The ECC's 34th meeting was held last 18-21 June in Toulouse, France, attended by 61 participants representing 26 administrations, the European Commission (EC), the European Communications Office (ECO) and seven observers.
The following decisions stand out among matters covered at the meeting:
- Final approval of amended Decision ECC/DEC(13)02 on withdrawal of DEC(03)02 of 17 October 2003 on the designation of the frequency band 1479.5-1492 MHz for use by satellite digital audio broadcasting systems, based on results from the public consultation;
- Final approval of amended Decision ECC/DEC(06)13 on designation of the bands 880-915 MHz, 925-960 MHz, 1710-1785 MHz and 1805-1880 MHz for terrestrial UMTS, LTE and WiMAX systems, based on results from the public consultation and on the contribution submitted by Russia during the plenary meeting. A total of 28 administrations, among them Portugal, indicated their intention to implement this decision; there were no contrary indications;
- Approval for public consultation of amended Decision ERC/DEC(98)22 on exemption from individual licensing of DECT equipment except fixed parts which provide for public access;
- Final approval of CEPT Report no. 45, in response to the fifth EC mandate on ultra wide band technology and meant to make the technical parameters clear ahead of a possible update of Decision 2007/131/EC, based on results from the public consultation;
- Final approval of CEPT Report no. 47, in response to the EC mandate on the inclusion of information about usage rights for all spectrum uses between 400 MHz and 6 GHz - tasks 4 and 5 in response to the mandate in the scope of the ECO Frequency Information System (EFIS), taking the public consultation results into account;
- Approval for public consultation of CEPT Report no. 49, in response to the EC mandate on technical conditions regarding spectrum harmonisation for terrestrial wireless systems in the 3400-3800 MHz frequency band. It was agreed that the consultation regarding the ECC report on the 3.5 GHz block edge mask (BEM) will be run simultaneously. Most administrations showed preference for time division multiplexing (TDD) channelling; agreement was reached to gather more opinions on this subject during the public consultation process, namely from industry, before the report’s final approval;
- Postponement of approval of the addendum to CEPT Report no. 50, to be sent to the EC, regarding part A of the mandate on technical conditions regarding spectrum harmonisation options for wireless radio microphones and cordless video-cameras, programme making and special events equipment (PMSE). The reason for the postponement is that the approval of ECC Report 191 by the Spectrum Engineering working group (WG SE) is still pending and should take place in September. The EC will be informed accordingly;
- Approval for public consultation of CEPT Report XX, to be sent to the EC, regarding part B of the mandate on technical conditions regarding spectrum harmonisation options for wireless radio microphones and cordless video-cameras (PMSE equipment). It must be stressed that the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) representative raised some objections to the proposal that PMSE applications may eventually share frequency bands with military communication applications;
- Approval for public consultation of interim CEPT Report XX, to be sent to the EC, in response to the mandate to undertake studies on the harmonised technical conditions for the 1900-1920 MHz and 2010-2025 MHz frequency bands (unpaired terrestrial 2 GHz bands) in the EU. Five applications are now being considered: direct-air-to-ground communications (DA2GC), PMSE, digital enhanced cordless telecommunications (DECT), public protection and disaster relief (PPDR) and low power short range devices (SRDs). Priority has been given to DA2GC and PMSE, even though Switzerland has defended the non-harmonisation option for this band, given that it considers industry's interest in same to be limited. The plenary gathering gave the green light to a first public consultation on this report, though limited to the applications indicated and the priority mentioned above. The second public consultation, encompassing the studies responding to the three tasks requested in the mandate, should take place in June 2014. The EC will be informed accordingly.
The Committee approved the creation and reference terms of an ECC task group (TG6) to reflect on and draw up a long term view for the UHF band, especially the 470-694 MHz frequency bands. TG6 will be coordinated by vice-chair Jaime Afonso of Portugal, who previously coordinated work by the correspondence group, which has received more than 20 contributions since mid-April. Its activity was subject to lengthy debate in Toulouse. TG6 will have a year to complete its mission.
The plenary meeting approved the proposal by the working group on Numbering and Networks (WG NaN) to create a new project team on Emergency Services (PT ES) and noted WG NaN’s intention to conduct a study analysing the costs and benefits of setting up a CEPT numbering database. As with the EFIS, management of the future Central Portal of European Numbering Allocations (CPENA) will be via the European Communications Office (ECO); a decision on this subject will have to be approved by the ECO Council. A task force (headed by the ECO and including France, Ireland, Italy, the United Kingdom and Sweden) was created to study the matter. Portugal and Germany contested the need to create the CPENA; Spain also expressed doubts. A decision was made to go ahead with the aforementioned study, to be monitored by the next plenary meeting. Note that Portugal also submitted a written statement to the minutes of this plenary session, concerning part of the conclusions contained in ECC Report 194, advocating development of a n
ew ECC decision regarding extra-territorial E.164 numbers.
As the WG NaN chair is nearing the end of his term in office, candidates to replace him will be put forward; the new group chair should be appointed at the next ECC plenary meeting.
ECC director Mark Thomas of the United Kingdom reported on the current status of Twitter’s introduction in ECC communication activity, begun soon beforehand. It is moving forward slowly and should take some time before it becomes a habit among experts and for group chairs to put forward text proposals or material.
The plenary meeting appointed Alexander Kuhn of Germany to chair the Conference Preparatory Group (CPG), replacing the late Steve Bond of the United Kingdom. The participants held a minute of silence in his memory, and also for the vice-chair of the ECO Council, Peter Pauli of Switzerland, who died recently after a road accident.
The next ECC plenary meeting will be held this coming 5-8 November in Berlin.
