The WGFM#91 meeting in Pratteln, Switzerland, on the 14-18 May 2018 has been attended by 94 delegates from 34 CEPT administrations and 16 international organisations, EC, ECO and ITU.  

                                        Opening of WGFM#91 in Pratteln - Switzerland - 14 May 2018

Results:

CEPT Reports:

• WG FM approved the draft CEPT Report in response to the permanent mandate on UWB from the European Commission to CEPT, in view of a potential update of Commission Decision 2007/131/EC, for submission to the ECC for public consultation approval and to send it to the European Commission. In addition, WG FM agreed to inform ETSI about the time schedule and content of this draft CEPT Report, so that ETSI can consider this information for possible revisions of the related ETSI harmonised standards.

ECC Decisions:

• The new draft ECC Decision (18)01 for the withdrawal of ECC Decision (15)02 on Broadband Direct-Air-to-Ground in 1900-1920 MHz was approved for submission to the ECC for final approval for publication;
• The new draft ECC Decision (18)02 for the withdrawal of ECC Decision (07)02 on Broadband Wireless Access systems in 3.4 - 3.8 GHz was approved for submission to the ECC for final approval for publication;
• The new draft ECC Decision (18)03 for the withdrawal of ERC/DEC/(01)08 (2.4 GHz movement detectors) was approved for submission to the ECC for final approval for publication;
  WG FM approved the draft new ECC Decision (18)04 on ‘The harmonised use, exemption from individual licensing and free circulation and use of land based Earth Stations In-Motion (ESIM) operating with GSO FSS satellite systems in the frequency bands 10.7-12.75 GHz and 14.0-14.5 GHz’ for submission to the ECC for final approval for publication;
• WG FM approved the draft new ECC Decision (18)05 on ‘The harmonised use, exemption from individual licensing and free circulation and use of earth stations in-motion operating with NGSO FSS satellite systems in the frequency bands 10.7-12.75 GHz and 14.0-14.5 GHz’ for submission to the ECC for final approval for publication;
• WG FM approved the draft revised ECC Decision (13)01 on ‘The use, free circulation, and exemption from individual licensing of Earth stations on mobile platforms (ESOMPs) in the frequency bands available for use by uncoordinated FSS Earth stations within the ranges 17.3-20.2 GHz and 27.5-30.0 GHz’ for public consultation;
• WG FM approved the draft revised ECC Decision (01)03 Annex 2 (application terminology) for administration consultation. 

ECC Recommendations:

• WG FM approved the revised ECC Recommendation (05)01 on 'Harmonisation of Automatic Measuring Methods and Data Transfer for Frequency Band Registrations' for publication. The revision incorporates the ‘multiscan’ option that exists in Recommendation ITU-R SM.1809 and mobile measurements. Another improvement is to implement the capability of the Recommendation to deal with binary data that is useful with big files in order to reduce its size;
• WG FM approved the draft revised Recommendation T/R 25-08 on ‘Planning criteria and coordination of frequencies for land mobile systems in the range 29.7-470 MHz’ for public consultation. The draft revision includes new recommendations for the cross-border coordination of land mobile systems having different channel bandwidth on both sides of the border for the 400 MHz ranges. In addition, WG FM agreed to send a response liaison statement to WG SE and SE PT7 in relation to 400 MHz cross-border co-ordination issues;
• WG FM approved the revision of the Annex 10 (Radio microphone applications including assistive listening, device (ALD), wireless audio and multimedia streaming systems) or publication. This includes a new entry for Assistive Listening Systems (ALS) in the frequency range 1656.5-1660.5 MHz. In addition, WG FM agreed to send a liaison statement to ETSI to request that the technical requirements contained in ECC Report 270 and REC 70-03 Annex 10 for ALS are included along with suitable test methods in the next revision of EN 300-422-4 and to inform WGFM and SRD/MG of the timescale involved;
• WG FM approved a new annex in ERC Recommendation 70-03 for medical data acquisition applications for public consultation. The first entries in this new Annex are for the Ultra-Low Power Wireless Medical Capsule Endoscopy (ULP-WMCE) application and for Medical Body Area Network Systems (MBANS) which are moved out of Annex 2of ERC Recommendation 70-03 into this new Annex;
• WG FM approved a draft revision of the Annex 2 (Tracking, Tracing and Data Acquisition) for public consultation. It includes a clarification for SRD in data networks in the frequency ranges within 865-868 MHz as well as a new a new entry for a new person detection and collision avoidance application operating at 442.2-450 kHz;
• WG FM approved a draft revision of the Annex 3 (Wideband Data Transmission Systems) for public consultation. The changes in Annex 3 in this revision are for alignment with the EC Decision for SRD.

ECC Reports: 

• WG FM approved ECC Report 279 on ‘The Use of Earth Stations In-Motion (ESIM) Operating with NGSO Satellite Systems in the 10.7-12.75 GHz and 14-14.5 GHz Bands’ for publication;
• WG FM approved ECC Report 280 on 'Satellite Solutions for 5G' for publication;
• WG FM approved the draft revised ERC Report 25 (European Common Allocation Table) for public consultation. The public consultation is extended and will end on 31 August 2018. A cover letter will accompany the draft revised ERC Report to provide some information about the proposed changes;
• WG FM approved the draft ECC Report 285 on 'Best practices for Video Programme Making and Special Event (PMSE) in the 2700-2900 MHz band' for public consultation. The public consultation is extended and will end on 31 August 2018;
• WG FM approved the draft ECC Report 286 on 'Body effect of hand-held and body-worn audio PMSE equipment' for public consultation. The public consultation is extended and will end on 31 August 2018.

WGFM Questionnaires:  

• The summary of the interference statistics 2017 was agreed and is going to be published on the PT FM22 interference statistics website. WG FM also tasked the ECO to inform ADCO RED about the results of the interference statistics 2017. The questionnaire will be repeated early next year for the reported interference cases in 2018;

• The ECO Summary of the responses of the questionnaire to CEPT administrations on Fixed Service in 5925 - 6425 MHz was endorsed by WG FM and will be published in the EFIS database. The relevant project teams FM57, SE45 and SE19 will be informed about the final summary document;

• WG FM approved a public questionnaire to users of the ECO Frequency Information System (EFIS).

Groups and Chairmen:

• Mr Kuha Sithamparanathan from OFCOM, United Kingdom, was reappointed as chairman of Project Team FM54 (Private/Profession Land Mobile Systems);
• WG FM looked favourably on a multiple country proposal for upgrading the Maritime Forum Group to a WG FM Project Team. A final decision is postponed until a candidate for the Project Team chairmanship will have been found. Administrations are invited to submit nominations to the WG FM chairman until the next meeting.

Other decisions and liaison statements:

• WG FM agreed on a new work item for Project Team FM44 to develop a new ECC Decision on 'The harmonized use of frequencies, exemption from individual licensing and free circulation of earth stations in-motion installed on aircraft operating with GSO and NGSO FSS systems in the 12.75 -13.25 GHz band (Earth to space);
• WG FM agreed to task Project Team FM44 to develop a new ECC Recommendation on “Guidance and method of calculating HIRF level from high e.i.r.p. fixed Earth Station located outside of the wedge shaped area of an airport or helipad”;
• WG FM agreed that the following ECC Decisions need to be revised following ECC Report 272 (HIRF protection of aircraft from earth stations: ECC/DEC/(17)04, ECC/DEC/(15)04, ECC/DEC/(13)01, ECC/DEC/(06)03, ECC/DEC/(06)02, ECC/DEC/(05)11, ECC/DEC/(05)10, ECC/DEC/(05)09, ECC/DEC/(05)01, ECC/DEC/(03)04;
• It was agreed by WG FM that the Recommendations ECTRA/REC/(01)02, ECTRA/REC/(99)02, ERC/REC 11-01, T/R 75-04 (all in the satellite service domain) could be withdrawn at the next WG FM meeting if no CEPT administration will see a problem. CEPT administrations should therefore review these Recommendations in detail before the next WG FM meeting and are invited to provide views to PT FM44;
• ECC Recommendation 11)08 on indoor pseudolites is proposed to be retained for the time being but this may be reconsidered due to existing interference problems. Administrations are invited to provide their views.
• CEPT administrations are invited to check and update their national contact points for specific topics;
• WG FM decided to close the work item FM22_25 on the development of a new ECC Recommendation on Physical Cell Identifier (PCI) measurements due to the lack of contributions;
• WG FM agreed to the proposal from FM22 to continue the HF monitoring campaign based on a new schedule for the period 2019 – 2022; 
• WG FM agreed on a new work item for Project Team FM22 to revise ECC Recommendation ECC(12)03 (determination of radiated measurements in the field) which will comprise two height scan methods and a measurement procedure along a route;
• The WG FM Correspondence Group on Drones will have a physical meeting on 29-30 August 2018 in Prague, Czech Republic;
• WG FM tasked the SRD/MG to consider the ETSI system reference document TR 103 498 on UWB radiodetermination applications in the range 120 GHz to 260 GHz in order to work on study proposals for WG SE/ SE24;
• WG FM approved a CEPT Contribution to ITU-R WP1A on the revision of Report ITU-R SM.2351-2 on ‘Smart Grid Utility Management Systems’;
• WG FM tasked Project Team FM54 to analyse and derive the technical requirements for LTE based systems for BB-PPDR in the frequency range 410-430 MHz based on draft ECC Report 283. This work has been requested by Hungary, Croatia, Czech Republic, Lithuania, Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Ireland;
• WG FM agreed to send a liaison statement to ETSI and UIC (International Railway Union) to encourage them to contribute to the draft ECC Report #A currently under development in Project Team FM56 for Future Railway Mobile Communication Services (FRMCS), so that it can be sent to public consultation in September 2018; 
• WG FM tasked Project Team FM56 to further study in detail 2290-2400 MHz for Future Railway Mobile Communication Services (FRMCS) and come back to the next WG FM meeting with an analysis before any request for studies in WG SE/ PT SE7 is launched. A liaison statement is sent to WG SE/ PT SE7 for information;
• An update of ECO Report 05 (use of application terminology in relation to ECC deliverables) was endorsed by WG FM and will be published by ECO;
• An update of ECO Report 04 (Fixed Service implementation in Europe) was endorsed by WG FM and will be published by ECO;
• WG FM agreed to a liaison statement to ETSI to enquire information about fixed service standardisation activities;
• WG FM agreed to send a liaison statement to ECC PT1 to request Radio Interface Specification templates for new ECC Decisions created in ECC PT1. Project Team FM44 is also requested to consider RIS templates for new ECC Decisions created in PT FM44;
• WG FM agreed to send a liaison statement to ECC PT 1 informing that  it is not possible to measure Total Radiated Power (TRP) of active antennas with dynamic beamforming in the field, e.g. during market enforcement activities;
• Following the results of the WGFM questionnaire to CEPT administrations on the need for regulation for license-exempt use of frequencies below 9 kHz, WG FM approved an information document with proposals and a rationale for applications operating below 9 kHz. The proposal includes the definition and associated limits for generic inductive applications and inductive loop audio applications in Annexes 9 and 10 of ERC Recommendation 70-03. The proposal was agreed to be sent to ETSI to clarify some questions about the lower frequency limit for practical reasons, the sufficiency of the limits for existing applications and with the question whether ETSI does support the ideas about the proposed way forward;
• WG FM approved a revision of the explanatory paper related to RLAN equipment using the 5 GHz bands in vehicles, including the usage under the non-specific SRD regulation. This follows the conclusion of WGFM that RLAN use inside cars (passenger cars, lorries, buses) in the band 5150-5250 MHz is allowed at a maximum e.i.r.p. of 25 mW as this power restriction meets the demand and results in at least an equivalent attenuation as foreseen for RLAN operation inside buildings and therefore the necessary attenuation to facilitate sharing is provided. In order to prevent that RLAN inside cars operating within these frequency ranges use higher emissions than a maximum e.i.r.p. of 25 mW, ETSI is proposed in a liaison statement from WG FM to consider a “in vehicle mode” is taken into account during the next revision of the EN 301 893. The revised explanatory paper for RLAN usage in cars will be referenced in ERC Recommendation 70-03 in the introduction as well as under ‘frequency issues’ in Annex 13 in relation to the entries for ECC Decision (04)08;
• WG FM agreed to send a response liaison statement to ETSI on usage of radars inside vehicles in 76-81 GHz;
• WG FM discussed the work on the Mandate to CEPT to study the extension of the Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) safety-related band at 5875-5925 MHz. This includes work on a new ECC Report on sharing of the spectrum by Road-ITS and Urban Rail CBTC applications as well as the development of a draft CEPT Report in response to the mandate. It seems to be likely that no easy solution could be found for the sharing of ITS-G5 (IEEE technology) and LTE-V2X. WG FM confirmed that the existing principles set out in the interim reporting to the European Commission represent the preferred solution. However,  it was agreed to investigate options in the draft CEPT Report in response to the mandate, but without indicating any recommendations. Options may include considerations about interim solutions, the possibility to see independent National Road ITS infrastructure decisions in the future and to investigate for Urban Rail (CBTC) ITS an option to use frequencies up to 5935 MHz. Concerning the last point, WG FM agreed a liaison statement to WGSE and PT SE45 to request to study this aspect in time for having results in line with the EC mandate on ITS schedule;
• WG FM considered the work in SRD/MG towards established a a new Annex in ERC Recommendation 70-03 for non-beam Wireless Power Transmission (WPT) applications and endorsed the SRD/MG view that the complete frequency domain information for non-beam WPT applications (inband emissions, out-of-band and specific aspects for the spurious emission domain) should be visible in this new Annex of ERC Recommendation 70-03. This new Annex for non-beam WPT will only include entries for applications for which study results in WG SE will have been established in the future;
• WGFM agreed on a response liaison statement to WGSE and SE19 (with copy to CPG, CPG PTD, ECC PT1) addressing the current status of activities undertaken under WI SE19_39, concerning to assess the feasibility of establishing a common set of technical conditions under which fixed service applications and other outdoor envisaged uses/applications may coexist within the 57 – 66 GHz range, related to SRD/MG WI 44. It is the understanding in WG FM and SRD/MG that preliminary results confirm that no big technical obstacle exists opposing to the adoption of a general authorisation framework which is seen as the best solution for the band 57-66 GHz. WGFM also allowed the SRD/MG to look into the whole band 57-71 GHz. This can avoid boundary problems at 66 GHz. This change of the SRD/MG work item is not sought to impact the ongoing studies in SE19;
• WG FM endorsed conclusions and clarifications for UHF studies, including new studies) in SE24 from SRD/MG to WGSE and SE24 with modifications. This concerns SE24_WI61, existing and new studies for UHF SRD;
• WG FM approved a liaison statement to the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), the International Association of Classification Societies (IACS), the Comité International Radio-Maritime (CIRM) and the International Federation of Shipmasters’ Associations (IFSMA) on the analogue/digital usage of some APP 18 channels in the light of the decision making by WRC-15 and the IMO regarding the implementation of VHF channels on board ships before 1st January 2014;
• WG FM approved a liaison Statement to the Group of Notified Bodies under the Marine Equipment Directive on “the requirements for Marine Equipment making use of radio frequencies outside the spectrum specified in the MED and SOLAS Convention”;
• WG FM agreed some change proposals for the CEPT Roadmap on 5G and these will be forwarded to the ECC;
• WG FM reviewed the list of ERC/ECC Decisions for ordinary review and will forward the updated list to the ECC;
• For PMSE in the 960- 1164 MHz band, WG FM had already initiated sharing studies in WGSE / PT SE7 and there is no work item concerned with harmonisation. WG FM received an internal report from PT FM51. It was decided that FM51 will pause their work on FM51_10 until the SE study results are received and WGFM restarts the FM51 activity. This course of action is reported by WG FM to the ECC meeting;
• A liaison statement was agreed to be sent to ECC PT1 by WG FM to ask for RIS Models to be sent to the EFIS/MG.

Next meetings:

24 - 28 September 2018        WGFM#92           Vilnius, Lithuania 

04 - 08 February 2019           WGFM#93           (city t.b.d.)

03 - 07 June 2019                   WGFM#94           (Estonia)