 Mr. Malcolm Johnson, Deputy Secretary General of the ITU, Excellencies, former officials of the ITU, current and former members of the Radio Regulation Board, and former AFRB, current and former chairs of the ITUR study groups and CPM, and former CCIR study groups. Ladies and gentlemen, dear colleagues and friends, it's a pleasure to address you this morning in opening these celebrations of the 110th anniversary of the Radio Regulations. 110 years ago, only a few years after the decisive experiments of Alexander Popov and Juliebo Marconi, the first international radio telegraph convention was signed by 30 maritime states in Bali. This convention contained the first regulations governing wireless telegraphy and have since been expanded and revised by numerous world radio conferences and have evolved to the regular regulations, as we know them today, encompassing all the uses of radio waves. Just a year ago, WRC 15 adopted the latest version of the radio regulations, which has recently been published and its decisions were signed by 150 countries present. This was the 38th WRC to modify this global treaty. Your presence here, ladies and gentlemen, illustrates the importance of this treaty for which all countries in the world commit to use a common resource which is spectrum and orbit resources in a harmonized, coordinated and equitable way with the objective of avoiding harmful interference. We are gathered this morning to celebrate 110 years of success of the ITU community in adopting and improving this global treaty in a way that creates certainty for investments in radio communication systems while constantly incorporating the progress of technologies and evolution of our societies. Celebrating this success is also paying tribute to four generations of engineers who have dedicated their lives to make this happen. Starting with Alexander Popov, who was actually one of the delegates in the 1903 Preparatory Conference, which was kind of a CPM at the time, just three years before the first WRC. You may wonder how it is possible in today's hectic world where everything is changing at the relentless pace of the rate of technology, how it is possible to find 300 and 3,500 men and women from 163 countries. Together in a building like this one for four weeks, days and nights, after four years of exhausting preparatory discussions, and to decide on a legal framework that is intended not for tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, but for the next 20 or 30 years. The reason why this is possible is very simple to me, is that without agreement at the end of a WRC, the future of radio communications would be problematic. Since 1993, the WRC process through which the radio regulations are updated to meet evolving spectrum requirements and technologies has become a permanent process, which is fed by the studies carried out by the ITUR study groups and summarized in the report of the conference preparatory meeting, the CPM, and conducted by the ITUR membership. Let me thank the current and former chairs and vice chairs and all the delegates of these study groups, the CPM and former CCIR study groups for your contribution to this process and your presence here. The second element to feed the WRC process is the radio regulation board, second body, which is composed of 12 elected officials from all regions, which adopts the rules of procedure, the complement of the radio regulations in their application, and acts as a referee in conflicts arising from the application of the radio regulations. Let me thank the current and former members of the RRB and IFRB for their presence here and their work in support of making the radio regulations better. The third element is the work of the Radio Communication Bureau, which administers the applications of the radio regulations and provides support to the whole process. Let me thank the two former directors of the BR, Mr. Robert Jones and Mr. Valerie Timofeyev, for their presence here and their outstanding leadership through the issues of their respective mandates. The fourth pillar of the radio regulations is the ITU Secretary General and the other bureaus, which provide support in organizing the work of the BR. I would like to thank Mr. Malcolm Johnson for his presence here and of course Mr. Yoshio Tsumi, former Secretary General. Ladies and gentlemen, digital transformation has become the engine of work, economic and social development and I believe that radio communications are the vector by which most of this transformation is taking place. Radio communications contribute directly or as a neighbor, as Malcolm said, to the 17 SDGs adopted by the UN last year. Mobile and broadcasting networks, satellites, radio relays, radar strolls, short-range devices such as Wi-Fi or Bluetooth are constantly providing us with the ability to access and exchange a wealth of information as well as application that we are using seamlessly without realizing that they all rely on one scarce resource, which is Petri. The radio regulations are the basic instrument which permits the orderly use of this resource and therefore enables all this to happen, in particular when it comes to mass market wireless applications. Since 1927, the radio regulations enabled the successful development of a number of such applications, starting with shortwave radio followed by television FM radio, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth more recently, satellite positioning, GPS, GLONASS, GALINEO and COMPASS and satellite television reception. Today, more than one billion people watch TV through terrestrial television broadcasting and a similar number through satellite broadcasting in frequency band, which have been harmonized globally by the ITU, radio regulations from the date these technologies made this use possible. Since 1990, the number of mobile subscription increased from 11 million to more than 7 billion today. We are now witnessing the full development of the third and fourth generations 3G and 4G mobile broadband systems based on ITU standards known as international mobile telecommunications IMT. Nearly 4 billion users are currently enjoying the benefits of IMT services and the development of large-scale fifth generation will raise this number to 6 billion in a few years and accelerate the digital transformation by integrating the internet of things and the vertical activities like health, transportation and retail. That's visible but equally important, the radio regulations are the enabler of satellite imagery and Earth monitoring, space science and space missions, meteorology, maritime and aeronautical transport and safety, civil protection, defense and security systems. Ladies and gentlemen, from the beginning the WRC process has been one of constant improvement over the years to ingest the international regulatory framework to new technologies as they develop and enable new usage as these usage modify the spectrum requirements. Throughout this process, consensus is the constant practice in order to ensure that the WRC decisions, whether binding or not, will be implemented worldwide thus reinforcing global harmonization. Consensus also ensures that decisions will not lead to disruptions to already deployed networks and services. The radio regulations are an international treaty and the WRCs which modify them are treaty making conferences. Decision by consensus is the guarantee that this treaty as it evolves will continue to be reflected in national legislations and enforced by national governments as a consequence of their signing the final act of the WRCs. Bending this consensus is a key requirement of the four year preparation cycle of the WRCs. This is achieved through the leadership of six regional groups which regularly convene preparatory meetings and develop common proposal to the conference. I would like to thank the heads of the regional groups who are present here today for their wonderful work and for being here with us today. In addition, this process is supported by informal interregional groups meetings in addition to and in support of the preparatory process carried out by the ITUR study groups and CPM. On this foundation, careful technical and operational as well as regulatory studies ensure that the modifications to the radio regulations introduced by WRCs respond to the rapid technological and social revolution, keep harmful interference within manageable limits under all circumstances and maintain the right balance between the protection of incumbents and the satisfaction of emerging needs. Thanks to this process which has been constantly improved over the years and has now become a permanent one, the radio regulations deliver a stable and predictable global framework which ensures long-term protection for the investment of a multi trillion dollar industry through the universal commitments of governments and all other stakeholders that you represent. The radio regulations are the basis for a sustainable ecosystem which has flourished for 110 years and have made radio communications a fundamental part of today's world. To better assess the role and the importance of the radio regulations, we have gathered today two panels of distinguished spectrum stakeholders to address the historical and future role of the radio communications in supporting the radio communication ecosystem. It is now my pleasure, ladies and gentlemen, to leave you in the expert hands of Mr. Mario Manjevic and Mrs. Julie Zoller for moderating the two panels that we have organized for you this morning. Thank you very much for your attention.