The joint project team (PT) of the Radio Spectrum Policy Group (RSPG) and the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC), PT BEREC-RSPG, held a meeting last 5 May in Brussels, chaired by the German regulator (BNetzA).
The gathering meant to work out the framework of the report on the economic and social value of spectrum, namely the report’s appropriate scope, bearing in mind that the work must be finished by this coming November. The group also focused on the questionnaire to be addressed to various regulators and which in practice will be the basis for the study’s analysis and conclusions. The work scheduling, to ensure that it is finished by that deadline, was another issue considered. It was thus decided that the questionnaire will be sent out in late May, so that responses can be in by early July 2011. Work will then continue by email until September 2011, when there will be a second and last physical meeting to discuss the report.
The group chairman indicated that he had led the drafting of the previous report on “Infrastructure and spectrum sharing in mobile/wireless networks”, which he would most likely be approved at the upcoming BEREC and RSPG meetings scheduled for late May and early June. Note that this report describes the current situation regarding the kinds of existing sharing agreements in Europe, applicable regulation, available technical solutions and the financial implications for each sharing type. The report also examines the subject’s inherent challenges with respect to competition and lists several criteria to take into account when analysing possible distortion or restriction of competition due to sharing agreements.
