Brussels, 01/03/2011 (Agence Europe) - The rapporteur on the European programme for the radio-electric spectrum proposed by the European Commission, Gunnar Hökmark (EPP, Sweden), presented his draft report to the ITRE committee of the European Parliament on Monday 28 February. He stressed the fact that Europe needs to be ambitious and aim for global leadership when it comes to broadband and mobile internet. In order to achieve this, it must pursue reforms with a view to creating a single market for digital, before it can build a single economic market which is genuinely efficient and dynamic. In his report, Hökmark stresses the urgent need to prepare the ground for the harmonious development of broadband mobile services. In order to do this, he proposes an ambitious target, of allocating at least 1200 MHz to wireless services by 2015, whilst taking account of concerns of a cultural and commercial nature. In the 1990s, Europe led the world in the mobile market, thanks to a process of deregulation rapidly undertaken and the introduction of the GSM standard. Europe must reclaim the leadership it has since lost, Hökmark stressed.
The European Telecommunications Network Operators' Association ETNO shares this priority and calls on the European Union rapidly to open up the frequency bands made available by the digital dividend, in order to speed up the deployment of broadband in rural areas, thus responding to consumers' needs when it comes to mobile services. “The Radio Spectrum Policy Programme is a unique opportunity to achieve a more harmonised and flexible usage of spectrum and to stimulate further investment in innovation in mobile networks”, stresses the president of ETNO's working group on the spectrum, Massimiliano Simoni. This programme envisages a long-term strategy to guarantee the availability of frequencies to investors, industry players and final users (consumers). In the view of Simoni, “accelerating the opening up of the digital dividend band will contribute to bridging the digital divide at lower costs, directly helping to meet the Digital Agenda objective”. He goes on to state that opening up the spectrum bands, for example the UHF frequencies, to wireless mobile applications, is vital in order to cover all regions, including remote areas, by broadband internet. ETNO is also in favour of the Commission's proposal to open up the 800 MHz band to electronic communications services in Europe by 2013, a deadline to be observed, given the expected explosion in mobile data traffic by 2015. “In this context, the allocation of additional spectrum band to mobile and wireless broadband services is vital to respond to consumer demand and encourage technological and service innovation”, the association stresses. It calls upon the Commission to look into opening up additional bands of spectrum for these services, in order to respond to demand. For its part, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) warned against making any decisions which could compromise the harmonious deployment of terrestrial broadcasting, which fulfils the universal cover obligation. To this effect, the EBU has submitted a number of thoughts on the Hökmark report: (1) there are dangers of interference which could damage terrestrial broadcasting if spectrum bands other than those available in the 800MHz band are considered for wireless services; (2) it is unrealistic to set 2013 as the date by which all member states will have to switch over from analogue broadcasting to digital broadcasting. The EBU suggest that 2015 is more realistic; (3) broadcasters must be guaranteed sufficient portions of spectrum to allow them to continue to innovate; (4) a more rational and intelligent management of the spectrum should go hand-in-hand with a thorough and complete study of real needs, which takes account of the characteristics of each frequency band, technological development and market conditions. In this context, the EBU points out that the UHF band is the only band of the spectrum which can guarantee the development of terrestrial broadcasting, whilst other frequency bands are entirely compatible for developing mobile services.
To feed into the debate, the Socialists & Democrats Group (S&D) organised a public hearing on Tuesday 1st March on the radio-electric spectrum. Concerned parties must share frequency in order to support the acceleration of the development of new technologies, stressed Catherine Trautmann (France), further to the discussions. We must not destroy what works well, the MEP added, referring to DTT (digital terrestrial television), but we must find new areas for a combined use of frequencies by a number of players. The European spectrum policy must also carry out an in-depth study into consumer behaviour, as these are the players who ultimately create the market. Lastly, the member states need to demonstrate their willingness to move forward, leaving aside national interests and sensitivity over national sovereignty over the management of the spectrum, she concluded. (I.L./transl.fl)