Plenary - Galway

The 14th meeting of the Electronic Communications Committee (ECC) was held in Galway, Ireland, on 3-7 July, with representatives of about 30 administrations attending.

This plenary session saw approval (final decision) of the following measures, which the Portuguese administration is studying the possibility of implementing:

- Decision ECC/DEC(06)05 concerning ?Harmonised Frequency Bands to be Designated for Air-Ground-Air operation (AGA) of the Digital Land Mobile Systems for the Emergency Services?;

- Decision ECC/DEC(06)06 concerning ?Availability of Frequency Bands for the Introduction of Narrow Band Digital Land Mobile PMR/PAMR in the 80 MHz, 160 MHz and 400 MHz bands?.

Also up for final approval was the proposed Decision ECC/DEC(06)EE on ?Harmonised Conditions for Devices Using UWB Technology in the Frequency Band 3.1-4.8 GHz?, which ended up not passing. As a result of the discussions, ECC TG3 will study the possibility of relaxing the emission limits for generic UWB devices in the 8.5-9 GHz band and will continue studying the DAA (detect and avoid) mitigation technique. The Regulatory Affairs working group (WG RA) will for its part study possible regulatory implications and possible implementation of the phased approach for UWB technology. It is expected that this matter will be concluded during 2006.

A decision was also made to go ahead with the public consultation process concerning the following ECC decisions, recommendations and reports:
 
- Draft decision on ?The Harmonised Conditions for Devices Using Ultra Wide Band (UWB) Technology with Low Duty Cycle (LCD) in the Frequency Band 3.4-4.8 GHz?;
 
- Draft decision on ?The Designation of the Bands 1980-2010 MHz and 2170-2200 MHz by Systems in the Mobile Satellite Service (MSS), Including those Supplemented by a Complementary Ground Component (CGC)?;
 
- Draft decision on ?The Conditions for Use of Ground and Wall Probing Radar (GPR/WPR) Imaging Systems?, along with the respective proposed cover note;
 
- Draft decision titled ?The Conditions for Use of Building Material Analysis (BMA) Devices?, along with the respective proposed cover note; 
 
- Draft report on ?Technical Requirements for UWB LDC Devices to Ensure the Protection of FWA Systems?;
 
- Draft recommendation on ?The Provision of Information on the Progress of Implementation of the Mobile Satellite Systems which are Candidates to Use the 1980-2010 and 2170-2200 MHz MSS Frequency Bands?.
 
Also approved, in reply to mandates from the European Commission, were the following ECC reports:
 
- Final report on ?MSS at 2 GHz?;
 
- Final report on the ?Spectrum Information System?;
 
- Final report about ?Specific UWB Applications?;
 
- Final report in reply to the second mandate on development of a strategy to improve the efficiency and flexibility of spectrum available for SRD (short range devices); 
 
Lastly, a number of other issues were discussed or subject to decision, specifically: 
 
- A new ECC Decision structure was adopted with a view to adjusting them in turn to European Commission Decisions;
 
- A decision was made to postpone the subject of disbanding project team 7 until the next ECC meeting, where it can be ascertained whether there is enough work and tasks to justify the PT?s continuation;
 
- The interim report on ?Broadband Wireless Access? was considered by the ECC; 
 
- The ECC took into account the progress reports on ?Mitigation Techniques for UWB Devices?, ?GSM on board Aircraft? and ?GSM on board Vessels?;
 
- WG RA was asked to submit at the next ECC meeting a report on ?The Need of Decisions on Free Circulation?;
 
- The work carried out by the working group on Numbering, Names and Addressing (WG NNA) was deemed complete with regard to implementation of the GSM system on board aircraft;
 
- The Frequency Management working group (ECC WG FM) was given the task of developing a generic decision on free circulation and licensing exceptions for mobile satellite service (MSS) networks operating below 3 GHz;
 
- A decision was made to suspend making a decision on the development of a decision concerning the assignment of a ?Harmonised European Short Code (HESC) 1166? to an emergency service for missing and sexually exploited children (thus suspending the preparation of said decision). As the opinions of the Communications Committee (COCOM) and WG NNA diverged regarding the number of digits this service should contain, a decision was therefore made to send a letter with the proposed consensus positions to resolve this dispute, for later submission to the Commission and to the administrations;

- A decision was made to create a section in the database of the European Radiocommunications Office (ERO) exclusively reserved for members of the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT), with a view to enhancing the confidentiality of the Office?s internal documents, so as to prevent the general public from gaining access to the titles and numbers of documents (besides the respective downloads);

- A new WG RA organisational structure was approved, as well as the terms of reference of the project team on Execution Affairs (PT RA1) and the PT on Amateur Radio Aspects (PT RA2);
 
- The guidelines were approved for the development of a procedure to ensure regulatory coherence in ECC Decisions and which ensures the effective application of same. It was nevertheless deemed necessary for WG RA to refine the mechanisms of this procedure. 
 
The ECC will hold an extraordinary meeting on 29 August to discuss the possibility of adopting for public consultation the proposed decision on ?Designation of the GSM Bands for IMT-2000?, an issue much debated at this meeting. It will meet again from 27 November to 1 December in Cyprus.