The 21st meeting of the Regulatory Affairs working group (WG RA) was held last 14-17 September in the Slovenian capital Ljubljana, attended by 26 participants encompassing a total of 17 administrations and by representatives from the European Communications Office (ECO) and the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI).
The rapporteur of the White Spaces Cognitive Radio correspondence group (CG WS-CR) presented a first rough draft containing the outline of a report which WG RA should produce on “Consideration of the Regulatory Mechanisms Needed to Facilitate the Introduction of Cognitive Radio Systems (CRS) in the ‘White Spaces’ of the Frequency Band 470-790 MHz”. The discussion particularly focused on how CR systems’ inherent databases should be managed, as this can be done by the administrations or assigned to suppliers.
A liaison statement (LS) was prepared in response to the Frequency Management working group (WG FM) on regulatory aspects that should be considered for ultra wide band (UWB) devices that exceed the power limits set in Decision ECC/DEC/(06)04. This may include registry in a database as a way to minimise the risk of interference with other services.
After reviewing progress regarding the report on the “Description of Practices Relative to Trading of Spectrum Usage Rights”, the chairman encouraged the submission of new contributions to the correspondence group, so that the report can be ready for approval at the upcoming plenary meeting in January 2011. As for inclusion of the chapter on the “Advantages and Disadvantages of Secondary Spectrum Trading”, some participants considered that the report should be as factual as possible; the chairman proposed keeping it under the title “Challenges”, which achieved consensus.
Also noted was the report made on behalf of the co-ordinator of CG RA-RIS (radio interface specifications), which is preparing a report on implementation of the RIS template, comparing data sent by the administrations via EFIS (ECO Frequency Information System). The report prepared by WG RA PT1 on “Benchmarking of Enforcement” was approved and sent to the ECO for submission to public consultation.
WG RA revised various decisions from the Electronic Communications Committee (ECC) under its responsibility, namely:
- ERC Decision (99)02 on “Exemption from Individual Licensing of Terrestrial Trunked Radio System (TETRA) Mobile Terminals” – the group approved the revised version of this decision, which will be forwarded to the ECC for final approval;
- ECC Decision (02)09 on “Free Circulation and Use of GSM-R Mobile Terminals Operating within the Frequency Bands 876-880 MHz and 921-925 MHz for Railway Purposes in CEPT countries, Enlarging the Field of Application of ERC/DEC/(95)01” – Denmark and Spain did not agree with the new considering c) added to the text, which refers to the possibility of use by national decision of the extension band 873-876 MHz/918-921 MHz for GSM-R in accordance with ECC Decision (04)06, and asked for a statement to be included in the minutes. The group approved sending this decision to the ECO, which should submit it to public consultation;
- Decision ECC (02)10 on “Exemption from Individual Licensing of GSM-R Mobile Terminals Operating within the Frequency Bands 876-880 MHz and 921-925 MHz for Railway Purposes” – as with the previous decision above, and for the same reasons, Denmark and Spain presented a written statement. The group approved sending this decision to the ECO, which should submit it to public consultation.
The plenary session decided to send a liaison statement to the WG FM, WG SE and ECC PT1 working groups, as some overlapping of decisions to revise was noted, namely decisions (98)20, (98)21 and (98)22, which WG RA had already begun to revise and which the last ECC included on the list under WG FM’s responsibility.
The plenary session also discussed the need to produce a draft decision concerning the mechanisms for authorising the use of equipment envisaged in ECC decisions (06)06, (08)05 and (04)06. WG RA PT3 was meanwhile mandated to produce a questionnaire to ascertain the administrations’ views on this subject.
Regarding the introduction of electronic working methods (EWM) in the ECC’s activity, note was made of progress in the current testing phase which ends in January 2012, especially the fact that most groups have joined the ongoing monitoring process and are reporting their EWM experiences to PT3. The chairpersons of the subordinate bodies should be encouraged to fill in the entire template created for this purpose.
Given that once the Strategy Plan approval is finished the ECC aims to discuss, in a first phase at ECC Steering Group level, revision of the terms of reference and mission of the Committee working groups, the chairman started the debate on reorganising WG RA. He asked the participants to submit proposals regarding the group’s future mandate before the end of the month.
The second Webinar promoted by WG RA took place, transmitted over the internet and therefore open to participants outside CEPT. This time the theme topic was “Introduction to the New Legislative Framework (NLF)”, associated to revision of the R&TTE Directive; the co-ordinator of PT1 (Finland) was a speaker.
Note that the ECO representative presented a report with statistics and technical problems recorded during the first webinar at the previous WG RA plenary meeting in Gdynia. Various aspects to improve were noted, particularly regarding sound quality.
The next WG RA gathering will be on 25-28 January 2011 in Cardiff, Wales.
