Brussels hosted last 12 November the 35th meeting of the Spectrum Policy Group (RSPG). The following stand out among the issues discussed:
- Status of European Commission initiatives:
A status report about the proposed law on the telecommunications single market (TSM) was presented, confirming the European Commission’s determination to quickly complete this document.
The EC document on the spectrum inventory was presented and identifies eight frequency bands that can potentially be allocated to electronic communications. This matter is being discussed in detail with the Radio Spectrum Committee (RSC), the aim being to identify new mandates to submit to CEPT.
Regarding this item, a document mirroring the RSPG’s position on the subject was presented; it also aims for spectrum to be used efficiently. It nevertheless holds that those same goals should also be achieved through other actions. Political, economic and social aspects must be considered as well to accomplish the goal of efficient spectrum use. The current inventory process must therefore be rethought for that to happen.
The RSPG has various opinions to take into consideration on this matter, specifically on spectrum review, wireless broadband (WBB) and strategic needs. In European terms a broadly comprehensive vision will be necessary regarding spectrum use before decisions are made. The new frequency information system (EFIS) will also be a good tool to use. In the short term there is no urgent spectrum need, so it prefers to wait for results from the 2015 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-15) before going ahead with more decisions on this subject.
The EC concluded that there is no agreement regarding the general inventory process and that possible decision mechanisms will be dealt with in the RSC;
- Preparation for WRC-15
The draft opinion on WRC-15 was approved for public consultation.
Some countries commented on specific points of the opinion, which was duly updated vis-à-vis the comments received.
The reference to some conclusions of the group examining the future of the ultra high frequency (UHF) bands was modified, making only a cross-reference to the referred opinion. Also, more flexible treatment of the 1.5 GHz band was accepted.
The RSPG members considered that the common political objectives set out here should help establish common positions in accordance with the cooperation principle envisaged in article 10.1 (b) of the radio spectrum policy programme (RSPP).
The possibility of producing an EC paper on WRC-15 as well as some Council conclusions was also examined.
Considering the above comments, the revised opinion was unanimously approved for public consultation;
- Long term strategy for the UHF band
This meeting approved for public consultation the draft opinion on the long term strategy for future use of the UHF band (470-790 MHz) in the European Union (EU), with two options concerning the deadline for effective use of the 700 MHz band by electronic communication services, namely:
- authorisation in 2020 and effective use in 2022, with no exemption possibilities;
- effective use in 2020, with exemption possible until 2022.
This matter will be decided at the next meeting, after the public consultation.
- Efficient awards
The report’s structure has been determined and will include the member states’ best practices regarding spectrum allocation processes as well as some case studies. Plans also call for some generic guidelines to be drawn up. The aim is to have the report approved for public consultation at the RSPG meeting to be held in June 2015.
A small presentation regarding the BEREC/RSPG workshop held on 11 November 2014 was given, providing very useful experience sharing between member states. Among other issues, it enabled analysis of various auction formats, cases of success and failure, and the member states’ common goals when formatting auctions;
- Wireless backhaul
Peter Gál of Hungary was officially appointed to draft this new working item associated to wireless backhaul spectrum issues. This new group had already held an ad hoc meeting to help the work progress quickly, enabling a structure for the report to be approved at this meeting.
It will be necessary to continue this work, moving forward with identification of the spectrum needs for such applications and what regulatory approaches should accordingly be used.
This new work item will therefore be included in this year’s working programme, as previously proposed;
- RSPP review
The new work item on review of the RSPP was unanimously adopted at this meeting and added to the group’s working programme. Fokko Bos of the Netherlands and Didier Chaveau of France were named co-rapporteurs of this group;
- Bilateral cooperation
The work done by this group was presented, especially regarding the settlement of problems between Italy and Malta.
The next RSPG meeting was scheduled for 19 February 2015 in Brussels.
