Dublin hosted last 17-21 September the 60th meeting of ECC project team 1 (ECC PT1) on international mobile telecommunications (IMT)1, chaired by Steve Green of the United Kingdom and attended by about 120 participants, including representatives from administrations, the European Communications Office (ECO), the European Commission (EC), operators and manufacturers.
Various tasks concerning the 5G bands were completed, particularly involving the 3.4-3.8 GHz (3.6 GHz band) and 24.26-27.5 GHz (26 GHz band) spectrum bands. The revision of Decision CEPT ECC 11(06) on the 3.6 GHz band was finished, including the technical conditions suitable for 5G, particularly the band’s planning based on time division duplex (TDD) mode and encompassing active antenna systems (AAS) and other ‘non-active’ systems (non-AAS). For the 26 GHz band an ECC recommendation with methodologies for coordinating with Earth exploration satellite services (EESS) and space research services (SRS) was finalised for public consultation.
Also noteworthy was the completion of work concerning the 900/1800 MHz and 2.1 GHz bands with a view to amending the relevant ECC decisions, ECC(06)13 and ECC(06)01, in order to accommodate 5G systems.
The preparation work ahead of the 2019 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-19) also continues, seeking to identify frequency bands for future IMT development. CEPT’s preliminary position (contained in the brief) focuses on the 24.25-27.5 GHz, 40.5-43.5 GHz and 66-71 GHz bands; the 24.25-27.5 GHz band (26 GHz band) is considered the priority band for CEPT.
1 ECC PT1 is responsible for all issues concerning IMT. Among other aspects, it is tasked with developing harmonisation measures for bands identified for the IMT system, including respective channels and technical conditions, conducting sharing/compatibility studies and coordinating European positions within the Radiocommunication Sector of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU-R). It is also leading the preparation of CEPT's position on questions concerning the 2019 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-19), item 1.13, on additional spectrum for mobile systems/IMT 2020 (5G systems).
