Spectrum Regulators Push for a Unified EU Position on the 700 MHz Band ASAP
BRUSSELS -- Europe must immediately start working on a policy for use of the 700 MHz band or risk isolation, said Radio Spectrum Policy Group Chairman Roberto Viola at a Forum Europe spectrum management conference Tuesday. The band was tentatively allocated at WRC-12 for global use for mobile broadband, and the question now is whether Europe can afford to lag behind in the debate, he said. Although the band in Europe is occupied by terrestrial broadcasters, it can’t be ignored, nor can the future of broadcasting, he said.
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One tricky issue is whether broadcasters should be compensated for vacating the band, Viola said. He cited the U.S. Spectrum Act, which allows broadcasters to be compensated for clearing the TV bands, but said there’s no such discussion in Europe. It’s clear that neither the broadcast nor mobile sectors alone will want to pay, he said.
Digital Agenda Commissioner Neelie Kroes said she wants to reach consensus on long-term use of the 700 MHz band, but to do that it’s necessary to balance the needs of broadcast and wireless services. Let’s look at spectrum efficiency technologies for both sectors, and spectrum-sharing between them, she said. She urged people to move away from the old fight between the two industries and look forward. Kroes said there should be a gradual shift for broadcasters to move from high-power to low-power networks, and that transition costs aren’t borne by broadcasters.
Any final EU position on the 700 MHz band will flow from the spectrum inventory required by the radio spectrum policy program (RSPP), Kroes said. That decision will have to be made very quickly, in order to feed into ITU WRC-15 discussions so international outcomes reflect EU terms, she said.
Europe needs to “move faster than all the others” to free up spectrum, said European Parliament member Gunnar Hökmark, of Sweden and the European People’s Party, who wrote the legislative response to the European Commission’s proposal for the RSPP. Under it, the EU must start now to decide what to do about the 700 MHz band, he said. It’s controversial but important because it’s part of a spectrum range that’s efficient and interoperable with the rest of the world, not just for national auctions, he said. Not every problem will be solved by “more Europe,” but it’s ironic that in the world’s most dynamic and globalized market, telecom, Europe still has Balkanized national markets, he said.
Hökmark also urged governments to use EU funding to achieve coverage where there’s no commercial interest and to push for increased capacity in cities and urban areas. If Europe wants growth, it must do something about it, he said. Why not go for ultra-ultra high-speed broadband, such as 1000 Mbps, to make top universities global information hubs? he said. “We need to think big” because everyone else is, he said.
The WRC-12 decision on the 700 MHz band jump-started a movement for global harmonization not only of that band but also the 800 MHz band, said François Rancy, ITU Radiocommunication Bureau director. Everyone understands that Europe isn’t ready to use the 700 MHz band for mobile broadband, but other regions will start doing so very soon, he said. Europe must be heavily involved during the window of opportunity to create band plans that use the spectrum, he said. The decision about it will begin to be made in an ITU working group next month, he said.
What to do about the 700 MHz band is a political decision, said Eric Fournier, director of spectrum planning and international affairs at French spectrum agency ANFR. It’s up to the EC and European governments to try to raise this issue for discussion as early as possible before WRC-15, and not to wait for the results of the EU spectrum inventory, he said. The decision can’t be left to individual countries, he said. The EC should push for debate at the political level, he said.
But Rancy said whether Europe takes the lead on the 700 MHz band is irrelevant. The issue is harmonization of spectrum for a global village, he said. Europe is just one actor in a world of bigger players, he said. “Europe has to be present in that discussion,” he said, and there are only a few months left to shape a global roadmap for harmonizing spectrum below 1 GHz.