire U.S. delegation would join me in acknowledging the superb leadership of 
the U.S. Ambassador to the Conference, Decker Anstrom.
  
The World Radiocommunication Conference is kind of like the Olympics of wireless public 
policy: a quadrennial international gathering of elite talent, which requires years of preparation from 
participants seeking to make the most of this rare opportunity. As with any Olympics, the U.S. enjoyed 
victories worth celebrating. We also endured some disappointments that have left us determined to work 
even harder moving forward to achieve our goals. 
  
Leading the most notable advancements, the United States and others in our region identified 619 
MHz of additional spectrum for International Mobile Telecommunications, far more than any other 
region. I know some would have preferred to see more global allocations for IMT, especially in the UHF
band. But I believe other regions will take a much closer look at these bands when they see the progress 
we will make in our region over the next few years.  
The same will be true for efforts to identify spectrum for 5G.  It would have been far better if the 
Conference had agreed to study the 28 GHz band among the bands they agreed to consider for 5G, but the
U.S. and other leaders in the 5G arena will go forward with our own studies.  And I am fully confident 
that, as we and others move forward with 28 GHz, an international consensus will develop.
This important work will continue over the next few years.  In fact, the delegates to the WRC set 
the agenda for the next WRC before even leaving Geneva.  We at the FCC are already preparing for the 
next WRC in 2019, while at the same time making good on the WRC-15 outcomes.
Once again, thank you to Mindel and your team for the incredible years-long effort to prepare for 
this WRC.  I don’t know how you have the patience to do what you do, but I’m glad you do.