The 52nd meeting of ECC project team 1 (ECC PT1) on international mobile telecommunications (IMT) took place last 19-21 April in Bucharest, Romania, chaired by Didier Chaveau of France and attended by about 90 participants, including representatives of the administrations, the European Communications Office (ECO), the European Commission (EC), operators and manufacturers.
ECC PT1 is responsible of all issues concerning IMT. Among others, its mission is to develop measures to harmonise bands identified for the IMT system, including respective channels, conduct sharing/compatibility studies and coordinate European positions within the Radiocommunication Sector of the International Telecommunication Union. It will also lead preparation of the position of the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT) with respect to 2019 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-19) issues concerning additional spectrum for mobile systems/IMT.
A highlight was the completion during this meeting of CEPT reports in response to two EC mandates, respectively concerning mobile communications on board vessels and mobile communications on board aircraft (MCA). In the first case the operation of long term evolution and third generation mobile communications system (UMTS) is permitted on vessels in the 1800 MHz/2.6 GHz and 2.1 GHz bands, respectively, as long as sharing and compatibility parameters are implemented. In MCA’s case, it was concluded that implementation of a network control unit on board aircraft will always be necessary when the UMTS system is involved.
ECC PT1 also finished a report about the 3.6-3.8 GHz band, which analyses the possibility of co-existence between mobile systems and incumbent systems in the 3.6-3.8 GHz bands, for example, fixed service and fixed satellite service.
Also noteworthy was the start of work to prepare for WRC-19, concerning item 1.13, which aims to identify frequency bands for future development of IMT, including possible additional allocations for mobile service on a primary basis.
