Brussels, 12/02/2009 (Agence Europe) - The Radio Spectrum Policy Group (RSPG), created in 2002 to advise the European Commission and EU policy-makers on spectrum issues, held a plenary meeting on Wednesday 11 February with spectrum stakeholders. Before this, the group met the European Commission to brief it on work already done. On this occasion, the RSPG adopted its final opinion on the public use of spectrum, digital dividend and wireless broadbands (emergency services and transport). The RSPG suggests that the public authorities should make a regular estimate of current and future needs in order to ensure the best possible distribution of frequencies. “These bands are not always used efficiently”, stressed Daniel Pataki, the new RSPG president. “The lack of accurate frequency assignment databases also remains an obstacle for an efficient coordination between public and private users”, he added. With reference to the principle of neutrality in services and technologies, one of the Commission's recommendations for spectrum management, the RSPG called on member states not to systematically depart from the principle whereby public use of the spectrum is more important than commercial use.
The group also undertook to draft a benchmark report on national practices for assigning and selling frequencies, and announced the publication in May 2009 of position papers on the digital dividend and wireless broadband on the basis of best practice. The RSPG also announced that it was working with the European Regulators Group (ERG) on new competition challenges resulting from more flexible spectrum management. Martin Selmayr, spokesman for Telecommunications Commissioner Viviane Reding said that, during the meeting, the European Commission had highlighted the importance of “each time making the spectrum more accessible” and had welcomed “the transparency and openness” with which the RSPG communicates its findings. (I.L.)