EU Allows Wireless Broadband on GSM Frequencies
October 21, 2009 // Published as a news service by IHS
The European Union (EU) announced new measures allowing third-generation (3G) phones to use Global System for Mobile communication (GSM) frequencies, publishing the new legislation in the EU's Official Journal on Oct. 20.
The measures, which include a decision and a directive modernizing the 1987 GSM directive, must now be applied in all 27 EU member states.
The action follows agreement in July by the European Parliament and European Council of Ministers to modernize European legislation on the use of the radio spectrum needed for mobile services (see IP/09/1192).
The new EU measures are intended to foster stronger competition in Europe's telecoms market and make it easier for operators to provide faster, pan-European services, such as mobile Internet alongside today's GSM services. They should also boost the roll-out of wireless broadband services, one of the drivers of the EU's economic recovery.
The new rules are part of efforts by the European Commission (EC) to offer more spectrum opportunities for wireless communications and open the GSM radio spectrum band to more advanced wireless communication devices.
The rules also make it easier to adapt spectrum allocation in the 900-MHz frequency band to allow even newer fourth-generation high-speed broadband technologies to be deployed. Consumers' existing handsets will continue to work without problems, but they can also use new technologies to access high-speed broadband services.
The reformed rules are expected to have a positive economic effect on the sector and promote the take-up of new wireless services, thanks to reductions in network costs resulting from the use of lower frequency bands.
The new EC decision sets out the technical parameters allowing for the co-existence of GSM (2G mobile phones) and Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) equipment - 3G phones that add high-speed mobile Internet to regular phone services - on GSM 900-MHz and 1800-MHz frequencies in line with the directive.
This decision is based on the EU's "Radio Spectrum Decision," which sets up a mechanism for the adoption of technical harmonization rules based on input received from national radio frequency experts.
National administrations now have six months to transpose the directive and to implement the decision so that the GSM spectrum bands are effectively made available for 3G.
When opening up the existing GSM licenses, national regulators will have to examine competition between mobile operators and address distortions of competition, if any, in accordance with the EU's telecoms rules. The decision foresees the possibility of amendments to include technical usage parameters for further non-GSM systems for which compatibility may be established at a later stage.
"In harsh economic times, Europe's mobile industry today got a clear signal of strong support from policy makers," said Viviane Reding, EC telecoms commissioner. "The new EU rules published today allow the reframing of the radio spectrum in the GSM band for new mobile services, strengthen competition and save the mobile industry up to €1.6 billion in capital costs. With decisions like this, Europe ensures that we will keep our competitive edge in wireless services."
Background
The GSM directive of 1987 reserved the use of part of the 900-MHz spectrum band to GSM access technologies, such as mobile phones. However, the directive needed to be updated to allow more advanced, next-generation wireless technologies to also use this band of the radio spectrum.
In November 2008, the EC proposed to share the airwaves allocated to mobile phones with other more advanced technologies, starting with 3G mobile broadband technology (UMTS). The proposal was approved by the European Parliament in May 2009 (see MEMO/09/219) and by the Council of Ministers in July 2009 (see IP/09/1192).
In her July 9, 2009 speech, "Digital Europe - Europe's Fast Track to Economic Recovery," Reding presented a "Digital Agenda for Europe" that included, as one of the first actions, swift agreement on reform of the GSM directive (see SPEECH/09/336).
The new directive 2009/114/EC was signed by the presidents of the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers in September 2009. It was published, together with the EC decision, in the EU's Official Journal on Oct. 20.
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Source: European Commission (EC).