Brussels, 26/11/2015 (Agence Europe) - European radio broadcasters are shouting victory because they will be able to keep the UHF 700 MHz (470-694 MHz) lower band that mobile operators had in their sights.
On Thursday 26 November after intense discussions, the World Radiocommunication Conference (CMR-15) effectively decided to keep the situation the same until 2023 in the International Telecommunications Union (ITU - Europe, Africa, Middle East and Central Asia) and allocate the lower portion to terrestrial tele-broadcasting services.
The use of radio electric frequency spectrum and orbits for geo-stationary and non-geo-stationary satellites is regulated at world level by the ITU regulation on telecommunications. World Radiocommunication Conferences (CMR) that take place every 3 to 4 years seek to examine if there is a reason to revise this text.
In a raft of conclusions adopted at the end of October, member states reached an agreement to defend the status quo on the international scene. During the meeting, Finland, however, submitted a counter proposal, which was not accepted. One expert explained to EUROPE that “in the end, all the member states, including Finland, were able to support the final result of the negotiations… Which is in line with the European Commission position”.
He asserted that “the Commission thinks that this is the best possible result, given the different positions at the beginning of the conference… A re-examination in 2023 will enable the European Union to take into account the results from the CMR-23 when the re-examination is carried out in 2025, in compliance with the report”. It should be pointed out that the Lamy report was commissioned by the former Commissioner Neelie Kroes and advocated a certain regulatory stability until 2030, “so that radio broadcasting can continue”.
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) welcomed the results from the conference and in a press release indicated that “the decision taken today provides regulatory certainty and encourages new investment in terrestrial digital television”.
It should be noted that earlier in the week, the CMR-15 (2 - 27 November) decided to allocate the 694-790 MHz spectrum band (the 700 bands currently used by Hertzian radio wave broadcasters and cordless microphones) to mobile services and identify it for international mobile telecommunications (IMT) in Region 1 of the ITU. It also made a commitment to place a question of spectrum availability for 5-G on the agenda of the next international conference. (Original version in French by Sophie Petitjean)