Telco bodies oppose spectrum reassignment
June 8, 2015
By Colin Mann
The European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT) has agreed a common position which opposes the allocation of the UHF band (470-694MHz) to mobile services.
The vote was held in preparation for the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) WRC-15 Conference, where important decisions on the future assignment of spectrum will be made.
The European Common Position will now be forwarded to the European administrations for signatures. Thirty countries present at the meeting in Porto, Portugal supported the European Common Position. Only Denmark opposed, with Bulgaria, Finland, Greece and Sweden abstaining.
EBU Director of Technology and Innovation Simon Fell said that broadcasters around Europe welcomed CEPT’s decision. “It is the culmination of three years hard work bringing to the fore the importance of secured access to adequate spectrum for the broadcasting industry. With secured access to the band, European administrations will not only provide certainty to an important industry, but will help secure the investments required to liberate the 700 MHz band, and pave the way for advanced HDTV, UHDTV and hybrid television services for years to come.”
The Porto meeting also approved a common position for allocating the L-band (1,452-1,492 MHz) (allocated currently to broadcasting services) to mobile services, as well as the lower C-band (3.4-3.8 GHz) (allocated to fixed satellite services, and used by broadcasters for contribution links).