The 46th ECC meeting was held last 14-17 November in Bucharest, Romania, attended by 78 participants representing 31 administrations, the European Commission (EC), the European Communications Office (ECO) and nine observers.
At its 46th plenary meeting the ECC finished developing the regulatory framework for mobile/fixed communications networks (MFCN) in the 1427-1518 MHz band. It made decisions on spectrum in the scope of the internet of things (IoT), bands for 5G and spectrum for drones.
The meeting also served to update Decision ECC (13)03 containing the technical and operational conditions for implementation of MFCN supplemental downlink (SDL) in the 1452-1492 MHz band as well as a new ECC Decision (17)06 on conditions for SDL in the 1427-1452 MHz and 1492-1517 MHz bands. The possibility of MFCN SDL benefitting from up to 90 MHz of harmonised spectrum in the 1.5 GHz band is thus considered.
Based on the technical analysis contained in ECC Report 266, published in June 2017, the ECC analysed the regulatory framework in the 900 and 1800 MHz bands to verify the viability of introducing IoT cellular technologies in those bands. Decision ECC(06)13 was revised as a result in order to contain the technical conditions needed for IoT cellular systems beyond those already listed for standard cellular systems. Note that the ECC also approved draft CEPT Report 66, containing the response to the European Commission mandate on that matter.
The ECC considered its ongoing activities associated to 5G, particularly the 3.6 GHz and 26 GHz bands, and accordingly updated the CEPT roadmap for 5G. It also agreed to make the 66-71 GHz band a priority in the WRC-19 context, with respect to the identification of spectrum for 5G (IMT-2020).
Furthermore, the ECC decided to hold a workshop on a still-to-be-determined date in 2018 to consider various questions concerning spectrum used by drones.
