The 49th meeting of the Radio Spectrum Committee (RSC) was held in Brussels last 1 October.
The following stand out among the issues discussed:
- Unpaired bands in 2 GHz
The European Commission (EC) services presented a document summing up member states’ responses to the questionnaire presented at RSC#48. The information gathered confirmed that there are no mobile networks operating in unpaired 2 GHz bands. Licences were granted for the lower band in four member states, for the upper band in four member states, and for local test networks in Finland.
The EC launched a discussion on how to deal with existing licences, as well as the most appropriate procedure for direct air-to-ground communications (DA2GC) service. Many delegations considered such discussion premature as long as Report 52 of the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT) is not definitive.
- GSM-R
The EC gave a presentation on progress regarding technical solutions, railway regulation and in coordination processes between public operators and GSM-railway (GSM-R) operators.
The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) in turn gave a presentation focusing on cooperation with the International Union of Railways (UIC), which led to the adoption of new technical standards in the GSM-R field.
- Spectrum inventory
The EC services recalled the grounds and objectives of its report to the European Parliament (EP) and to the Council about the spectrum inventory. The EC’s obligation to present a report on the spectrum inventory derives from article 9(4) of the Spectrum Policy Programme (RSPP), whereby the EC must present a report about the inventory to the EP and to the Council, containing an analysis of technological trends, needs and demand for future spectrum.
Also, per article 6(5) of the RSPP the EC must present a report by 1 January 2015 on whether or not there is a need for additional frequency bands to be harmonised for wireless broadband.
Main results of the inventory analysis were presented along with the report’s main conclusions. The RSC members were given the opportunity to comment on the report concerning the path to follow as set out by the EC.
Some member states indicated they would like to have commented on the report before publication. They will therefore use the opportunity to do so when the matter is discussed in both the EP and in the Council.
Several member states supported the report’s placement on the agenda of the Council working group. Regarding its conclusions, some member states indicated they were reluctant to develop a decision on harmonisation of satellite systems using the upper part of band C. Only one member state backed that idea.
- Next meetings
The next meeting is scheduled for 9 December 2014 in Brussels.
