The ECC Plenary had its 44^th meeting in Dublin, 28 February to 3 March 2017. It gathered 75 participants representing 31 CEPT administrations and observers.

Here is a summary of the outcome from the meeting.

Final approval of deliverables for publication:

Revised ECC Decision (05)09 on the free circulation and use of Earth Stations on board Vessels (ESVs) operating in fixed-satellite service networks in the frequency bands 5925 - 6425 MHz (Earth-to-space) and 3700 - 4200 MHz (space-to-Earth). The amendments take into account the outcome from WRC-15 in updating the conditions for ESVs around 6 GHz.

Revised ECC Decision (06)10, which updates the transitional arrangements for the Fixed Service and tactical radio relay systems in the bands 1980 -2010 MHz and 2170 - 2200 MHz in order to facilitate the harmonised introduction and development of systems in the Mobile Satellite Service including those supplemented by a Complementary Ground Component. The implementation status is reset. It was agreed that the revised Decision should be reviewed in 2 years.

Revised ECC Decision (11)01, on the protection of the Earth exploration satellite service (passive) in the 1400 - 1427 MHz band. The amendments take into account the outcome from WRC-15 in updating the background information.

ECC Decision (17)01 on the withdrawal of ECC Decision (01)01 on ‘phasing out analogue CT1 and CT1+ applications in the 900 MHz band and ECC Decision (01)02 on phasing out digital CT2 applications in the 900 MHz band’.

ECC Decision (17)02 on the withdrawal of Decision ECTRA/DEC/(97)02 on  ‘Harmonisation of Authorisation Conditions and Co-ordination of Procedures in the field of Satellite Personal Communications Services (S-PCS) in Europe, operating within the bands 1610-1626.5 MHz, 2483.5-2500 MHz, 1980-2010 MHz and 2170-2200 MHz´.

Addendum to CEPT Report 59 in response to the EC permanent mandate on the update of the EC Decision on Short Range Devices. This Addendum is covering the possibilities for a harmonisation approach for the bands 870-876 MHz and 915-921 MHz also taking into account new opportunities in the band 862-868 MHz. ECC focussed on the changes brought as result of the Public Consultation, in particular to the Annex 3, which contains detailed proposals for inclusion in the technical annex of the EC Decision for SRDs. ECC also agreed a letter to the European Commission to clarify a few items addressed in the Addendum.

ECC Report 263 on compatibility studies between IMT and MSS around 1518 MHz in order to support the development of harmonisation measures for MFCN in the 1492-1518 MHz band. The conclusions (LTE base station unwanted emission limits and in-band blocking characteristic for land mobile earth stations receivers) have been confirmed and sent by ECC PT1 to ETSI.

Approval of draft deliverables for Public consultation:

Draft ECC Report 266 on the suitability of the current ECC framework for the future usage of Wideband and Narrowband M2M in the current MFCN frequency bands. The draft ECC Report considers in particular three technologies for M2M (Extended Coverage GSM IoT (EC GSM IoT), LTE evolved Machine type Communication (LTE eMTC) and Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT)).

ECC PT1 is also invited to clarify for the next ECC meeting the required follow-up regulatory actions (e.g. update of the 900 and 1800 MHz regulatory framework).

Issues in progress

• 5G:
  • The EC introduced its mandate to CEPT on 5G, covering the two pioneer bands: 3.6 GHz and 26 GHz. ECC noted the initial activities from ECC-PT1 in response to the Mandate and the expected schedule for activities.
  • ECC PT1 reported about the outcome from the questionnaire on the usage of the band 3.4-3.8 GHz and identified elements that could be considered to address the defragmentation of the band. ECC tasked ECC PT1 to develop an ECC Report aiming at providing guidance to administrations on these elements.
  • ECC considered the relevant activities in response to the various actions identified in the CEPT roadmap for 5G. The corresponding part of the CEPT Roadmap was updated accordingly.
• MFCN in L band 1427-1518 MHz: ECC was informed about the PT1 development of a draft ECC Decision containing channel arrangements and technical conditions and of an associated draft ECC Report towards the identification of these technical conditions. See also the adoption of ECC Report 263 above.
• Mobile indoor coverage: ECC PT1 reported about the information gathered thanks to the questionnaire on best practices for mobile indoor coverage. On this basis, ECC discussed how to progress the work and whether guidelines can be drawn. PT1 has been tasked to consider the matter further and to report to the next ECC meeting.
• Future mobile railway communications: ECC noted the start of the activities in WG FM (FM56) in response to the System Reference Document recently approved in ETSI.
• Interference from 5GHz RLANs into meteorological radars: ECC discussed the interference cases reported by Eumetnet and potential solutions to solve the problem. It was clarified that the issue was mostly a compliance and enforcement issue and that, both the ECC regulation and the ETSI harmonised standard (EN 301 893) are appropriate. Information should be spread, both at national and ECC level. In addition, guidance provided in ECC Report 192 should be taken into account. On this basis, ECC approved a list of actions to be undertaken. This will be brought to the attention of other relevant organisations (RSCom, TCAM and ADCO RED).
• WAS/RLANs in 6 GHz: ECC agreed to task WG FM to study the technical and regulatory feasibility of harmonised introduction of low power wireless access systems (including RLAN) in the band 5925-6425 MHz. It is expected that related compatibility studies will have to be performed within WG SE.
• PMSE: ECC noted the implementation of ERC Recommendation 25-10 (Frequency ranges for PMSE) in EFIS with the related national information and the initial consideration within WG FM on the band 960-1164 MHz.
• PMR/PAMR: ECC noted the progress done in WG SE and WG FM on PMR/PAMR in the 400 MHz bands. As a result of this work, WG FM proposed to develop a new ECC Decision for land mobile systems in the relevant VHF and UHF bands, which would replace ECC Decisions(04)06 and (06)06. This proposal for a streamlining of regulations was welcomed by ECC and endorsed.
• Smart tachograph, weight and dimension: ECC noted the planned activities within WG FM and WG SE on smart tachograph, weight and dimension applications at 5.8 GHz, based on road tolling technology. However, the absence of progress in ETSI on the development of a related System Reference Document is problematic.
• Fixed service above 92 GHz: WG SE informed about the current activities on channel arrangements for Fixed Service in the bands 92-114.5 GHz and 130-174.8 GHz. In addition, WG FM is tasked to investigate in a broad sense the use of spectrum above 92 GHz, taking into account any potential future use.
• Civil/military meeting: the outcome from the Civil/military FM meeting was noted. ECC also took note of the publication by NATO of the NJFA 2014 for Public Release.
• 700 MHz Information repository: ECO presented the new version of the repository, including the latest improvements implemented late 2016. Positive feedback was expressed. CEPT administrations were invited to upload the relevant information into the repository.
• Other activities: other relevant activities from WG FM, WG SE, WG NaN, CPG and PT1 were noted.

Events and tools supporting ECC

• ECC newsletters: ECC endorsed the plans from ECO for the further releases of the ECC newsletter.
• Workshops and training sessions: ECC endorsed the proposals from ECO for the organisation of 4 workshops (SEAMCAT for advanced users, SEAMCAT for beginners, EFIS and overview of the spectrum management and numbering framework).
• ECO tools: ECC noted the latest developments related to the CEPT portal, EFIS and the Documentation Database.
• ECO bulletin: the ECO’s regular bulletin on developments outside the ECC was noted and the relevant ECC entities were invited to consider the information in more details.

Organisational matters

• Jaime Afonso, Portugal, and Sergey Pastukh, Russian Federation, were re-appointed for their second term as ECC Vice-Chairmen.
• Thomas Weilacher, Germany, was re-appointed for his second term as WG FM Chairman.
• ECC considered proposals from the Steering Group and from Spain to amend the ECC Rules of Procedure, in particular to clarify the process for appointment of Chairmen and Vice-Chairmen. A consolidated revision of the Rules of Procedure will be further developed and made available to ECC members in due time for approval at the next ECC Plenary.
• ECC discussed whether the current organisation of work related to Short Range Devices (compatibility studies in SE24 and frequency management activities in SRD-MG) is appropriate or should be modified (e.g. all activities merged in one single group). As a result, ECC agreed to keep the current structure and to promote further the colocation of meetings between SE24 and SRD-MG.

Cooperation with other organisations

• ECC considered the relevant information provided by the European Commission on RSCom and RSPG activities.
• ECC noted the information from ETSI on the status of harmonised standards according to the Radio Equipment Directive: cooperation is ongoing between ETSI and EC to solve remaining issues before harmonised standards can be cited in the OJEU. ECC was also informed about the revised procedure for the development of System reference documents.
• ETSI informed about the progress done in TC RRS on specifications related to Licensed Shared Access (LSA). This was reflected in the page related to LSA on the ECC website.
• ECC considered the letter from Com-ITU on the preparation for PP-18 and ECC members were invited to contact their national Com-ITU representatives to assist in responding to the part related to the ITU-R objectives in the Com-ITU questionnaire. The topic will be further considered by CPG.
• ECC agreed the principle of a LoU between ECC and 5G-IA.

Next meetings

The next meetings of ECC are planned as follows:

• ECC-M45: 27-30 June 2017, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
• ECC-M46: 14-17 November 2017, Bucharest, Romania

Additional information on the key topics can be found here.

The minutes of the meeting are available here.