The 47th ECC meeting was held in Lisbon from last 27 February to 2 March, attended by 86 participants representing 30 administrations, the European Commission and the European Communications Office (ECO), as well as 15 observers.
The ECC agreed on some developments concerning spectrum availability for fifth generation mobile (5G) and approved decisions meant to harmonise spectrum for internet-of-things/machine-to-machine applications (IoT/M2M), for drones and intelligent transport systems.
Regarding 5G, the committee approved for forwarding to public consultation a set of documents, including two CEPT reports in response to the EC mandate, with a view to harmonising technical conditions for mobile/fixed communication networks in the 3.4-3.8 GHz and 24.25-27.5 GHz frequency bands, considered pioneer bands for introduction of this system. The consultation of administrations, industry and market ran until last 6 April. Also approved for public consultation was a report in the scope of CEPT’s roadmap for 5G on the role satellite communication technologies may play in the future fifth generation ecosystem. Finally, the option of introducing 5G in frequencies under 3 GHz was debated; agreement was reached to review the current technical conditions in the ECC decisions for 2.1 GHz, 2.6 GHz, 900 MHz and 1800 MHz. As for the 700 MHz, 800 MHz and 1.5 GHz frequency bands, the plenary session agreed that they could accommodate the introduction of 5G only if the technical conditions in the corresponding ECC
decisions are technologically neutral and there is no intention to implement active antenna systems in those bands.
Regarding IoT/M2M applications, the committee approved the final version of revised decision ECC (06)13, establishing the regulatory framework for the 900 MHz and 1800 MHz bands and adding to them the conditions needed to introduce IoT cellular systems.
This plenary meeting served to begin discussions on eventual designation of spectrum for drones/unmanned aircraft systems; the committee decided to produce an ECC report to evaluate that future use. The programme for the seminar on drones scheduled for this coming 29-30 May in Copenhagen was also noted and approved. Additional information can be found at CEPT Workshop on Spectrum for Drones / UAS https://cept.org/ecc/tools-and-services/cept-workshop-on-spectrum-for-drones-uas.
The ECC approved the CEPT interim report to send to the EC in response to the mandate with a view to studying the extension of ITS in the 5.9 GHz guard band.
The committee considered the new EC mandate concerning wireless access systems, including radio local area networks in the 5925-6425 MHz frequencies and noted activities that have already begun in that area in the working groups on Frequency Management (WG FM) – namely in Spectrum Engineering project team 57 (PT FM 57) – and Spectrum Engineering (WG SE) – in Spectrum Engineering project team 45 (PT SE 45).
The new decision ECC (17)05 was approved, concerning harmonised prefixes and short codes in national numbering plans. It was unanimously approved in the working group on Numbering and Networks (WG NaN), which in public consultation received comments from the European Telecommunications Network Operators Association (ETNO). A total of 23 administrations indicated they would implement that decision.
The plenary session noted the information from the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) on the non-publication in the Official Journal of the European Union of harmonised ETSI standards since the Radio Equipment Directive (RED) took force in June 2016, due to tolerances associated to the technical limits of those standards. The issue is being discussed by the Institute and the EC’s Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (DG Grow).
Also discussed was a proposed amendment to the ECC’s working methods, annex 8 (definition of a European common proposal (ECP)), concerning the process for future ECP adoption with respect to the agenda of world radiocommunication conferences. The plenary session decided not to approve that amendment.
Note was taken of the three letters of understanding (LoU) recently signed by the ECC and the European Space Agency (ESA), the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation (EUROCONTROL) and RAIN RFID. The signing of an LoU is also expected with the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT).
The next ECC plenary meeting will be held this coming 3-6 June in Rome.
