The 63rd meeting of project team 1 of the ECC (ECC PT1) on international mobile telecommunications (IMT)1 was held last 10-12 September in Riga, Latvia, chaired by Steve Green of the United Kingdom and attended by nearly 120 participants, including representatives from the administrations, the European Communications Office (ECO), the European Commission (EC), operators and manufacturers.
Harmonisation of the 26 GHz band (24.25-27.5 GHz) band for 5G is currently solely based on individual user rights (spectrum usage conditions already indicated in Decision ECC(18)06). ECC PT1 began the analysis to verify if (and how) the 26 GHz band could accommodate other authorisation frameworks not exclusively limited to individual usage rights. The decision on how to proceed with the analysis of this request was made at the last ECC meeting, which opened a new WI for ECC PT1 to deal with the issue.
The proposed recommendation on guidelines to support the introduction of 5G while ensuring, in a proportionate way, the use of existing and planned FSS-transmitting earth stations in the frequency band 24.65-25.25 GHz and the possibility for future deployment of these satellite earth stations was finalised and adopted for public consultation.
The draft ECC Report 307 on the toolbox for the most appropriate synchronisation regulatory framework including coexistence of MFCN in 24.25-27.5 GHz in unsynchronised and semi-synchronised mode underwent public consultation. The comments received were all resolved and the document will be submitted to the next ECC meeting for final approval and publication on the CEPT https://www.cept.org/ website.
The proposed ECC report 309 on the use of MFCN for the command and control and payload links of UAs within the current MFCN harmonised regulatory framework was approved (exceptionally by ECC PT1) for public consultation.
The comments received in the publication consultation for the ECC report on analysis of the suitability and update of the regulatory technical conditions for 5G MFCN and AAS operation in the 2500-2690 MHz band were considered and resolved. The report will be submitted to the ECC for final approval and publication.
The revision of Recommendation (15)01, now designated as concerning cross-border coordination for mobile/fixed communications networks (MFCN) in the frequency bands 694-790 MHz, 1427-1518 MHz and 3400-3800 MHz, was finalised at this meeting. Because WG FM only meets again in February 2020, to avoid delay in its adoption for public consultation it will be submitted to the upcoming September/October 2019 meeting of WG SE for that purpose.
1 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 the respective channels and technical conditions, to conduct studies on sharing/compatibility and to coordinate European positions within the Radiocommunication Sector of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU-R). It is also heading the preparation of CEPT’s position regarding questions of the 2019 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-19) with respect to item 1.13 on additional spectrum for mobile systems/IMT 2020 (5G systems).
