VZCZCXYZ0000
OO RUEHWEB
DE RUEHKO #3044 3050718
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O 310718Z OCT 08
FM AMEMBASSY TOKYO
TO RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA IMMEDIATE 3428
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8444
INFO RUEHAD/AMEMBASSY ABU DHABI PRIORITY 0245
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING PRIORITY 6140
RUEHRL/AMEMBASSY BERLIN PRIORITY 1518
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA PRIORITY 0434
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA PRIORITY 2837
RUEHHI/AMEMBASSY HANOI PRIORITY 1093
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 2221
RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PRIORITY 2588
RUEHOT/AMEMBASSY OTTAWA PRIORITY 9740
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS PRIORITY 6299
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL PRIORITY 2137
RUEHGP/AMEMBASSY SINGAPORE PRIORITY 7245
RUEHSM/AMEMBASSY STOCKHOLM PRIORITY 0687
RUEHTU/AMEMBASSY TUNIS PRIORITY 0291
RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON PRIORITY 1076
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC PRIORITY
UNCLAS TOKYO 003044
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
STATE FOR EEB/CIP/MA FZICHY
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECPS ECON JA
SUBJECT: DEMARCHE DELIVERD: U.S. PROPOSAL ON ITU-R STUDY
GROUP
REF: STATE 113818 (NOTAL)
1. (SBU) Summary: Econoff presented reftel compromise
proposal to Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications
(MIC) Mr. Yasushi Sakanaka October 30. Sakanaka responded
Japan disagrees with the U.S. assessment that the proposal
would be an improvement and feels the Study Group 5 structure
should remain as it is. End summary.
2. (SBU) Sakanaka listened thoughtfully to ref points, said
he understands the new U.S. proposal and appreciates the U.S.
desire to push for improvements. Japan, however, does not
agree with the proposed restructuring and feels the current
structure is still appropriate. He added this position is
consistent with other APT countries' views such as China,
Korea, and Singapore.
3. (SBU) Sakanaka noted technical differences between the
issues covered in the different groups, particularly on
international mobile telecommunications, and also noted the
different ways the working parties operate. He suggested
transferring tasks from WP 5D to WP 5A would require WP 5A to
be expanded, making it larger and more unwieldy, and more
difficult to get things done in that group. He then provide
additional detail to ref background on the SG 5 debate and
Japan,s position.
4. (SBU) Sakanaka is the new MIC Director for Land Mobile
Communications, Radio Department, Telecommuncations Bureau,
and will lead the Japanese delegation to the upcoming
meetings. He explained Mr. Mori has been reassigned, and Dr.
Hashimoto of NTT DoCoMo is currently in Geneva for SG 5
meetings. Sakanaka also shared he had served in the late 90s
at the Japanese Consulate General in Sydney, Australia.
SCHIEFFER