ECC TG6 (long term vision UHF) was established at the 34th ECC meeting in June 2013. Its main mission is to produce studies with long term vision for the ultra high frequency (UHF) broadcasting band in Europe, specifically regarding the following fundamental questions:
- identification and analysis of possible scenarios for long term development of the band, based on the existing situation and acknowledging ongoing studies in the 700 MHz band in Europe and short/medium term developments, for example, of item 1.2 of the 2015 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-15) agenda and the response to the European Commission (EC) mandate;
- flexibility of the CEPT administrations to individually consider the band’s future use;
- guarantee of fair access to the band by CEPT administrations which want to operate broadcasting services;
- perception of the existence of a stable environment for future investment concerning services envisaged for the band, including programme making and special events (PMSE).
The group should produce a compliant ECC report.
The group’s third meeting was held last 11-13 February in Copenhagen, attended by 67 participants, including representatives from 21 administrations, the European Communications Office (ECO) and various organisations/companies. The group was chaired by ANACOM.
Work on the draft ECC report continued at the meeting. Significantly, new sections were inserted in the background chapter, specifically one on indicators which will statistically describe the band’s current use by digital terrestrial television (DTT) in the various CEPT countries, another that will describe terrestrial broadcasting’s role from the standpoint of social inclusion and a new section on spectrum’s economic value.
The group began working on chapter 4 of the draft ECC report on “technology, service and network evolution”, which among other aspects should focus on future trends for mobile services, format and content types, and market models, etc.
Because the studies contained in the draft ECC report are based on presumptions about expected developments for the various platforms (e.g. broadcasting and mobile), and on supply and demand for services (e.g. TV and broadband data), a new chapter 5 was created. Its aim is to allow monitoring of expected developments for the band, based on set indicators.
Regarding chapter 6, issues concerning the long term vision, which includes the scenarios and respective evaluation vis-à-vis technical, regulatory, cross-border coordination and economic and social aspects, among others, the participants were able to finalise the definition of a total of 13 long term scenarios, one of the group’s main goals at the meeting. As for progress in chapter 6, developments centred on the definition and classification of scenarios and the consideration of several submitted studies. It was not possible to develop the evaluation of scenarios as expected due to problems hindering their completion.
The next meeting of ECC TG6 will be held on 2-4 April 2014.
