Two extraordinary meetings of the Radio Spectrum Committee (RSC) were held last 11 and 19 January to go over the proposed European Commission (EC) Decision on harmonising use of the 900/1800 MHz bands.
The second meeting, on 19 January, only took place because it was not possible to reach agreement on an overall text for that Decision at the 11 January meeting. More specifically, what is at stake is harmonisation of the 880-915 MHz, 925-960 MHz, 1710-1785 MHz and 1805-1880 MHz bands currently assigned to land mobile service (LMS/GSM).
Note that this discussion occurs after CEPT carried out the extensive work resulting in ECC Report 82 and ECC Report 96, which study the compatibility of UMTS 900/1800 with GSM and with other systems in adjacent bands, respectively. Those studies were grounds for the approval within CEPT of an ECC Decision allowing the implementation of UMTS in the 900 and 1800 MHz bands.
Although some progress was made on the Decision text at the 11 January meeting, particularly on the need for same to have an Annex containing the technical parameters for each system covered by the Decision, and on maintaining the protection of operational GSM systems, some specific points still required further elaboration.
At this meeting the Commission began by reiterating that regardless of whether the Decision text revision is completed, same will have to be submitted to the EC?s legal services for consideration, specifically bearing in mind that Directive 87/372/EEC of 25 June 1987 on ?the frequency bands to be reserved for the co-ordinated introduction of pan-European digital cellular systems for mobile communications? remains in effect. Only after that Directive is revoked will the member States be able to implement the EC Decision now under discussion.
As for the matters considered, the most debated questions were: the way to implement the suitable level of flexibility, taking into account the need to uphold harmonised band use and to maintain a co-ordinated approximation between the member States; the mechanisms to establish rules of compatibility with other eventual future systems in those bands; and the concept of ?pan-European? system.
Agreement was nevertheless reached that the Decision should explain that the systems to be introduced in the 900/1800 MHz bands are GSM and UMTS ? specifically bearing in mind the technical studies already effected ? without jeopardising each member State?s ability to authorise the implementation of other systems, so long as same do not cause interference with GSM and UMTS.
This Decision will now be subject to the ?regulatory opinion? of the next RSC, scheduled for March.
