The EBU was invited to speak in the “Frequency Policy and Spectrum Engineering Workshop” held in Wroclaw (Poland) on 8 and 9 September. This workshop was organized within the EMC Europe 2016 Wroclaw Conference. It targets mainly the “Visegrad Group” (called also the V4 group) of countries: Poland, Czech Republic, Slovak Republic and Hungary.
The programme of the workshop included sessions and presentations on several subjects, in particular:
- Spectrum sharing techniques
- Progress with TVWS usage
- Developments of DTT and transition to DVB-T2
- Use of the 700 MHz band
- Spectrum management and engineering tools
- Spectrum outlook in the “V4” countries
- DAB+ Spectrum and networks, including update on the world first FM switch-off case in Norway
- Frequency bands for 5G and Future spectrum technologies for Mobile Broadband.
In support to DTT, Walid SAMI from EBU Technology & Innovation gave a presentation about the UHF frequency band as essential resource for broadcasting. He highlighted the following three main messages: 1- Public Service broadcasters use all distribution means, amongst which DTT is particularly important; 2- The UHF band is essential for DTT, without it DTT may simply die; and 3- Alternative or shared usages of the UHF broadcasting band are far from making their case, except for PMSE (Programme Making and Special Event applications). GSMA and Orange expressed views of the mobile side. To be noted that the V4 countries are quite supportive to DTT. They have a solid terrestrial market share, with added services through HbbTV. They are looking for transition to DVB-T2/HEVC as a solution to allow releasing the 700 MHz band.
A full session in the workshop was dedicated to Digital Audio Broadcasting. Graham Dixon, Head of Radio in the EBU Media Department, and other colleagues from EBU member organizations gave presentations in support to DAB+ roll-out in Europe. This session was quite important to show that things are effectively evolving in terms of increased offer of receivers and real plans for FM switch-off.
For further information on this workshop, see http://www.fpse2016.nit.eu/ or contact Walid Sami or Graham Dixon from EBU.