WRC maintains sub-700 MHz spectrum for broadcasting in EMEA

News Video Europe 27 NOV 2015
WRC maintains sub-700 MHz spectrum for broadcasting in EMEA
The World Radiocommunication Conference in Geneva has decided against opening up more sub-700 MHz band spectrum to mobile services. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) welcomed the decision to leave the UHF spectrum exclusively allocated to terrestrial TV services in ITU Region 1, which covers Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia. 

Delegates to the WRC reached this conclusion after deliberations over whether the lower UHF frequency band (470-694 MHz) should be retained for broadcasting only or also allocated to mobile broadband. The spectrum is currently used by broadcast services such as digital terrestrial TV and radio microphones, but the mobile industry had lobbied to open it up to mobile broadband, the same as the 'digital dividend' in the 700 MHz band was released earlier. 

Delegates agreed that there would be no change to the allocation in the 470-694 MHz band now or at the next WRC in 2019. Instead there will be a review of the spectrum use in the entire UHF band (470-960 MHz) at the WRC in 2023. A majority of EU member states supported the decision to maintain the lower UHF frequency band for terrestrial broadcasting, the EBU said. This in line with an earlier report commissioned by the European Commission that DTT should continue in the band until at least 2030.


 

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Video,  Mobile

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Africa,  Europe,  Middle East

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Government telecommunications licensing, Wireless, Broadcast, Wholesale

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