 Welcome to the World Rady Communication Conference 2023, WRC 23 being held in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. We've got the great pleasure of being joined in the studio this afternoon by Elizabeth Miguala, who is the Vice President of International Government Affairs for Qualcomm International. Elizabeth, thank you very much for joining us in the studio. Well, thank you very much for having me. I'm glad to be here. And it's great to see you. So I'd like to start off by asking you a little bit about Qualcomm, a Qualcomm's participation here at WRC 23, and why it's important for you to be here. Yes, let me start by characterising what Qualcomm does and who Qualcomm is. So we are the company that's enabling a world where everyone and everything can be intelligently connected. As a matter of fact, the products that we enable are used by everybody. I mean, your 5G-enabled smartphone which doubles up as your pro-level camera, but actually in the context of WRC here is the connectivity solutions that we enable, from your 5G phone to AI connected and even to rural connectivity. So think of us as the company that is enabling connection at the intelligent edge. Now, this conference here is all about consensus. It's a long conference where a lot of people have got to make the decision which hopefully they come out of the end with relatively happy with. I wanted to ask you, are there any specific elements here? Are there any specific issues that Qualcomm would like to see addressed? Yes, definitely. So if you look back over the last, I want to say 30 years since 1992, then international mobile telecommunications, what we call IMT, the spectrum has been identified and harmonized in all previous WRCs. The acknowledged success of 3G, 4G, 5G owes some of its success to the ability of WRCs to negotiate and agree across the globe on common harmonized spectrum. That is what has driven the economies of scale that we've seen. So this WRC is no different for us. As a matter of fact, we think it's really pivotal because we believe we're in the season where we're beginning to think about the next G having successfully launched the fifth G or IMT 2020, but we still have a lot of work to do to move that to 5G advanced and start moving towards 6G, the IMT 2030 in ITUR terms. So you recall about three weeks ago, the radio communication assembly actually approved a recommendation on IMT 2030, the framework. That really signaled or set the stage for the innovation work needed to actually start on the use cases and the capabilities that we envisaged for the 6G technology. Now, of course, we are still in 2023 and we have IMT 2020 5G, but of course, there's 5G advanced work going on there. And we see 6G as a continuation of that, but this IMT framework sets out additional use cases. And we at least believe that that has implication on additional spectrum, we call it mid-band spectrum, that will enable the new use cases that we are not dealing with now. So this WRC 23 comes at a time when we can have those conversations, we can enable the innovation to take place, we can start looking at what spectrum may be appropriate for IMT 2030. And WRC 23 does that because there is a standing agenda item, it's called Agenda Item 10, where we can bring in suggestions for new items to study. And that is really one of the key reasons why we as Qualcomm are here as a team among the other items being discussed. Can we talk a little bit about female participation here at the conference? Yes, that's really great. So as a person, as a practitioner for, I want to say, in the African region, in the international arena for more than two decades, I have seen the gradual increase in the participation of female practitioners. And specifically in Africa, we've been driving an initiative that talks about enhancing participation of women in ICT policy and we focused on WRC 23 as the African continent. And so it's something we've been really focused on, but globally as well. And if you recall, RA again, RA 23 approved that resolution that signifies, or should I say formalizes, the thinking and the discussions that have been taking place and continue to take place about what it is we need to do to encourage the many, and I want to say many, female professionals. They are many and they're good and they're in their countries and they're leading. But how do we get them here so that their voices can be heard at this stage? And it has been, it was a great thing for me to see. And I would say that it's like the beginning. We have a lot more to do, but I get the sense that at some point we shouldn't even talk about it. It should be just what happens. We should not have to make an effort. It should almost happen naturally. But the effort is being made and you feel it's being successful? Yes, it's being made. It's been successful. It's little steps. I mean, there are many facets to it. Because at the end of the day, we have, I mean, we go to the same universities and study the same engineering course. So where is the disconnect? Is it a mindset thing? So you can address mindset, you can be trained, but really it is the exposure and the enablement. Okay. Particularly, I want to say when, when administrations select their delegations, you know, it may be just that extra thought of, you know, who else could we have here? Not because she's a female practitioner, but because she is a good engineer who will also, you know, bring, add value to the conversation. Finally, can I ask you, Elizabeth, do you have a message that you would like to convey here to the participants here at the World Really Communication Conference and those who are tuning in from elsewhere? Well, I want to say that in terms of the organization of this WRC, it has really been exceptional. Also, we have been tackling some really complicated, complicated items. And, you know, just to almost urge ourselves to compromise and to agree. But from Qualcomm's perspective, we have a team here, we have really been fascinated by the opportunity to engage face to face with the thousands of government officials. Okay. The fact that we can talk to them face to face and explain our viewpoint. And in particular, I would encourage us in the conference to really, really seriously consider enabling the next step of the G evolution. And when the conversation, the difficult conversation of which spectrum bands will be allowed to be studied for WRC 27 for mobile, I think it's in all our interest that we find that to enable this innovation to carry forward for the benefit of pretty much anybody who connects and wants to continue connecting. Well, Elizabeth Miguala, Vice President of International Government Affairs for Qualcomm. Thank you so much for joining us in the studio today. Thank you very much for giving me this opportunity. Thank you very much. And if you've enjoyed this interview, why not check out our other interviews on our YouTube channel, as well as our podcasts on our podcast channels, such as SoundCloud, Spotify, Apple Podcast or wherever you listen to your podcasts. And for further information, visit our website at www.itu.int. Thanks for tuning in.