The German city of Mainz hosted last 6-7 September the 30th meeting of the ECO Frequency Information System/Maintenance Group (EFIS/MG), chaired by Pia Hammer Bloch. The EFIS/MG working group is among other activities responsible for maintaining the EFIS portal and developing/updating it with respect to the new spectrum policy of the European Commission and the R&TTE Directive (concerning radio and telecommunications terminal equipment and mutual recognition of its conformity), especially the integration of radio interface specifications (RIS) in EFIS. It is also in charge of revising Decisions ECC/DEC/(01)03 (on EFIS) and ECC/DEC/(03)05 (on publication of information about frequency allocations and applications), and also for the spectrum inventory.
The main updates made to the EFIS portal (http://www.efis.dkhttp://www.efis.dk/) from 1 January to 3 August 2012 were noted. Highlights include improvements to export data from EFIS (all data can be exported in the ‘csv’ format), terms that will be used for the spectrum inventory implemented in the EFIS spectrum inventory section, and the Google Translate function added to EFIS to enable translation of information into various languages.
The administrations present at the meeting described the current status of the updates they have made or expect to make in EFIS. Portugal notably reported that it had corrected some data from national applications.
The EFIS/MG group is also reviewing Decision ECC/DEC/(01)03 on EFIS, especially the list of terms for applications from Annex 2 of the Decision, when relevant. The ECO thus submitted a proposed revision for radar applications and the inclusion of a new layer 2 term: lightning detection systems. The proposed changes to Annex 2 of Decision ECC/DEC/(01)03 were submitted to the 75th WG FM meeting (September 2012) for approval and consultation only among administrations.
A proposed preliminary European Commission mandate for CEPT on the possibility of EFIS including information on frequency usage rights for all users in the 400-6000 MHz band, the so-called ‘spectrum inventory’, was presented and debated. In this regard, EFIS/MG began the development of draft CEPT Report 46 to respond to the mandate’s first three tasks.
The group produced a questionnaire meant to gather information to help draw up the proposed CEPT Report 47, in response to tasks 4 and 5 of the EC mandate.
Draft ECC Report 180 on “Guidance on the Interpretation of the Requirements of ECC/DEC/(01)03 on EFIS”, which was subject to public consultation, will be submitted to the next WG FM meeting for final approval.
