The 53rd ECC meeting was held by videoconference from last 29 June to 3 July, chaired by the United Kingdom (Chris Woolford).
The meeting was attended by about 120 participants representing 35 administrations, the European Commission (EC), the European Communications Office (ECO) and various observers.
The ECC agreed to and approved decisions on matters such as radio local area networks (RLANs) in the 6 GHz band and railway mobile radio (RMR). It also reached agreement on certain developments concerning spectrum availability for the fifth mobile generation (5G).
Also approved was CEPT Report 74 (Report A) in response to tasks 1-4 of the EC mandate on spectrum harmonisation for the future railway mobile communications system (FRMCS), as well as the final version of ECC Report 309 (Aerial UEs, including drones).
In short, the Committee approved the following ECC deliverables for publication:
- Report CEPT 74 – Spectrum for the future railway mobile communications system (FRMCS) (Report A: Spectrum needs and feasibility (tasks 1 to 4));
- Report ECC 318 – Compatibility between RMR and MFCN in the 900 MHz range, the 1900-1920 MHz band and the 2290-2300 MHz band;
- Report ECC 309 – Analysis of the usage of aerial UEs for communication in current MFCN harmonised bands;
- Report ECC 317 – Toolkit to assist administrations considering authorisation regimes for 26 GHz other than individual rights of use.
The Committee furthermore approved the following ECC deliverables to be forwarded for public consultation:
- Draft CEPT Report 75 – WAS/RLAN in 5925-6425 MHz (Report B: Harmonised technical parameters for WAS/RLANs operating on a coexistence basis with appropriate mitigation techniques and/or operational compatibility/coexistence conditions, operating on the basis of a general authorisation);
- Draft CEPT Report 76 – Spectrum for the future railway mobile communications system (FRMCS) (Report B: EU-harmonised technical conditions for the future railway mobile radio communications system (Task 5));
- Draft Decision ECC(20)01 – Harmonised use of the frequency bands 5945 to 6425 MHz for the implementation of Wireless Access Systems including Radio Local Area Networks (WAS/RLANs);
- Draft Decision ECC(20)02 – Harmonised use of the paired frequency bands 874.4-880.0 MHz and 919.4-925.0 MHz and of the unpaired frequency band 1900-1910 MHz for Railway Mobile Radio (RMR);
- Draft revision of Decision ECC(18)06 – Harmonised technical conditions for Mobile/Fixed Communications Networks (MFCN) in the band 24.25-27.5 GHz.
All the aforementioned documents will be in public consultation until 4 September 2020, except for the revision of Decision ECC(18)06, whose hearing period ends on 19 August 2020.
Regarding the second EC mandate on 5G (900/1800 MHz/2 GHz/2.6 GHz), the Committee agreed on a set of high-level principles and objectives to consider when determining the least restrictive technical conditions (LRTC) for the 900 MHz and 1800 MHz frequency bands.
With respect to the recently received third EC mandate on 5G (40 GHz/70 GHz), deriving from decisions made at the 2019 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-19), the ECC mandated the ECC project team 1 (ECC PT1) on issues associated to International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT) to respond to tasks 1, 2 and 4 (40.5-43.5) GHz and the working group on Frequency Management (WG FM) to respond to task 3 (66-71 GHz). The response to the most recent EC mandate concerning WAS/RLAN in 5 GHz (5150-5250 MHz, 5250-5350 MHz and 5470-5725 MHz bands), also issued in the wake of the WRC-19 conclusions regarding WAS/RLAN in 5 GHz, will be developed by WG FM.
WG FM was also assigned the mission of ascertaining how to deal with interference in weather radars in the bands between 5600 and 5650 MHz, specifically taking into account an eventual revision of the ECC action plan on WAS/RLAN in 5 GHz dated November 2017. The group will also investigate possible future use of the 5350-5470 MHz frequency bands by those radars. Portugal, along with France, Ireland, Slovakia and Switzerland, presented a joint contribution on this agenda point (document ECC(20)075 Rev2).
The plenary session approved the ECC Strategy Plan https://cept.org/ecc/groups/ecc/news/ecc-publishes-new-strategic-plan-aimed-at-strengthening-the-development-and-co-ordination-of-europes-electronic-communications/ which will be force from 2020 to 2025.
The Committee also approved a draft questionnaire on free circulation, use and licence exemption of mobile terminals, with a view to understanding whether ECC decisions still require such provisions.
Also worth highlighting was the ECC’s approval of several new work items (WIs):
- Use of the Q&V bands by satellites (Framework for satellite downlink use in the band 37.5-40.5 GHz; and Framework for satellite uplink use in the bands 47.2-50.2 GHz and 50.4-52.4 GHz);
- Revision of Decision ECC(06)10 on MSS in 2 GHz (Protection of MSS/CGC from terrestrial services in the bands 1980-2010 MHz and 2170-2200 MHz);
- Modelling of 5G AAS commercially available equipment;
- Application of harmonised technical conditions for indoor small cells operating in the 3400-3800 MHz interval (Guidance on application of the least restrictive technical conditions (LRTC) in ECC/DEC/(11)06 to ensure protection of military radiolocation systems operating below 3400 MHz from indoor small cells operating in the band 3400-3800 MHz).
A summary report was produced on numbering and network matters. It specifically mentioned the approval at the NaN working group’s last web-meeting, held last 26-27 May, of the Reports ECC 311 (Sub-assignment and number hosting) and ECC 312 (Measuring, evaluating and presenting comparable information on Mobile Internet Access Service Quality). Various positions of the group’s chair and vice-chair and their project teams remain open; the administrations have been asked to evaluate their candidacy possibilities.
Following a proposal submitted by Russia, the ECC debated the matter of industry’s participation in the Committee’s meetings and whether that participation would be aligned by the current rules of procedure (RoPs) and working methods (WMs). That administration urged that such participation should be clear in light of the current rules and preferably based on the prior signing of a cooperation instrument (memorandum or letter of understanding – MoU or LoU). It was decided that the Steering Group (ECC SG) would discuss the matter again and present some respective guidelines to the plenary session.
Agreement was reached to sign a letter of understanding (LoU) between the ECC and the Dynamic Spectrum Alliance (DSA). The chair of the Committee mandated going ahead with the respective formalisation.
The ECO director reported that the CEPT seminar on satellites https://cept.org/ecc/tools-and-services/cept-workshops/cept-satellite-workshop-2020, scheduled for this coming 25-26 November in Copenhagen, should only be held if it can be physically attended. A decision should be made in September, depending on evolution of the ongoing pandemic in Europe.
The next ECC plenary meeting will be held in Berlin this coming 17-20 November, if public health conditions and current air travel restrictions so permit.
