The Conference Preparatory Group (CPG) of the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT), which is responsible for preparing European participation in the next World Radiocommunications Conference (WRC03), met in Göteborg, Sweden from 10 to 14 February.
Participants in the meeting approved the European Common Proposals (ECP) on most of the 39 items on the WRC03 agenda, and identified the administrations that intend to undersign each ECP, which will be followed by the formal signature procedure whose deadline is next 1 April. CEPT?s WRC03 document will comprise various parts, each associated with a respective item and the indication of the European countries that support same.
The briefs were also approved, while the document summarising CEPT?s preliminary positions was updated, all with reference to each of the agenda points. Final approval of all the briefs will only come at the last CPG meeting.
It was more difficult to obtain an ECP agreement on some subjects. Such is namely the case of the radionavigation satellite service (RNSS) in which the European Galileo project is inserted (the CPG approved a proposal that guarantees the same regulatory framework for existing systems and for the Galileo system, thus seeking to consolidate the project?s viability conditions with regard to the allocation of frequencies) and of IMT-2000 and future systems, for which a proposal was approved indicating that 2010 is the most consistent date to assess the future spectrum needs, which should be dictated by the market and by experience gained in the meanwhile.
Similar difficulties in reaching consensus occurred with regard to other issues: aeronautical mobile satellite (AMSS) service in the 14-14.5 GHz band, for which there is a proposal to allocate this band to the service, with secondary status; earth stations on vessels (ESV), for which agreement was reached on the regulatory framework option that CEPT will propose at WRC03, based on coastal separation distances for the protection of fixed service and on minimum diameters for antennas installed on vessels vis-àvis the frequency bands in question (6/4 GHz and 14/11 GHz); and the identification of bands to be globally and regionally harmonised for public protection and disaster relief (PPDR) systems, for which CEPT will propose a resolution that identifies the bands currently harmonised in Europe (380-385 MHz and 390-395 MHz) for narrowband digital systems.
Lastly, and regarding the item on the RLAN (Radio Local Area Networks) regulatory framework in the 5 GHz band, the CPG approved an ECP that proposes allocation of the 5150-5350 MHz and 5470-5725 MHz bands to primary status mobile service, though subject to conditions that guarantee due protection of existing services (fixed by satellite, aeronautical radionavigation, radio localisation and space science services).
