The 92nd meeting of CEPT’s WG FM took place last 24-28 September in Vilnius, Lithuania, chaired by Thomas Weilacher of Germany and attended by 90 delegates from 33 CEPT administrations, the European Commission (EC), the European Communications Office (ECO), the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and other international organisations and companies.
Key decisions made at the gathering include the following:
- Presentation of the draft ECC report on machine-to-machine/internet of things (M2M/IoT) operation via satellite (under development), whose main purpose is to identify scenarios in which satellites can be a central element of the M2M/IoT ecosystem;
- Approval of draft ECC report 71 for submission to the ECC, responding to the European Commission (EC) mandate on the expansion of secure intelligent transport systems (ITS) in 5.9 GHz. The mandate requires study of the viability of extending the current band for secure ITS by 20 MHz (to 5925 MHz) and of using, as a complement to ITS for road transport, urban rail systems for railways; the solutions must be technologically neutral;
- Adoption of the draft interim report to submit to the ECC and forward to the EC, in response to the EC mandate on wireless access systems/radio local area networks (WAS/RLAN) in the 5925-6425 MHz interval. That document presents an overview of ongoing ECC activities as well as the results of analysis conducted to date (still with no conclusions, because the technical studies are not yet complete);
- Development and approval of draft ECC report 293 on mobile spectrum monitoring units for placement in public consultation. The document presents an overview of the different types and models of mobile spectrum monitoring units used by administrations and monitoring services in CEPT;
- Conclusion and approval for publication of ECC reports 285 and 286, respectively on best practice for the use of video programme making and special events (PMSE) in the 2.7-2.9 GHz band and on body effect of handheld and body-worn audio PMSE;
- Adoption of a new work item with a view to producing a new ECC report meant to assess the viability of spectrum solutions considering operational needs for commercial and governmental use of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) and establish the relevant technical conditions;
- Conclusion and approval for public consultation of draft ECC report 294 on assessment of the spectrum needs for future railway communications. It identifies spectrum needs during and after the switch to new railway communication systems, guard bands between the global system for mobile communications – railway (GSM-R) and new systems and aspects regarding sharing with mobile/fixed communications networks (MFCN), public protection and disaster relief (PPDR) and private mobile radio/public access mobile radio (PMR/PAMR).
The next WG FM meeting will be held on 4-8 February 2019 in Rome.
