The 72nd meeting of SRD/MG1 was held on 13-15 December 2017 in Dublin, chaired by Thomas Weber and attended by 52 participants from various administrations and bodies, including the European Commission (EC), the European Communications Office (ECO)and industry.
Proposals were made to revise Annex 10 of Recommendation 70-03, specifically a proposal for a new entry for the 1656.5-1660.5 MHz band for assistive listening systems (ALSs) which can be subject to an individual licensing regime, to be decided by the countries that implement that new entry. It is based on the proposal from ECC Report 70 on sharing studies between telecoil replacement systems (TRSs) and mobile satellite service (MSS) in the frequency range 1656.5-1660.5 MHz, which underwent public consultation and was developed by the working group on Spectrum Engineering (WG SE). Furthermore, there are proposals to modify the entry for 29.7-47 MHz and also to remove the restriction on maximum bandwidth occupied having to be less than or equal to 200 kHz in the entries for 823-826 MHz and 826-832 MHz. Reference was also made to ECC Decision (17)06 on harmonised use of the frequency bands 1427-1452 MHz and 1492-1518 MHz for mobile/fixed communications networks supplemental downlink (MFCN SDL), to indicate that transmitting microphones can be authorised by the administrations in the 1492-1518 MHz band if they do not authorise MFCN SDL in the band. Those proposed changes will be submitted to the 90th WG FM meeting (February 2018) so they can be adopted for public consultation.
The group began the discussions concerning development of the seventh response to the permanent EC mandate on SRD. Also discussed were some of the topics that will have to be approached when drawing up the response to the permanent EC mandate on ultra wideband, taking into account industry’s new requests for UWB technology. SRD/MG is also responsible for responding to the EC mandate on intelligent transport systems, which was approved by the Radio Spectrum Committee (RSC) in October 2017; an extraordinary meeting of the group has been scheduled for January 2018 to discuss the matter in detail.
There is currently no regulatory solution for wireless power transfer technology at CEPT level. One option could be to develop a new specific annex for this technology, to be added to Recommendation ERC 70-03.
A proposed decision to revoke ERC Decision (01)08 on harmonised frequencies, technical characteristics and exemption from individual licensing of short range devices used for movement detection and alert operating in the frequency band 2400-2483.5 MHz was developed. A proposal was likewise developed to revise ECC Decision (04)10 on the frequency bands to be designated for temporary introduction of automotive short range radars (SRR), which will be considered at the next WG FM meeting in February 2018.
Also developed was an explanatory document on non-professional unmanned aircraft systems, which will be submitted to the WG FM meeting in February 2018 for approval and subsequent inclusion in Recommendation ERC 70-03.
1 SRD/MG deals with matters associated to short range devices and among other issues is responsible for updating Recommendation ERC/REC 70-03, for responding to the permanent European Commission mandate on short range devices with a view to updating the Commission Decision on SRD (Decision 2006/771/EC of 9 November 2006, modified by Decisions 2008/432/EC of 23 May 2008, 2009/381/EC of 3 May 2009, 2010/368/EU of 30 June 2010, 2011/829/EU of 8 December 2011, 2013/752/EU of 11 December 2013 and 2017/1483 of 8 August 2017), for responding to the EC permanent mandate on UWB (ultra wideband) technology and for the identification of new spectrum opportunities for SRD introduction. Additionally, the group is responsible for responding to the EC mandate on ITS.
