The ECC’s 41st meeting was held last 1-4 March in Ghent, Belgium, attended by 83 participants representing 32 administrations, the European Commission (EC) and the European Communications Office (ECO), as well as 17 observers.
The following decisions stand out among the topics considered at the Committee’s meeting:
- Final approval of amended Decision ECC/DEC/(08)08 on harmonised use of GSM, UMTS and LTE systems on board vessels in the frequency bands 880-915/925-960 MHz, 1710-1785/1805-1880 MHz, 1920-1980/2110-2170 MHz and 2500-2570/2620-2690 MHz. A total of 23 administrations, including Portugal, indicated their intention to apply this decision; the Czech Republic indicated that it would not, given that its territory does not include territorial waters;
- Final approval of the new Decision ECC/DEC/(16)01 on harmonised frequency range 76-77 GHz, technical characteristics, exemption from individual licensing and free carriage and use of obstacle detection radars for rotorcraft use. A total of 26 administrations, including Portugal, indicated their intention to apply this decision. Those administrations must forward to the ECO the information to include in annex 2 of the decision;
- Final approval of amended Decision ECC/DEC/(09)01 on harmonised use of the 63-64 GHz frequency band for Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS);
- Final approval of amended Decision ERC/DEC/(00)07 on shared use of the band 17.7-19.7 GHz by the fixed service and earth stations of the fixed-satellite service (space-to-Earth). A total of 22 administrations, including Portugal, indicated their intention to apply this decision. Italy, Russia and Sweden indicated that they would either partially implement it or that the implementation conditions require further analysis;
- Approval for public consultation of amended Decision ECC/DEC (16)02 on harmonised technical conditions and frequency bands for the implementation of BB PPDR systems;
- Approval for public consultation of amended Decision ECC/DEC (08)05 on harmonisation of frequency bands for the implementation of digital Public Protection and Disaster Relief (PPDR) narrow band and wide band radio applications in bands within the 380-470 MHz range;
- Final approval of CEPT Report 60 (Report B), based on results of the public consultation and in response to the EC mandate, on harmonised technical conditions for the 694-790 MHz (700 MHz) frequency band in the EU for the provision of wireless broadband and other uses in support of EU spectrum policy objectives;
- Approval of draft CEPT Report 62, in response to the EC mandate, on coexistence studies between seaborne UMTS and LTE with terrestrial electronic communications networks operating in the 1710-1785/1805-1880 MHz, 1920-1980/2110-2170 MHz and 2500-2570/2620-2690 MHz bands, and its forwarding for public consultation;
- Approval of the revised version, containing only editing changes, of CEPT Report 52 – 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;
- Approval of the interim report to the EC, in response to the EC mandate – to determine the possibility to make the installation of a Network Control Unit on board MCA equipped aircraft optional;
- Approval of draft CEPT Report 61, in response to the EC mandate, on harmonised compatibility and sharing conditions for Video PMSE in the 2.7-2.9 GHz frequency band, taking into account radar use, and its forwarding for public consultation;
- Approval and forwarding for public consultation of draft CEPT Report 59, in response to the permanent EC mandate regarding low power short range devices – the annual update of the technical annex of the Commission Decision on the technical harmonisation of radio spectrum for use by Short Range Devices;
- Approval of ECC Report 242 on compatibility and sharing studies for M2M applications in the frequency bands 733-736 MHz/788-791 MHz.
The chairs of the ECC (Eric Fournier of France) and the Conference Preparatory Group (CPG) (Alexander Kuhn of Germany) were elected by acclamation to a second three-year term in their respective posts. The plenary session was also informed that it will be necessary to launch the candidacy process for the post of ECC PT1 (IMT issues) chair Didier Chaveau of France, whose replacement will be elected at the June plenary meeting.
The ECC approved the roadmaps proposed by PT1 in the scope of the EC mandate issued in November 2015, so that CEPT can produce technical studies that analyse the option of including a network control unit (NCU) for mobile communications on board aircraft (MCA) and, also in the scope of the EC mandate also disclosed in November, with respect to mobile communications on board vessels (MCV).
The plenary meeting again debated, in the report from the working group on numbering and networks (WG NaN), the April 2015 request by the European Emergency Number Association, a non-governmental organisation, to transfer the database on transnational emergency calls to European call centres, the public safety (PPDR) answering points otherwise known as emergency call centres for the number ‘112’. The project team on Emergency Services has proposed that the ECO should henceforth manage that database and produced a respective feasibility study. Germany, Portugal, Sweden and France raised various objections to that initiative, while Austria and the Netherlands expressed their support. It was decided that the study should be formally approved at WG NaN level (except for its annex 2, containing an ECC draft decision, the holding of a public consultation and final adoption by the group) before being submitted again to the plenary session, which should decide whether to approve drawing up that decision. The matter should also be discussed at the level of the ECO Council, which must confirm that it has no objections, namely regarding obligations and costs of that database.
ECO Director Per Christensen of Denmark reported on several agenda points to the plenary session, specifically that the Office had hired a new communication advisor of Irish origin. He also informed that the ECO would organise the following seminars:
- CEPT seminar on machine-to-machine communications - 21-22 March in Mainz, Germany;
- SEAMCAT seminar for initiates – 4 April at the ECO;
- 4th CEPT workshop for initiates in European spectrum and numbering management - 5 April at the ECO;
- Seminar on public protection and disaster relief, jointly organised with the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) - mid-September.
The CPG chair presented a proposal to revise the European common proposals (ECPs) contained in the ECC working methods now in force. It was decided that the proposal, framed in the scope of preparations for the next World Radiocommunication Conference (WRG) in 2019, would then be considered at the level of the CPG itself, given that the plenary session understood that discussion and decisions on that matter were that group’s responsibility.
The ETSI representative reported on the following to the ECC:
- Activity around the new Radio Equipment Directive (RED) and the respective working programme; there are 110 work items for the production of harmonised standards out of a total of 183 under public consultation;
- Information about the process now being discussed in the EC on standardisation in the scope of the revised Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive;
- The current situation regarding the scheduled seminars: the joint CEPT-ETSI seminar on PPDR and the follow-up seminar on the RED Directive (1 December);
- Information about draft Guide EG 203 367, developed by ETSI to support manufacturers of so-called ‘connected’ electronic devices. It will serve as the basis of the new standard EN 301 489-60 (smart domestic appliances);
- Approval of the memorandum of understanding in force between the ECC and ETSI since April 2004;
- Revision of the brochure providing an introduction to the regulatory environment for radio equipment and spectrum in Europe, also drawn up with EC support and published in April 2011, after revocation of the R&TTE Directive.
The next ECC plenary meeting will be held in Stockholm this coming 14-17 June.
