Berlin hosted last 24-28 April the 55th meeting of ECC project team 1 (ECC PT1) on International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT), chaired by Steve Green of the United Kingdom and attended by nearly 110 participants, including representatives from administrations, the European Communications Office (ECO), the European Commission (EC), operators and manufacturers, among others.
ECC PT1 is responsible for all issues concerning IMT. Among other aspects, its mission is to develop harmonisation measures for bands identified for the IMT system, including respective channels and technical conditions, to carry out sharing/compatibility studies and to coordinate European positions within the Radiocommunication Sector of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU-R). It will also lead the preparation of CEPT’s position vis-à-vis questions of the 2019 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-19) – item 1.3 – concerning additional spectrum for mobile/IMT systems (5G systems).
Note that work continues on the eventual response to the EC mandate on 5G, envisaging CEPT’s development of harmonised technical conditions for use of spectrum for 5G, particularly in the 3.4-3.8 GHz and 24.25-27.5 GHz frequency bands.
This group completed the studies on the 1427-1452 MHz and 1492-1518 MHz sub-bands, in particular with the development of technical conditions for supplemental downlink systems in those sub-bands. The studies will be submitted to the next ECC meeting so they can be approved for public consultation.
Note also that ECC Report 266 on machine-to-machine (M2M) was finalised at this meeting. It studies adaptation of the current regulatory framework for mobile networks in CEPT in the 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz, 2600 MHz, 3400-3600 MHz and 3600-3800 MHz bands for future M2M use, and was also subject to public consultation by the ECO.
Finally, a highlight was the ongoing work to prepare for WRC-19, namely to identify frequency bands for future IMT development. CEPT’s preliminary position remains focused on the 24.25-27.5 GHz, 31.8-33.4 GHz and 40.5-43.5 GHz bands; the band considered a priority for CEPT is the 24.25-27.5 GHz band.
