The 42nd plenary meeting of the ECC was held last 14-17 June in Stockholm, attended by 65 participants representing 28 administrations, the European Commission (EC), European Communications Office (ECO) and 13 observers.
The following decisions stand out among the subjects considered at the meeting:
- Final approval of the new Decision ECC/DEC/(16)02 on “Harmonised technical conditions and frequency bands for the implementation of Broadband Public Protection and Disaster Relief systems”. A total of 19 administrations indicated they intended to implement this decision, while the administrations of Luxembourg and Russia indicated it could only be partially implemented. The United Kingdom indicated it had no intention to implement this decision in the near future;
- Approval of revised 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”;
- Approval and forwarding for public consultation of revised Decision ECC/DEC/(06)07 on “Harmonised use of airborne GSM and LTE systems in the frequency bands 1710-1785 MHz and 1805-1880 MHz, and airborne UMTS systems in the frequency bands 1920-1980 MHz and 2110-2170 MHz”, for the purpose of simplifying the EC regulatory framework concerning mobile communications on board aircraft, as proposed by project team 1 (PT1) after the approval of CEPT Report no. 63;
- Approval and forwarding for public consultation of Decision (revised) ECC/DEC/(06)07 on “Exemption from individual licensing and free circulation and use of terrestrial and satellite mobile terminals operating under the control of networks”, in order to include the 700 MHz and 2300 MHz frequency bands. Lithuania questioned the need for satellite operators to be subject to authorisations, in some CEPT countries, a matter that will be considered in public consultation;
- Final approval of Decision ECC/DEC/(01)03 on the “ECO Frequency Information System (EFIS)”, after consulting the administrations;
- Final approval of Decision ECC/DEC/(11)03 on “Harmonised use of frequencies for Citizens’ Band (CB) radio equipment”;
- Final approval of CEPT Report no. 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”;
- Final approval of CEPT Report no. 59 in response to the permanent EC mandate on the “Annual update of the technical annex of the Commission Decision on the technical harmonisation of radio spectrum for use by short range devices (SRD)”. The report includes the so-called road-tolling applications in the 5.8 GHz band. The future inclusion of an addendum in the report was discussed, in response to the requisite for more harmonisation in the 870-876 MHz and 915-921 MHz bands requested by 22 stakeholders during the public consultation;
- Final approval of CEPT Report no. 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 bands”. A proposal by France to include an annex containing technical parameters with a view to eventual community harmonisation, supported by Portugal, was nevertheless rejected by most of the attending administrations;
- Final approval of CEPT Report no. 63 in response to the EC mandate “To undertake technical studies regarding the possibility of making the usage of the network control unit (NCU) optional on board MCA enabled aircraft”;
- Final approval of CEPT Report no. 64 (Report B) in response to the EC mandate “To study and identify harmonised compatibility and sharing conditions for Wireless Access Systems including Radio Local Area Networks in the bands 5350-5470 MHz and 5725-5925 MHz (WAS/RLAN extension bands) for the provision of wireless broadband services”.
The plenary meeting elected by acclamation the new chair of project team 1 (PT1) on International Mobile Telecommunications, Steve Green of the United Kingdom, succeeding France for a three-year term of office.
The ECC was also informed that it will be necessary to launch the candidacy process for the head of the working group on Numbering and Networks (WG NaN), as the current chair (Johannes Vallesverd, Norway) has indicated his intention to be a candidate for a second term. The nomination will take place at the next ECC plenary meeting.
A decision was made to set up an ECC Forum Group, taking into account harmonisation and designation of the 700 MHz band for mobile networks and developments regarding the information repository for cross-border coordination in the 700 MHz band, with the mission to identify improvements to make in this tool, support administrations in the task of updating information and cooperate with relevant regional groups such as the WEDDP, SEDDIF and NEDDIF.
The ECC agreed to adopt new work items in the scope of PT1: drawing up of ‘best practices’ for indoor coverage of mobile services and verification of harmonised technical conditions in the 3.4-3.8 GHz interval for 5G.
The ECO director (Per Christensen, Denmark) informed the plenary meeting about various agenda points, namely regarding the communication strategy and the ECC bulletin on sector-related issues in other regions or organisations. The next newsletter, due to be released in July/August, will consider SEAMCAT version 5, latest developments regarding the response to the permanent EC mandate on SRD and the start of activities of the Conference Preparatory Group for the 2019 World Radiocommunication Conference.
The plenary meeting approved the proposal by the ECC Steering Group to organise a CEPT seminar on fifth generation (5G), which should be held this coming 2-4 November in Mainz. Before that, a workshop on “Public protection and disaster relief: regulatory changes and new opportunities for broadband PPDR” is scheduled for 29 September in Sophia-Antipolis, co-organised by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute and CEPT.
WG NaN vice-chair Liz Greenberg gave a presentation on the group’s activities, namely the most recent meeting with the EC last 10 June, focusing on numbering issues and the directory for transnational emergency calls made to European public safety answering points (PSAPs), in the scope of the request by the European Emergency Number Association non-governmental organisation to have that database managed by the ECO. The plenary meeting was informed that the ECO Council decided it would not analyse legal consequences of that initiative without having a decision from the ECC. That should eventually be adopted within a year, at the June 2017 ECC plenary meeting, after the respective feasibility study has been reviewed and submitted to public consultation.
The plenary meeting approved revision of the ECC’s working methods, including amendment of the WG NaN terms of reference.
Two presentations were given during this plenary session, one by the British regulator OFCOM concerning national implementation of audio PMSE in the 964-1160 MHz frequency bands, and the other by Ericsson on 5G and the European project titled “Millimetre-Wave Based Mobile Radio Access Network for Fifth Generation Integrated Communications”, also called mmMagic.
The signing of a letter of understanding by the ECC and the Global Mobile Suppliers Association was noted.
The next ECC plenary meeting will be held this coming 15-18 November in Prague.
