1. Framework

The increasing use of radiocommunications, in particular because of the gradual need for mobility and opportunities which this use may generate for the development of society, emphasises the importance for each country of an effective spectrum management system. Radio spectrum is a natural and public resource, available in all countries, and, subject to the necessary safeguards, it may be used to improve the efficiency and productivity of the country, as well as to help improving the quality of life for citizens.

Radiocommunications are used in all areas of activity, such as, for example, electronic communications networks and services, including broadcasting, national defense, public security, business and industry, aeronautical and maritime communications, navigational aid, personal communications, scientific research, radio astronomy, etc.

It is incumbent on ANACOM, among other tasks provided for under its Statutes, to ensure an efficient management of radio spectrum and to promote competition in the provision of networks and services, and it is entitled to promote public consultations and expressions of interest¹.

The principle of effective and efficient use of frequencies is fundamental in the scope of the allocation of these resources and it implies that frequencies made available must be effectively and efficiently used according to conditions set out in the allocation act.

The definition and implementation of a national Strategic Spectrum Plan (SSP) follows on a public consultation on the strategic guidelines governing ANACOM’s 2015-2017 Multi-Annual Activities Plan, launched on 8 May 2014, which integrated, after an analysis of comments from stakeholders, a new strand of action - SSP - in the scope of the strategic pillar “To ensure an efficient management of public resources”, which has also been specified in ANACOM’s 2016-2018 Multi-Annual Activities Plan.

SSP establishes strategic guidelines for radio spectrum issues and develops topics regarded as being most significant for spectrum management in the national context, providing a short overview from a national perspective and indicating main strategic measures for making frequencies available for radio services/applications of a civil scope in the future, so that new spectrum requirements are met, addressing the specificities of each service/application in the scope of its evolution. In addition, the foundations of spectrum management are dealt with, including ANACOM’s responsibilities, factors influencing spectrum planning, fundamental principles followed in spectrum management and international framework in the context of spectrum management (Annexhttps://www.anacom.pt/render.jsp?categoryId=388041).

As such, given that an efficient spectrum management, including the respective planning, is based on criteria such as spectrum availability and the balance of interests of users and citizens in general, in the light of the principles of impartiality and transparency that guide ANACOM’s activity, and with a view to improve the quality of an efficient spectrum management, it was deemed important to sound out the market, namely the various stakeholders involved and affected by spectrum management, who were invited to comment on the SSP, so that their contributions could be taken into consideration in the preparation of this version.

Given the dynamic and evolving nature of the use and management of spectrum, it is deemed that future public consultations of the same nature should be held on a regular basis (for example, taking the World Radiocommunications Conferences into account, which take place every three or four years), without prejudice, as referred earlier, to legally applicable consultation procedures, namely in the scope of decisions for the allocation and restriction of rights of use for frequencies. It must be emphasized, as such, that the SSP will be updated on a regular basis, to the extent that any event at national, regional and/or international level arises, affecting spectrum management and the outlined strategy.