Ghana’s Candidate for Election to the Radio Regulations Board

Ghana’s Candidate for Election to the Radio Regulations Board

Edmund Yirenkyi Fianko

The Radio Regulations Board (RRB) has been set up by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to perform the following functions:

  • Approve Rules of Procedure, used by the Radiocommunication Bureau in applying the provisions of the Radio Regulations and registering frequency assignments made by the Member States;
  •  Address matters referred by the Bureau which cannot be resolved through application of the Radio Regulations and Rules of Procedure;
  • Consider reports of unresolved interference investigations carried out by the Bureau at the request of one or more administrations and formulate Recommendations;
  • Provide advice to Radiocommunication Conferences and the Radiocommunication Assemblies;
  • Consider appeals against decisions made by the Radiocommunication Bureau regarding frequency assignments;
  • Perform any additional duties prescribed by a competent conference or by the Council.

The RRB consists of 12 seats, with the Africa Region D entitled to three of them.

Ghana’s Edmund Yirenkyi Fianko is counting on your vote to serve on the RRB for the next four years.

Ing. Edmund Yirenkyi Fianko 2
Vision Statement
Over the past century and half, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) has been at the forefront of planning the use of the radio frequency spectrum and orbital resources for the deployment of communications technologies and services to connect people and systems globally to enable and accelerate socio-economic growth and development. The Republic of Ghana has been an active member and diligent contributor to the work of the ITU at all levels and sectors and has sponsored some of its best talents in their prime to the Union.

The Radio Regulations Board (RRB) is one of the key bodies in the ITU’s Radiocommunication Sector (ITU-R) with the responsibility to support the fair application of the Radio Regulations, make recommendations on investigations of harmful interference between administrations, consider appeals against decisions made by the Radiocommunication Bureau regarding frequency assignments, among others. To effectively achieve its mandate, members of the RRB are required to be fair, firm, open minded, ethical and meticulous with a depth of experience in spectrum management and sufficient familiarity with the geographic, economic and demographic conditions within a particular ITU region.

I have garnered almost two decades of experience in frequency management at the national, regional and international level. My involvement with spectrum management activities within Africa and the Commonwealth has given me vast exposure to the geographic, economic and demographic conditions of Africa. My experience in competition regulation, dispute resolution, cross border frequency coordination and harmful interference resolution has armed me with the values of fairness, transparency and systematic problem solving. I believe that the experience and attributes I have developed over the years will very well serve towards the effective attainment of the objectives and statutory mandate of the RRB and I therefore offer myself as a candidate for election to the Board.

If elected to the RRB, I will support the enhancement of transparency and efficiency of the RRB’s working methods through diligent, ethical, fair and transparent interpretation and application of the Radio Regulations with fidelity to the ITU Constitution, the Covention and the decisions of the World Radiocommunications Conferences. I will work collaboratively with other members to uphold the trust of all Member States in discharging the functions of the RRB.
International Spectrum Management Experience
A. Positions / Appointments/Consulting/Advisory Services
  • Chairman of the African Telecommunications Union (ATU) Task Group on Development of Spectrum Recommendations for Rural Connectivity, 2020 to date.
  • Member of the Technical Advisory Committee (TechCom) of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Policy and Regulation Initiative for Digital Africa (PRIDA), 2019 to date.
  • Alternate Director for Ghana on the Board of Directors of the Regional African Satellite Communications Organization (RASCOM) headquartered in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, January 2022 to date.
  • Consultant to the ECOWAS Commission on the Transition from Analogue to Digital Television in West Africa, 2013 – 2014 where he coordinated the drafting of minimum specifications for DTT receivers in ECOWAS, facilitated two validation workshops in Accra, Ghana in August 2013 and in Praia, Cape Verde in July, 2014.
  • Advisor to the Gambia Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) on Long Term Evolution (LTE) Licensing for Internet Service Providers (ISPs), Banjul, Gambia, October, 2014.

    B. ITU Activities
    1. Plenipotentiary Conference
  • Delegate, ITU Plenipotentiary Conference 2018, Dubai, UAE, 29 October - 16 November, 2018

    2. World Radiocommunication Conferences
  • Delegate, World Radiocommunication Conference 2019 (WRC-19), Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, 28 October to 22 November 2019
  • Delegate, World Radiocommunication Conference, 2015 (WRC-15), Geneva, Switzerland, 2 – 27 November, 2015
  • Delegate, World Radiocommunication Conference 2012 (WRC-12), Geneva, Switzerland, 23 January – 17 February 2012

    3. Regional Radiocommunication Communication Conferences
  • Delegate to the Regional Radiocommunications Conference (RRC’06), Geneva, Switzerland 15 May – 16 June 2006.
    4. ITU-R Study Group Activities
  • Delegate, ITU-R Study Group 1 (SG 1) Spectrum Management, Geneva, Switzerland, 28 May 2019 - 7 June 2019
  • Delegate ITU-R Task Group (TG) 5/1 Meeting, Geneva, Switzerland, 15 – 23 May, 2017
  • Participant at the ITU-R Study Group 6A (Broadcasting) Meeting, Geneva, Switzerland, 10-20 November 2014
  • Participant in ITU-R Study Group 6 (Broadcasting) Meeting, Geneva, Switzerland, 11-22 November 2013
  • Participant in ITU-R Study Group 5 Meeting, Geneva, Switzerland, 20-31 May, 2013
  • Participant in ITU-R Study Group 5 (Working Party 5A) Meeting, Geneva, Switzerland, 5-15 November 2012
  • Participant at ITU-R Study Group 1 Meeting, 25 May – 2nd June, 2011, Geneva, Switzerland

    5. Telecom World
  • Delegate, ITU Telecom World 2017, Busan, Republic of Korea, 25 – 28 September, 2017.
  • Participant at the ITU Telecom World, Geneva, 2009, Geneva Switzerland, 5 – 9 October, 2009.

    C. ATU, ECOWAS and Other Activities in Africa
  • Participant, Africa Preparatory Meeting for WRC-19, East London, South Africa, 28th August, 2019 to 30th August, 2019
  • Delegate/Chapter Coordinator, ECOWAS Preparatory Meeting for WRC-19, Abuja, Nigeria, 24 – 27 April, 2019
  • Delegate, Africa Preparatory Meeting for WRC-19, Cairo, Egypt, 16 – 21 September, 2018
  • Head of Ghana Delegation, Africa Preparatory Meeting for WRC-19, Nairobi, Africa Telecom Union (ATU), 19 – 22 September, 2016
  • Speaker, SADIBA Conference on Building Digital TV in Africa Johannesburg, South Africa, 8 – 10 November, 2017
  • Rapporteur, 2nd ECOWAS Preparatory Meeting for WRC-15, Praia, Cape Verde, 20 – 23 May, 2015
  • Speaker for the National Commission for Digital Migration of Benin on the finalisation of the legal and regulatory framework for DTT in Benin; Agoue, Benin, 17-20 March 2014
  • Speaker at ATU-Eutelsat DTT Seminar for West Africa, Abidjan, La Cote d’Ivoire 15-16 December, 2014
  • Speaker at First Focal Point Meeting of the African Communications Regulators Network (ACRAN) for Anglophone Countries, Arusha, Tanzania from 22nd to 24th June, 2011.
  • Speaker at Digital Broadcasting Workshop organized by West African Telecom Regulators’ Association (WATRA), 4th June, 2011, Accra, Ghana

    D. Commonwealth Activities
  • Speaker, Commonwealth Spectrum Management Forum 2018, Balaclava, Republic of Mauritius, 4 – 6 September, 2018.
  • Rapporteur, Commonwealth Preparatory meeting for WRC 15, London, United Kingdom on 7 – 9 October 2015.
  • Speaker at Digital Broadcasting Switchover Forum Africa 2016 organised by the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO), Lagos, Nigeria, 11-13 May, 2016.
  • Speaker at Digital Broadcasting Switchover Forum Africa 2014 organised by the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO), Johannesburg, South Africa, 17-18 February, 2015.
  • Speaker at Digital Broadcasting Switchover Forum Africa 2014 organised by the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO), Arusha, Tanzania, 11-14 February, 2014.

    E. Other Training Programmes and Workshops
  • Participant at USTTI Amateur Radio Administration for Regulators, training provided by American Radio Relay League (ARRL), Newington, CT, USA, 27th September – 5th October, 2012
  • Participant, USTTI course on Managing Effectively in the Changing Telecommunications Environment, Colorado University, Boulder, Colorado, USA, 13th – 17th July, 2015
  • Participant, USTTI course on Key Trends in the Evolution of the Public Network, HP, Palo Alto, California, USA, 20th – 21st July, 2015
  • Participant, USTTI course on The Wireless Broadband Revolution, Intel, San Jose, California, USA, 22nd – 23rd July, 2015
  • Participant at the USTTI courses on “Topics in Radio and TV Studio Design and Operation” (30th April – 14th May, 2014) and “University Affiliated Public Radio Broadcasting” (29th April, 2014), Washington D.C. USA
  • Participant, DTT Transmitters & DVB Training, Rohde & Schwarz, Teisnach, Bavaria, Germany, 24 May – 3 June, 2016
  • Participant at ABU Digital Broadcasting Symposium & Training on Update of the DTT Test Suite at SONY EMCS, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 29 Feb to 7 Mar, 2016
  • Participant at Digital Switchover and Communications Policy Course, Seoul, Korea; 4-11 November, 2010
  • Participant at the USTTI Workshops on Internet Governance / Mobile Broadband Courses, Washington, DC and Santa Clara in United States Of America (USA), 21 April – 8 May, 2009
  • Participant at the Radio Management And Policy Course, Seoul, Korea, 7 – 14 October, 2008
  • Participant at the UKTA Wireless Communications Programme, Blandford Forum, Dorset, UK, 30 July – 3 August 2007
  • ITU/EC Training Workshop on Regulatory Practices, Accra, Ghana, 4 – 8 July, 2005
  • CV of Edmund Yirenkyi Fianko
    Edmund Yirenkyi Fianko is an Electronic Communications Engineer with experience in radio frequency spectrum management, policy formulation, competition regulation, change management, ICT industry research and technical writing spanning over eighteen (18) years.
    He began his professional career as a Frequency Management Officer in 2004 with the communications regulator in Ghana, the National Communications Authority (NCA). Edmund is currently the Acting Director of the Engineering Division which has responsibility for all frequency spectrum management activities in Ghana including planning, licensing, monitoring and enforcement. He initiated and provided leadership for the automation of the NCA’s spectrum management processes to improve efficiency, accuracy, transparency and convenience to users of the RF spectrum in Ghana. He has led key national projects in the telecommunications sector in Ghana including:

    • Implementation of Location Based System (LBS) for Phone Calls & SMS to the National Emergency Number 112.
    • Determination and implementation of Significant Market Power measures in the Mobile Sector from April 2020 to date.
    • Establishment of the Common Monitoring Platform for monitoring of Government Revenues in the Telecom Sector from January 2018 to June 2020.
    • Transition from Analogue to Digital Terrestrial Television in Ghana on which project he served as Secretary and Technical Advisor to the national committee from 2010 to 2017.
    • Coordination of various spectrum licensing projects from 2008 to 2020 including the 6th mobile licence and licences in the 800MHz, 2600MHz, etc.

    Educational / Professional Qualifications
    Edmund Fianko obtained his first degree in Electrical/Electronic Engineering from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Kumasi, Ghana and a Master’s degree in Communications Management from the Buckinghamshire (Bucks) New University, England. He is a member of the Ghana Institute of Engineers (GhIE) and a Member of the Institute of Electrical Electronic Engineers (IEEE).