ECC is modernising its regulatory framework towards enabling 4G services

(reviewing the process of changing regulation for the ‘core’ 2 GHz mobile band)

Alexander Gulyaev, ECO

alexander.gulyaev@eco.cept.org

www.cept.org/eco

European Spectrum Managemenet Forum 2012,Munich, 5-7 November 2012

Outline

• European regulatory landscape

• Should the regulation be modernized to enable 4G?

• ECC has ‘opened’ the 3.5 GHz & 2 GHz mobile bands for 4G

• What’s ahead?

European regulatory framework for radio spectrum and equipment

Read more athttp://apps.cept.org/eccetsirel/

The three European regulatory bodies

European Commission:Single market issuesBinding regulations based on the results of mandates to CEPT/ECCand harmonised standards of ETSI (27 Member States)

CEPT/ECC:Consensus and voluntary characterSpectrum designation to systems/applications and harmonised technical conditions for its use (48 member countries)

ETSI:European Harmonised standards (EN) for radio equipment‘System Reference Documents’ (SRDoc) which inform and trigger much of the CEPT/ECC work(over 700 industry members and European national regulators)

EC: Radio Spectrum Policy Programme (RSPP)

• Wireless broadband (1200 MHz by 2015)

• Spectrum Inventory

• Other sector policies : Public protection and disaster relief (PPDR), Electricity production and distribution (Green...), Wireless microphones and cameras (PMSE)

• Foster different modes of spectrum sharing

• Spectrum Trading (where flexible use available)

Hard facts – the growth of mobile broadband

Jul 2009 Nov 2010Feb 2008

Source: ECC PT1 Report on mobile broadband, September 2011 (www.cept.org/ecc/eccpt1)

European harmonised ‘mobile bands’

800 MHz - LTE (Digital Dividend) up to 60-65 MHz

900MHz - GSM/UMTS/LTE 50-70 MHz

1800MHz - GSM/UMTS/LTE 150 MHz

2 GHz - UMTS/HSPA+/LTE 160 MHz

2.6 GHz - LTE 190 MHz

3.4-3.8 GHz - BWA (fixed/mobile) 400 MHz

RSPP: ”find 1200 MHz bandwidth”

New services – new spectrum priorities

• While discussions around the new mobile spectrum in the UHF-band (1st and 2nd Digital dividends) remain very politicized considering the social importance of low frequency ranges, these bands lack the capacity to meet demand for delivering 4G applications to the mass market

• New, really high-speed mobile services, such as enhanced Internet browsing, video streaming and video calls, require significantly greater channel bandwidths than 5 MHz (for example, 10, 20 and 40 MHz) and thus much more contiguous spectrum to accommodate the demand! (these requirements are technically justified in ITU-R Report M.2134)

New spectrum for 4G

Future home for 4G services:the ‘core’ 2 GHz mobile band &

other ‘capacious’ mobile bands : 2.6 GHz and 3.5 GHz

• WRCs have identified several bands for IMT

• ITU-R: 6 IMT-2000 radio interfaces and 2 IMT-Advanced radio interfaces ensuring a competitive environment

• ECC: even more neutral regulatory framework for MFCN: Mobile/Fixed Communications Networks (including IMT)

IMT = IMT-2000 + IMT-Advanced

Additional spectrum for mobile broadband

In addition to the existing IMT bands, ECC has already taken steps for defining the harmonised technical conditions enabling 4G services in other bands:

• 3600-3800 MHz (the newly approved ECC Decisoin (11)06 on harmonised frequency arrangements for MFCN)

• 1452-1492 MHz (the ”L-band”) – draft ECC Report 188 (addressing the options of Mobile Broadband and Mobile Supplemental Downlink) is under public consultatoin;

• 2300-2400 MHz – ECC Report 172 for Broadband Wireless Systems is published, an ECC Decision is being developed

ECO Report 03: national authorisations in the ‘mobile bands’

• ECO Report 03 on licensing of ‘mobile bands’ in CEPT contains detailed information on national authorisations issued in CEPT countries for all ‘mobile bands’, from ‘first hands’!

• The 2GHz paired bands are the most used bands in Europe for the provision of mobile broadband services while the 2 GHz unpaired bands are largely underused.

• The 2500-2690 MHz band is in use in a few European countries for providing mobile broadband services while in many either the authorisation process or networks deployment is taking place.

• The 3400-3600 MHz and 3600-3800 MHz bands can be progressively made available for mobile broadband (review the recent developments in the 3.5 GHz in the presentation by Alexander Gulyaev (ECO) of September 2012 on the ECO presentations webpage

)

The ”Block Edge Mask” (BEM) concept (1)

• A BEM is an emission mask that is defined as a function of frequency, relative to the edge of a block of spectrum that is licensed to an operator.

• BEM consists of in-block and out-of-block components which specify the permitted emission levels over frequencies inside and outside the licensed block of spectrum respectively.

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OwnLicence

NeighbourLicence

Frequency

In-bandPowerLimit

BEM

Block

The ”Block Edge Mask” (BEM) concept (2)

Block Edge Mask (in the licence): “Technology neutral” Applies to the entire operator’s

spectrum block Covers both in-block and out-of-

block emissions Different BEMs apply to terminals

and base stations (may also vary between the bands and TDD and FDD modes)

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Spectrum Emission Mask (in the standard):

Technology specific (transmitter, channelling)

Ensure intra-system compatibility Forms a part of equipment

conformity assessment

BEM vs. SEM

• Flexibility is given to operators in how to comply with BEM

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2 GHz mobile band: major European milestones

• 1997-2000: first ERC Decisions (97)07, (99)25 and (00)01 addressing the 2 GHz band created a background for the harmonised introduction of UMTS in Europe

• 2001-2003: licensing of the 2 GHz mobile bands in many European countries based on the ERC Decisions

• 2003-2005: deployment of UMTS (3G) networks in many European countries

• 2006: ECC Decision (06)01 on harmonised utilisation of the 2 GHz paired and unpaired bands for IMT-2000/UMTS replaced earlier ERC Decisions

• 2006-2011: the paired bands 1920-1980 MHz & 2110-2170 MHz are widely used in Europe for UMTS/HSPA (3G+) networks; the unpaired band 1900-1920 MHz, although licensed in many countries, remains not much used; the other unpaired band 2010-2025 MHz is authorised in a few countries only

• 2012: ECC Decision (06)01 is modernized to open the paired 2 GHz bands for “4G” services having greater channel bandwidth

2 GHz: an important milestone

• In June 2009, the European Commission issued a mandate to CEPT to develop common and minimal (least restrictive) technical conditions for the 2 GHz bands.

• CEPT Report 39 is the CEPT response to this Mandate. It deals with the band plan for the 2 GHz bands including both paired (2x60 MHz FDD) and unpaired (20+15 MHz) band.

• CEPT Report 39 was built on the earlier ECC work (ERC Report 065), by considering developments in characteristics of systems operating in adjacent bands and by considering technology neutral approach to allow technologies other than UMTS.

2 GHz: removing the limitations of the current regulation

• In 2010-2011 ECC reviewed the situation in the 2 GHz band and decided to focus the revision of the regulatory framework for mobile networks on the 2 GHz paired bands only. Another framework will be developed for the 2 GHz unpaired bands.

• November 2012: the updated ECC/DEC/(06)01 will allow the deployment of systems with channel bandwidths larger than 5 MHz in the 2 GHz paired bands by defining the block edge frequency instead of the carrier centre frequency; it also contains the BEM for the downlink.

• The European Commission has just adopted an EU Decision on the 2 GHz paired bands which is binding for EU Member States and defines the same technical conditions as in ECC/DEC/(06)01

2 GHz: transition to the modernized regulatory framework

• The revision of ECC/DEC/(06)01 has modified the band plans and reduced the number of options relative to FDD or TDD operations. The band 1920-1980 MHz is now designated only for FDD uplink.

• The updated ECC/DEC/(06)01 appears to be future-proof since its technology neutral: future mobile broadband systems (e.g. LTE-Advanced) will be replacing existing systems without the need for another regulatory change.

• Transition from the existing framework may encompass different stages at the national level, incl. consultation processes, with a varying complexity depending on the legal and regulatory framework as well as the existing national licensing situation.

Regulatory certainty : what will it give us?

These technically oriented regulatory efforts are necessary to ensure the future common Europen market of high-speed mobile applications affordable to end users :

• reduce the development and implementation costs of manufacturing equipment;

• secure long term investments by providing economies of scale;

• maximise the opportunities and benefits for end users; and

• reduce the complexity in the spectrum cross border coordination

Participating in ECC work: how to join

www.cept.org/ecc