The EBU says positive signs of support emerged from the second public workshop organised by the European Commission (EC) and the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT) into European preparations for the ITU WRC-15 in November.
EBU representatives joined officials from relevant administrations and mobile telecommunications operators for the event in the German city of Mainz.
The main objective of the workshop was to present the preparatory work brought together to date by the EU and CEPT and gather the reactions of participants. This will provide input to the CEPT as it finalizes the European Common Proposals to the WRC-15, as well as helping to confirm the EU policy objectives.
One of the major difficult points of discussion at WRC-15 will be future spectrum allocations to the mobile service for IMT applications. The European Commission confirmed the Radio Spectrum Policy Programme target of 1200 MHz and said they do not support further spectrum harmonization below 6 GHz beyond that target. The EC noted that none of the studies done so far justify additional spectrum harmonisation for mobile broadband and that, on average, 500 MHz that are already allocated to mobile service are not assigned by EU Member states and remain unused. Additional spectrum allocations need to be fully justified.
For broadcasters, one of the major concerns is the future of the UHF band currently used by digital terrestrial television. EBU Senior Project Manager Elena Puigrefagut feels the event moved in the right direction: “The European Commission was really engaged. They voiced support for no change to the 470 to 694 MHz band and stated it should be retained for broadcasting. Given the political implications of the use of this band, this support would provide long-term certainty of spectrum access for DTT in order to facilitate investment and the future viability of the terrestrial broadcasting platform.
The EBU was also pleased with the EC commitment to keep the higher part of the C-Band, from 3.8 to 4.2 GHz, for the fixed satellite service. The complete C-Band from 3.4 to 4.2 MHz is currently used by broadcasters for programme contribution and distribution (including the backbone for DTT networks), nationally, regionally and globally. Given that the EC decision C (2014)2798 harmonises the use of the lower part of the C-Band, from 3.4 to 3.8 GHz, for wireless broadband services, the remaining spectrum from 3.8 to 4.2 GHz is even more important to broadcasters.
In the EBU’s view “The EC and CEPT positions are well-aligned and we saw commitment in Europe to the final position as the preparatory work for the WRC-15 in November is brought together.”