The European Union Council has approved a plan for opening up the 700 MHz band to mobile services. Under the proposal from the European Commission, EU states would be required to release the 694-790 MHz spectrum freed up from the switch to digital broadcasting by 30 June 2020 for mobile broadband. A grace period of another two years is allowed under certain conditions, such as a need to resolve interference or coordinate cross-border issues. EU states will need to adopt a roadmap for auctioning the spectrum by 30 June 2018.
The sub-700 MHz band would be available for broadcasting and wireless microphones until at least 2030, although certain frequencies could be used earlier for mobile services such as supplemental downlink. Now that the Council has adopted its stance, the Parliament must vote on the proposal before it can take effect. In a preview of its Digital Agenda plans for when it takes over the rotating presidency of the EU in July, the Slovakia government said it will make negotiating a final agreement with the parliament a priority, with the aim of a deal by year-end.
The GSMA welcomed the Council’s "proactive and rapid" adoption of the proposal and called on member states to stick to the timeline for the 700 MHz band in order to ensure spectrum is available to meet market demand for services. The industry group warned that "Europe has fallen behind other developed regions in fast mobile connectivity, putting the future of mobile, as well as the wider economy, at risk".
Concerning the sub-700MHz band, the GSMA considers the “flexibility option” initially proposed by the European Commission as a "limited step in the right direction". It would like to see "genuine regulatory flexibility in a timely manner", similar to the US where regulators have started already the auction process for a paired, uplink and downlink use of the 600MHz band. It called on the EU to start reviewing use of the UHF band earlier, so a decision can be taken at the next World Radiocommunication Conference in 2023.
