The Turkish city of Antalya hosted last 9-13 February the 82nd meeting of CEPT’s Frequency Management Working Group (WG FM), chaired by Thomas Weilacher of Germany. The gathering was attended by 110 delegates representing 30 Administrations, the European Commission (EC), the European Communications Office (ECO) and 11 international organisations.
The following stand out among matters dealt with at the meeting:
- approval of three draft CEPT reports meant to respond to EC mandates on: (i) 2.3 GHz (harmonised technical conditions for the 2300-2400 MHz - 2.3 GHz - frequency band in the EU for the provision of wireless broadband electronic communications services); (ii) unpaired 2 GHz bands (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); (iii) wireless access systems (WAS)/radio local area networks (RLAN) extension bands (to study and identify harmonised compatibility and sharing conditions for WAS including RLAN in the bands 5350-5470 MHz and 5725-5925 MHz - WAS/RLAN extension bands - for the provision of wireless broadband services). These three draft reports will be submitted to the ECC for final approval and publication;
- approval of a draft CEPT report meant to respond to the EC mandate on “technical sharing solutions for shared use of 2300-2400 MHz by wireless broadband (WBB) and programme making and special events (PMSE) equipment”, as well as a new recommendation on guidelines for sharing the 2300-2400 MHz band between mobile/fixed communications networks (MFCN) and PMSE”. These documents will be submitted to the ECC together for validation and placement in public consultation;
- discussion and approval for publication of the draft ECC report on non-geostationary satellite orbit (NGSO) and earth stations on mobile platforms (ESOMP) in 17.3-20.2 GHz, 27.5-29.1 GHz and 29.5-30.0 GHz; approval for placement in public consultation of four draft reports on (i) guidance for improving coexistence between GSM-Railway (GSM-R) and MFCN (draft new ECC Report 229); (ii) harmonisation possibilities for assistive listening devices (ALD) in the band 174-216 MHz (draft new ECC Report 230); (iii) overall regulatory framework for TV WSD (white space devices) using a geolocation database and guidance for national implementation (draft new ECC Report 236); (iv) update of the European Common Allocation Table (ECA) (revised ERC Report 25);
- approval of four new draft decisions for placement in public consultation on (i) broadband direct air to ground communications in the frequency band 1900-1920 MHz; (ii) broadband direct air to ground communications in the frequency band 5855-5875 MHz; (iii) harmonised use, free circulation and exemption from individual licensing of land and maritime ESOMP operating with NGSO fixed satellite service (FSS) satellite systems in the frequency range 17.3-20.2 GHz, 27.5-29.1 GHz and 29.5-30.5 GHz; and (iv) the harmonised frequency range 446.0-446.2 MHz, technical characteristics, exemption from individual licensing and free carriage and use of analogue and professional mobile radio (PMR) 446 digital applications.
Note also that WG FM postponed the adoption of draft ECC report 218 on broadband public protection and disaster relief (PPDR) until the group’s next meeting in order to consider the results of ongoing studies. To ensure that the report is finished by the end of 2015, an extraordinary WG FM meeting has been scheduled for this coming October with the agenda limited to that matter.
At this WG FM meeting it was not possible to reach a compromise on the proposed revision of Decision ECC/DEC/(08)01 and Recommendation ECC/REC/(08)01 concerning intelligent transport systems (ITS) in 5875-5925 MHz as a result of the public consultation to which those documents were submitted. The interested parties (CAR 2 CAR Communication Consortium - C2C-CC - and the European Association of Operators of Toll Road Infrastructures - ASECAP) were asked to give a joint presentation of respective arguments to the ECC in March 2015, with a view to achieving a consensual position in CEPT regarding ITS in 5875-5925 MHz.
The next WG FM meeting is scheduled for 18-22 May 2015 in Dresden, Germany.
