The 32nd ECC meeting was held from last 30 October to 2 November in Vilnius, Lithuania. It was attended by 69 participants representing 29 administrations, the European Commission (EC), the European Communications Office (ECO) and 8 observers.
The following decisions stand out:
- Final approval of amended Decision ECC/DEC/(06)01 on "Harmonised utilisation of spectrum of the bands 1920-1980 MHz and 2110-2170 MHz for mobile fixed communications networks (MFCN) including terrestrial IMT systems", based on results from the public consultation. This CEPT decision is aligned with the recently approved EC decision "on the harmonisation of the paired 1920-1980 MHz and 2110-2170 MHz frequency bands for terrestrial systems capable of providing electronic communications services in the EU". A total of 21 administrations, Portugal among them, indicated their intention to implement this decision. The administrations must inform the ECO about implementation of appendix 2 of the same decision;
- Final approval of amended Decision ECC/DEC (09)02 on "Harmonisation of the bands 1610-1626.5 MHz and 2483.5-2500 MHz for use by systems in the Mobile-Satellite Service", based on results from the public consultation. A total of 24 administrations, including Portugal, indicated their intention to implement this decision. Luxembourg added a statement to the plenary session’s minutes, to the effect that eventual implementation was still under study;
- Final approval of the new Decision ECC/ DEC (12)CC on "Harmonised conditions for Ultra-Wideband (UWB) applications on board aircraft", based on results from the public consultation. A total of 21 administrations, including Portugal, indicated their intention to implement this decision. A liaison letter on this subject will be sent to ETSI;
- Final approval of new Decision ECC/DEC (12)DD on revoking ECC/DEC (02)01 on "Frequency bands to be designated for the coordinated introduction of Road Transport and Traffic Telematic Systems". The decision did not receive comments during the public consultation;
- Approval for public consultation of CEPT Report no. 48, in reply to the second EC mandate and with a view to carrying out technical studies regarding mobile communications on board aircraft (MCA);
- Approval for public consultation of CEPT Report no. 46 concerning tasks 1 to 3 in reply to the EC mandate in the scope of the ECO frequency information system (EFIS). The plenary session particularly discussed the issue, under analysis, of including the electronic questionnaire concept in EFIS.
Regarding the EC mandate on paired bands in 2 GHz (1900-1920 MHz and 2010-2025 MHz) and alternate uses for them, the plenary session agreed that priority would be given to study of the Broadband Direct Air to Ground Communications (DA2GC) and Programme Making and Special Events (PMSE) applications, and next to the technical sharing conditions. The Frequency Management group (WG FM) will lead this activity and should appoint a rapporteur to draw up the report.
A new Frequency Management project team (PT FM 53) was set up and covers Radio Reconfigurable Systems (RRS) and Licensed Shared Access (LSA). It should work until September 2015 in the three main areas: white space devices, RRS and LSA.
Following a request from the International Union of Railways (UIC), which alleges that interference by national systems in bands adjacent to frequency bands allocated for GSM-R is more serious than indicated in earlier studies, the Frequency Management working group (WG FM) reported that it had decided to keep studying this matter, by correspondence, indicating for that purpose the email reflector FM_CG_GSMR@list.cept.orgmailto:FM_CG_GSMR@list.cept.org.
The plenary session adopted a new working item concerning the revision of Decision ECC/DEC/(06)13 "on the designation of GSM-900/1800 bands for terrestrial IMT-2000/UMTS", to align it with the current community framework, namely Decision 2011/251/EU and Directive 2009/114/EC. Finally, it approved by acclamation the new chairs of the Committee (Eric Fournier of France) and the Spectrum Engineering working group (WG SE - Karl Löw of Germany), both the sole candidates for those positions. Candidates were also put forward for ECC vice-chair, one of the positions to fill.
The head of the Conference Preparatory Group (CPG) indicated that at the next meeting in January the group should choose the two vice-chairs from a total of three candidates (Germany, the Netherlands and Russia), if necessary by secret vote. The deadline for submitting candidacies was 1 December.
The representative of the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) reported that it is organising a seminar on RRS, scheduled for 12 December in Cannes; participation is free.
The next ECC plenary meeting will be held this coming 5-8 March 2013 in Bratislava, Slovakia.
