U.S. Needs to Take the Lead at World Radio Conference

The World Radio Conference 2027 (WRC-27) is scheduled for October 18- November 12, 2027, in Shanghai, China.  This meeting is held every four years by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) to review and revise the international radio regulations.  WRC-27 agenda covers fixed-satellite and broadcasting-satellite issues; fixed, mobile and radiolocation issues; mobile-satellite issues; science issues;  and general issues.

The House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology held a hearing on March 18, 2027, Securing U.S. Leadership of Telecommunications Technology.  Committee Chairman Brett Guthrie (R-Ky.) and Subcommittee Chairman Richard Hudson (R-N.C.) said that the U.S. “must lead the development of cutting-edge digital devices and services” and that the hearing would help to “develop a unified vision for WRC-27.”

Prior to the hearing, on March 9, 2026, Chairman Guthrie and Ranking Member Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-N.J.) sent a letter to President Trump, which cited China’s threat to U.S. global leadership in technology and its efforts to push America aside in standard-setting bodies like the ITU.  The letter also encouraged President Trump to push for the re-election of ITU Secretary General Doreen Bogdan-Martin, and to prepare an agenda for the upcoming WRC-27 based on coordination with federal agencies and the private sector, including “our nation’s prior policy position of utilizing the entire 6 gigahertz (GHz) band for Wi-Fi and other unlicensed uses.”

While the U.S. has set aside the 6 GHz spectrum band for unlicensed use, this same band has been set aside for licensed use by China.  In January 2026, China announced it was developing 6G technologies that will use the 6 GHz spectrum band.  If the rest of the world follows China’s lead instead of the U.S., then many of the technologies being developed for unlicensed use in this band will not work in other countries.

The WRC-27 will also be reviewing satellite communications standards, and China will try to usurp U.S. global leadership in this area as well.  As Subcommittee Ranking Member Doris Matsui (D-Calif.) noted during her opening remarks at the March 18 hearing, “If the United States isn’t helping write those rules, someone else will.  And we all know China is eager to fill that vacuum.”

With all that is at stake for this nation at the WRC-27, it is critical that the U.S. prepare now to fight off challenges and remain the leader in global telecommunications.