The 17th meeting of project team 42 (PT 42) of the Spectrum Engineering working group (WG SE), chaired by Stephen Bond of Ofcom (administration from the United Kingdom), was held last 20-22 January in the French city of Maison Alfort. PT SE 42 covers technical issues associated to the introduction of flexible spectrum use in the bands known as flexible bands (862-870 MHz, 1785-1805 MHz and 57-59 GHz were the bands originally identified by WG FM - the first no longer pertains to the flexible bands) and WAPECS (Wireless Access Policy for Electronic Communication Services) (470-862 MHz, 880-915 MHz/925-960 MHz, 1710-1785 MHz/1805-1880 MHz, 1900-1980 MHz/2010-2025 MHz/2110-2170 MHz, 2.5-2.69 GHz and 3.4-3.8 GHz).
The ECC Steering Group decided that PT SE 42 should participate in drawing up the answer to the second European Commission (EC) mandate on the digital dividend, dated 3 April 2008, along with ECC PT1 and ECC TG4. To that end the PT's aim is to determine the optimal technical conditions for implementing fixed/mobile electronic communication networks (ECNs) in the 790-862 MHz sub-band, taking into account co-existence with existing services, specifically broadcasting service.
This meeting had two main goals: to analyse the comments received in the public consultation on ECC Report 131 - results of the studies conducted by PT SE 42 to define a BEM (block edge mask) for terminal stations in the 2.6 GHz band; and continuation of the work associated to the second EC mandate on the digital dividend. Regarding the comments on ECC Report 131, the six responses received were presented (AFNR, Ofcom, Ericsson, British Telecom, Inquam Broadband and Orange) and reflected in the report itself, which was submitted to the Spectrum Engineering working group (WG SE) for approval.
As for the second EC mandate on the digital dividend and with respect to programme making and special events (PMSE), it was highlighted that in accordance with the ECC, PMSE may be one of the candidates for the central band (in the case of an FDD (frequency division duplex) channelling); PT SE 42 was asked to determine less restrictive technical conditions by means of a BEM. On the other hand, the ECC asked the team to identify the points that should be considered in an ECC discussion on the option of an ECC decision concerning the 790-862 MHz band for the digital dividend. About 12 contributions were presented, along with the liaison statements from the group ECC TG4, but it was not possible to make progress on the corresponding working document in response to the mandate. Technical premises were nevertheless debated with a view to moving forward with definition of the technical conditions, i.e., BEM parameters.
A telephone conference was scheduled for 16 February 2009 with the aim of going ahead with the response document before the next group meeting, scheduled for 19-20 February 2009 in the German city of Mainz.
The 19th meeting of PT SE 42 has been scheduled for 1-3 April 2009 in Estoril, Portugal, with the aim of completing the response to the second mandate on the digital dividend.
