Following an ECC request, Project Team 22 (PT22) of the working group on Frequency Management (WG FM) held a workshop about spectrum occupancy measures (“ECC Workshop on Measuring Spectrum Occupancy for Effective Spectrum Management”) last 15 January at the head offices of the Bundesnetzagentur (Federal Network Agency for Electricity, Gas, Telecommunications, Post and Railways) in Mainz, Germany. The 68 delegates included representatives from 14 countries, 29 manufacturers and 4 organisations.
The workshop's aim was to discuss how spectrum occupancy measurement can help achieve effective spectrum management.
Various presentations were given along with practical examples of spectrum occupancy measurement and management of the respective data.
The work and discussions led to the following conclusions about spectrum occupancy measurement, among others:
- they should be done in accordance with recommendations from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and/or the ECC;
- Otherwise, they should not be taken into consideration for any kind of decisions about spectrum use;
- they should be suitable for the kind of service allocated to the measurement band in question, specifically to its bandwidth and average length of communications;
- the expectable coverage of the service authorised for each of the bands should be borne in mind to evaluate which measurement method should best be used, either fixed in one or more locations, portable or mobile;
- when correctly done they are a very useful spectrum management tool, enabling a clear view of the degree of spectrum use.
