Spectrum Policy: Act II IDATE’s point of view November 2013 Contact Frédéric PUJOL Head of the...

Spectrum Policy: Act IIIDATE’s point of viewNovember 2013

ContactFrédéric PUJOLHead of the Radio Technologies & Spectrum [email protected]+33 4 67 14 44 50

Cliquez sur l'icône pour ajouter une imageFrédéric Pujol joined IDATE in November 1992. As head of radio technologies and spectrum Practice, he is responsible for coordinating mobile industry forecasting and technical-economic analysis reports.

Previously, Frédéric acquired solid experience in mobile network architecture working for the France Telecom Group (Sofrecom, Telesystems).

Mr. Pujol holds a post-graduate degree in engineering from ISEN (Institut Supérieur d'Electronique du Nord, Lille, 1986), where he majored in Telecommunications, and from CITCOM (Centre d'Ingénierie des Technologies de la Communication, Paris, 1987), where he majored in Network Architecture.

˃ Frédéric PUJOL, Head of the Radio Technologies & Spectrum Practice

2:30-2:40pm IDATE’s point of view

2:40-3:00pm Keynote: Spectrum management: key issues

and roadmap to 2015 Gilles BREGANT, CEO, ANFR

3:00-4:00pm Round table #1 - Sharing the spectrum among

mobile telephony and other uses (television, security services)

- Chair: Scott MARCUS, Director and Department Manager, WIK Consult GmbH

- Alessandro CASAGNI, Head of EU Wireless Regulatory

Policy, Huawei - Jeppe JEPSEN, Director of Broadband Spectrum, TETRA

and Critical Communication Association- Karl-Heinz LAUDAN, Vice President Spectrum

Policy&Projects, Deutsche Telekom AG- Arnaud LUCAUSSY, Director of Regulatory and Public

Affairs, TDF- Lasse WIEWEG, Member, UMTS Forum

4:00-4:30pm Coffee Break

4:30-4:40pm Introductive keynote Joëlle TOLEDANO, PhD in mathematics and economics,

Supélec

4:40-5:40pm Round table #2 - How can new

technologies facilitate spectrum management? How should the spectrum be priced?

- Chair: Frédéric PUJOL, Head of Radio technologies, Spectrum Practice, IDATE

- Viktor ARVIDSSON, Strategy & Business Development

Director France, Ericsson- Philippe AUBINEAU, Counselor for ITU-R Study Group 1

(Spectrum Management), ITU Radiocommunication Bureau - Wassim CHOURBAJI, Senior Director Government Affairs

EMENA, Qualcomm - Eric FOURNIER, Director for Spectrum Planning and

International Affairs, ANFR and ECC chairman

Agenda

Major trends in the regulatory framework

Main radio spectrum ‘trends’ for 2013-2015

400 600 700 800

1 GHz

2 GHz

2 GHz

3 GHz

300 900

1 GHz

200100 MHz

UHFVHF

L-Band

Unlicensed 2.4

UMTS core

S-bandIMT

174 223 470 862

2500 2690248324002300

410

430

450

880 960

GSM

500

1452 1492

915 925

1710 1785 1805 1880

2010-2025 2110

19801900

2170

1920

DECT1479.5

380

1375 14001517

14271350

2200

IMT790

1164

IMT

S-band2010

Mobile services (IMT) PMR Broadcasting Fixed services Unlicensed Satellite

UMTS core

2.1 GHz FDD band: must be available for

LTE bymid-2014 in Europe

2.3 GHz band: progress in Asia, strong interest in Europe and in the USA

L-Band in Europe: toward use as a

supplemental downlink band?

2.6 GHz band: last auctions in Western

Europe, LTE services in Europe

LTE in the 1800 MHz band: growing interest in Asia-Pacific and in

Europe

2 GHz TDD band: STBs?

800 MHz (Digital Dividend): LTE commercial services

700 MHz band: WRC-2015 + Availability?

White spaces: first deployments in the USA

and in the UK

S-Band: wastingvaluable resource?

Source: IDATE

LTE spectrum

At mid-2013, the main LTE frequency bands are 1800 MHz (#3), 2.6 GHz (#7) and 700 MHz (North American bands #12, 13; 14 and 17).

Regional harmonisation is probably the first step:- Americas: DD (700 MHz), AWS, 2.6 GHz- Europe: DD (800 MHz), 1800 MHz, 2.6 GHz- Asia-Pacific: 2.3 GHz, 2.6 GHz

A major hurdle for chipset and devices vendors Roaming is not a priority today The Apple iPhone5 did not support the 800 MHz

and 2.6 GHz bands for Europe.

˃ Fragmentation is here to stay Table: Main LTE frequency bands

LTE spectrum

Two different band plans in the 700 MHz bands respectively for AT&T and Verizon Wireless.

˃ Band plans are important, as seen in the USA

Source: IDATE, October 2013

The 700 MHz band

The 700 MHz band corresponds to the first Digital Dividend in the USA and in Asia-Pacific. It could become the second Digital Dividend, in the EMEA region.

The Asia-Pacific Telecommunity (APT) has a harmonised band plan for 698-806 MHz for Region 3 which was approved by ITU. As is the case with the APT band plan, 2 x 45 MHz of spectrum will be available.

The entire band, according to the APT plan, enables the use of 2 x 45 MHz for FDD operation. A TDD plan has also been defined.

The APT band plans include two duplexers associated with two separate 30 MHz duplex plans. The first is compatible with Europe (lower duplexer plan: 703-733 and 758-788 MHz) and the second (718–748 and 773–803 MHz) has already been selected by some Asian countries such as Japan.

Table: Status of the 700 MHz band (May 2013)

The 700 MHz band: a new harmonised frequency band for LTE?


Geographical area

700 MHz band

Band plan

Allocation Commercial services

Europe 703-788 MHzAPT likely

>= 2015Probably in 2017-2020

Middle East & Africa

703-788 MHzAPT likely

>= 2013 >= 2015

North America 699-798 MHz US 2008Yes: LTE in the USA

South America

698-806 MHzMainly APT

>= 2014 >= 2015

Asia-Pacific 698-806 MHz APT

Japan, Australia, (New Zealand in Q3 2013)

>= 2014

Figure: Possible implementation of 2 x 30 MHz FDD band in 700 MHz (lower duplexer)

Uplink DownlinkDuplex gap

30 MHz 25 MHz 30 MHz

703 MHz

788 MHz

733 MHz

758 MHz

698 MHz

3GPP band 28

703 MHz 790 MHz 862 MHz 880 MHz 960 MHz

BroadcastingGSM & WCDMAIMT (First Digital Dividend)

IMT - Second Digital Dividend?

Region 1 (EMEA)

790 MHz



718 MHz

803 MHz

748 MHz

773 MHz

Low duplexer

High duplexer



703 MHz

803 MHz

748 MHz

758 MHz

698 MHz


1 GHz for high speed transmission Out-of-band emissions could be different for

PPDR networks / commercial networks due to specific needs (such as a limited number of devices, or protection from broadcasters).

The main hurdle with this option is that the mobile industry is cautious in trying to obtain additional spectrum below 700 MHz.

˃ Spectrum for PPDR networks?˃ 2 x 10 MHz for PPDR networks below

Figure: Extension of the APT band plan?

The 700 MHz band: duplex gap and PPDR networks

The duplex gap defined in the 3GPP band plan (#28) represents 25 MHz of spectrum with use of the lower duplexer (10 MHz for the 2 x 45 MHz band plan). There are already candidate options for its use:

A supplemental downlink (SDL) option in order to use 20 MHz (738-758 MHz) out of the 25 MHz of the duplex gap. This would provide additional downlink capacity for the 800 MHz band (3GPP #20).

Use for public protection and disaster relief networks- PPDR technical work is being undertaken by the FM 49 group of ECC (CEPT) in Europe;- Most European countries are currently in favour of using parts of the 700 MHz band or extensions of the 700 MHz band

for PPDR applications. Some MENA countries, such as the UAE, have already adopted the 700 MHz band for PPDR.

TDD use of the duplex gap with the band being used for FDD.

˃ What applications for the duplex gap? Source: SFR

Spectrum sharing & new radio technologies

which normally use paired spectrum for uplink and downlink, supplemental downlink uses additional unpaired spectrum to enhance the downlink capability of mobile broadband networks. It has not yet been used in mobile networks; it is now possible with carrier aggregation technology. Carrier aggregation and supplemental downlink are included in HSPA+ and LTE-Advanced standards.

˃ Mobile operators around the world are currently looking into SDL as a solution to meet traffic demands:

˃ Being a further development of FDD networks

Source: Qualcomm

Figure: Principle of supplemental downlink

AT&T plans to use a supplemental downlink in its LTE network, aggregating 700 MHz unpaired spectrum with other paired spectrum on which it will deploy LTE. The US carrier expects to be able to deploy supplemental downlink as early as 2014. AT&T could also use the 700 MHz block it bought from Qualcomm with its AWS spectrum.

Orange France conducted trials in early 2013 in the French city of Toulouse. The mobile operator will use the L-band (1452-1492 MHz) to provide mobile broadband systems with supplemental downlink capacity. The trial will use Ericsson base stations and devices employing Qualcomm chipsets. Both the base stations and the devices will use sup-plementary carrier frequencies in the L-band for downlink operations, combined with a traditional paired carrier at 2.1 GHz.

Supplemental downlink (SDL)

is bonded with the supplemental downlink channel(s) located in a different frequency band, to combine a single wider downlink channel as shown in the following figure.

˃ The usual downlink channel

Growing very fast on mobile broadband networks – it increases traffic in the downlink. An asymmetric configuration with SDL serves to optimise traffic.

˃ This provides an answer to the asymmetric nature of multimedia traffic

“An individual licensed regime of a limited number of licensees in a frequency band, already allocated to one or more incumbent users, for which the additional users are allowed to use the spectrum (or part of the spectrum) in accordance with sharing rules included in the rights of use of spectrum granted to the licensees, thereby allowing all the licensees to provide a certain level of QoS.” (RSPG)

LSA could provide new harmonised spectrum for mobile broadband with predictable QoS guarantees. It could provide a solution to political, time and geographical constraints which occur with attempts to clear a new frequency band.

˃ Spectrum sharing is seen as one solution to spectrum congestion in Europe and in the USA

˃ Licensed shared access (LSA) is a new regulatory framework for sharing spectrum

Spectrum sharing

Figure: The ‘licensed shared access ‘ concept

Table: Advantages and constraints of LSA

Advantages Risks/constraints

Allows more efficient use of spectrum: no change for the incumbent user of the spectrum and provides opportunities for new users/applications.

Need for reliable sharing agreements between primary spectrum users and LSA licencees.

New spectrum can be made available almost on a pan-European basis. A robust authorisation system must be built and has to be 100% reliable: it could be based upon a data base model in order to provide permanent updates on spectrum availability.

Gives confidence to NRAs and spectrum managers as all LSA users are licenced.

Need to manage the authorisation system.

Compared with the licenced-exempt scheme, it provides more predictable conditions of use and almost allows them to provide the same quality of service as if primary users of the spectrum.

Subject to negotiation with the incumbent user.

Source: IDATE

Source: Huawei

Impact of new radio technologies

New technologies such as ‘cognitive radio’ could well make new business models possible in the future. This can, though, only be expected to have a long-term impact: it will take years before cognitive radio technologies have established themselves significantly.

Cognitive radios see the first real implementation of ‘white spaces’ in the USA and the preparation of the regulatory framework in Europe. If they are successful, white space systems will only represent niche markets, given the numerous limitations to their implementation.

Spectrum aggregation will be a major improvement for mobile operators. It will enable higher data rates and the use of more spectrum in the downlink to adapt the mobile traffic structure. It also makes isolated frequency bands such as the L-Band more attractive to use.

LTE-Advanced is gaining momentum and will probably be implemented before 2015.Technology Advantages Drawbacks Expected development

Heterogeneous Networks

Enhanced coordination of macro and micro/pico layers

Being included within 3GPP standards

Cognitive radios - dynamic spectrum allocation

Access to a dedicated spectrum band is managed through a database

Administrative procedure have to be defined in relation to database management

Cognitive radios - white spaces

Maximise the use of spectrum: enables new users in underused bands

Interference risks Likely limited deployment due to difficulties in finding business models

Spectrum aggregation

Enable the use of small portion of spectrum and/or downlink only chunk of spectrum

More complex to implement and more frequency bands to manage

Being included within 3GPP standardsAlready implemented in South Korea on LTE-A networks

Source: IDATE

4G spectrum follow-up & licence valuation

The average quantity of spectrum per pop. is 2.06 (1.23 in 2009) MHz per million subscribers for the 5 operators analysed. More potential spectrum in Western Europe: 700 MHz (second Digital Dividend), 3.5 GHz in the longer term.

˃ Outcome

Source: IDATE

Table: FDD spectrum assets for selected operators (September 2013)

Comparison of frequency allocations of mobile operators

In the USA, the 700 MHz auctions held in 2008 reached an average value of 71 eurocents per MHz per pop. In Germany, the Digital Dividend spectrum was sold for 70 eurocents, in Sweden for 31 eurocents and in Spain for 54 eurocents.

800 MHz band: in France, with 70.4 eurocents per MHz per pop., the average price paid by the three ‘incumbent’ mobile operators is very close to the price paid in Germany in May 2010 (72.7 eurocents) but lower than in Italy in September 2011 (85.5 eurocents).

Australia 700 MHz: the 2013 auctions reached high valuation for the 700 MHz even though no block was sold.

˃ Price of premium spectrum

Source: IDATE

Figure: Price (eurocents) per MHz per pop. (for 10 years)

4G spectrum price: Digital Dividend, 700 MHz band

The 1800 MHz band is one of the most heavily-used frequency bands for LTE networks In South Korea, the latest auctions for the 1800 MHz band reached a high valuation: KT paid 813.6

million USD in September 2013 and SK Telecom paid 949.2 million USD.

˃ Price of 1800 MHz spectrum

Source: IDATE


4G spectrum price: 1800 MHz band

Germany2010

Hong Kong2009

Italy2011

South Korea2011

South Korea 2013

Sweden2011

Switzerland2012

1.74

14.9

56.3

67.6

8.912

The early references for assessing the cost of FDD 2.6 GHz spectrum in Western Europe were the auctions which took place in the four Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden), the Netherlands and Germany. Subsequent auctions in France, Italy and Spain confirmed the initial trends.

Interest in, and valuation of, the 2.6 GHz band is expected to be higher in a few years from now, when lower frequency bands become saturated. The 2.6 GHz band will provide capacity in large cities.

˃ Price of 2.6 GHz spectrum

Source: IDATE


4G spectrum price: higher frequency bands

Denmark 2010

Finland 2010

France 2011

Germany 2010

Nether-lands 2010

Spain 2011 Norway 2007

Sweden 2008

United Kingdom

2013

6.71

0.21

5.12

1.12

0.07

1.33

2.27

11.10

0.23

Valuation is very high for sub-1 GHz frequency bands due to their propagation characteristics. The 2.1 GHz and the 1800 MHz bands are also valued at high levels due to their specific

characteristics:- The 1800 MHz band can be rapidly used for LTE- The 2.1 GHz band is the ‘historic’ 3G band and will become a LTE band in Asia-Pacific and later in Europe

˃ Europe: valuation of the main FDD frequency bands

Source: IDATE

Spectrum price

Frequency band Current use Future use Valuation

700 MHz TV broadcast LTE +++

800 MHz LTE LTE +++

900 MHz GSM/UMTS GSM/UMTS/LTE +++

1.5 GHz (L-Band) No use LTE or HSPA supplemental downlink - to +

1800 MHz GSM GSM/LTE ++

2.1 GHz UMTS UMTS/LTE ++

2.6 GHz LTE LTE +

3.5 GHz WiMAX LTE -

Backup slides

Conditions associated with the use of the 790-862 MHz band in Europe and neighbouring countries (principally in Africa, Russia and Ukraine).

Introduction and development of mobile broadband (MBB) and other advanced technologies. Review and possible revision of the international regulatory framework for radiocommunications.

Cognitive radios, software-defined radios (SDR) or short-range devices are proving to be disruptive technologies which can impose changes on the existing regulatory framework.

Management of satellite orbits and associated spectrum resources. Scientific use of the spectrum.

˃ Main outcome

˃ Main items on the Conference agenda


A proposal from African and Middle Eastern countries for a ‘Second Digital Dividend’ was presented at the start of the conference.

The proposed allocation of the 700 MHz band (694-790 MHz) to International Mobile Tele-communications (IMT), possibly quite similar to the first Digital Dividend in ITU Region 3 (Asia-Pacific 698-790 MHz), initially faced opposition from CEPT countries.

An agreement was finally reached: the conditions for this new frequency band will be validated at WRC-15, after technical studies.

Lessons from the World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-12)

The ‘white spaces’ concept enables of telecommunication services in underused frequency bands such as the VHF and UHF bands used for TV transmission. It involves cognitive radio techniques and enables opportunistic-sharing implementation between a primary user (incumbent) and a secondary one (new user). This approach cannot be considered as an off-the-shelf solution as commercial implementation is just starting on a limited basis in the USA and in the United Kingdom.

White spaces still at an early stage- Opportunity to use sparsely-occupied spectrum, attractive spectrum- But protection necessary for TV broadcasting and wireless

microphones

Draft ECC report outlines rules for white space devices in Europe

Business models- Middle-mile model- Last-mile model- According to Microsoft, white space spectrum could generate between 3.9

billion USD and 7.3 billion USD in value annually over 15 years.˃ USA - How to prevent interference

Source: CEPT

Figure: Principle of white spaces

The FCC technical conditions require that both fixed and portable devices include geo-location and spectrum-sensing applications which integrate with the FCC database of venues such as stadiums and concert arenas that use wireless microphones.

The database also holds TV signal propagation information.

Status of white spaces (1/2)

Figure: Concept of white space database for geolocation and spectrum-sensing

Source: Spectrum Bridge

Status of white spaces (2/2)

Due to the decisions taken at RRC-06 and WRC-07 relating to the use of the UHF band for broadcasting, the potential for white space spectrum availability is being gradually reduced. With digital broadcasting replacing analogue broadcasting and the associated re-planning of the UHF band across Europe, less white space spectrum is available now than previously under the analogue plan. The identification of the 790-862 MHz band to mobile broadband has further reduced the potential spectrum for white space use.

We consider that white space technologies represent niche markets today and that they cannot be used to provide mobile service on a commercial basis in the UHF band. The concept could be extended to other frequency bands where sharing with incumbent users could be easier.

Source: Spectrum Bridge

Digital Dividend: 700 and 800 MHz spectrum has the highest valuation today 1800 MHz: one of the most important bands for LTE 3.5 GHz: will see its valuation climbing with the development of LTE small cells

˃ Expected price for future auctions in developed markets

Source: IDATE

Past and expected spectrum prices

The FDD mode has been used since the start of digital mobile networks and is largely dominant worldwide. A more limited number of bands are defined for TDD operations.

Europe, Japan and the USA will share a limited number of common bands (such as around the IMT core bands) and regional differences are likely to remain. This will have a significant impact on LTE dongle and handset manufacturers. They will have to produce products covering different frequency bands for each market or produce more expensive devices covering multiple frequency bands.

As LTE commercial services open up around the world, more frequency bands are in use. The growing fragmentation of the LTE spectrum is complicating life for chipset manufacturers and is a negative factor in international roaming and for cost levels and LTE devices.

The main impact of this spectrum fragmentation is on international roaming. The selection of frequency bands in LTE devices is likely to be shaped by national constraints first. Regional harmonisation could follow.


Main LTE frequency bands: FDD & TDD

Many frequency bands will be necessary to provide real international roaming.

˃ Most popular LTE bands for international roaming


LTE roaming

Most active players are South Korean and Japanese operators.

US operators should follow in 2014 APAC: Bridge Alliance

˃ First LTE international roaming agreements


Source: Spectrum Alliance

US auctions in 2008 Part of the 700 MHz band is reserved for public

safety This plan is not compatible with the APT plan,

and does not allow any compatibility or roaming for future LTE handsets.

˃ The US plan is not compatible with the APT band plan

Figure: 700 MHz band plan in the USA

The 700 MHz band: compatibility issues

The 791-803 MHz portion would overlap between the 700 MHz APT plan and the Digital Dividend in Europe given a 3 MHz guard band in the upper part of the APT plan.

˃ There is an overlap between the upper part of the 700 MHz APT band and the lower part of the European 800 MHz plan

Source: PSRC

Figure: Overlap between 700 MHz APT band plan and 800 MHz band

Source: NTRA

After postponing its auctions planned for November 2012 to a later date, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) organised them for the 700 MHz (digital dividend) and 2.6 GHz bands auction in April/May 2013.

Auctions took place in May 2013. Telstra bought 2 x 20 MHz and Optus 2 x 10 MHz of 700 MHz spectrum. A 2 x 15 MHz block - one-third of the total – was not sold, probably due to high reserve prices. The third mobile operator in Australia, Vodafone Hutchison, declared that it did not need spectrum in the 700 MHz band to support its mobile broadband traffic in the years ahead.

Reserve price: 1.36 AUD/MHz/pop

Source: ACMA

Figure: 700 MHz band plan in Australia

The 700 MHz band: Asia-Pacific

The 450-470 MHz band is currently used in some Nordic and Eastern European countries by CDMA 2000 networks. These networks are likely to adopt LTE in the coming years. Brazil was the first country to allocate LTE licences in the 450 MHz band in 2012.

No rapid development is expected elsewhere in Western Europe as the spectrum is used by a number of private mobile radio networks.

˃ 700 MHz

˃ 450 MHz

Source: Anatel

Figure: 450 MHz spectrum in Brazil

See the Digital Dividend section for more details.

New frequency bands (1/4)

The broadcasting part of the so-called L-Band 1452-1492 MHz is currently being studied by CEPT, given that digital radio in this band has not taken off according to original plans.

At a multilateral CEPT meeting in Constanţa in 2007, a special arrangement was made to facilitate the introduction of terrestrial mobile multimedia services. It modifies the 2002 Maastricht agreement on the use of the band 1452–1479.5 MHz for Terrestrial Digital Audio Broadcasting (T-DAB).

In early 2011, the ECC WG FM PT45 conducted a survey on the generic inventory of candidate applications for the 1452-1492 MHz band. CEPT Report 018 to the European Commission responded to the Mandate on EU harmonisation of 1452–1479.5 MHz (lower L-Band) to allow flexible use by mobile multimedia technologies.

Ericsson and Qualcomm (which bought the L-Band spectrum in the UK) commissioned an assessment of the net benefits of using the L-Band for a supplemental downlink (SDL) for the delivery of enhanced mobile multimedia and broadband services.

˃ L-Band: 1452-1492 MHz

Figure: L-Band: example of channel rasters

Source: CEPT

The 2300 MHz band is already specified as a 3GPP band for both TD-SCDMA and LTE-TDD since LTE Release 8.

In some countries – Sweden is a case in point – the 2300-2390 MHz band is considered as vacant, whereas in France it is used by the defence sector. It could be used for TD-LTE networks as there are already TD-LTE networks planned or launched around the world such as in Australia and India.

˃ 2.3 GHz band

Source: Huawei

Figure: 2300 MHz band allocations globally


The Federal Communications Commission has adopted an order which enables mobile in 25 MHz of Wireless Communications Service (WCS) spectrum without causing harmful interference to the Satellite Digital Audio Radio Service (SDARS).

˃ USA Figure: The 2.3 GHz band in the USA

Source: FCC

The 3400-3600 MHz band is currently allocated to WiMAX operators in most European countries but there is very limited deployment of these networks and use across Europe. CEPT studied frequency arrangements in TDD and FDD modes for the 3400-3600 MHz band and LTE is likely to be introduced in most European countries in the long term.

In February 2012, UK Broadband, a subsidiary of the Hong Kong PCCW, switched on a TD-LTE network in London, using spectrum in the 3.5 GHz and 3.6 GHz bands where it owns 124 MHz of spectrum. This is the first TD-LTE 3.5 GHz deployment in the world and the first commercial 4G deployment in the UK. It will operate a wholesale model, enabling partners to offer commercial services to businesses, consumers and the public sector from May 2012 onwards.

˃ 3.4-3.8 GHz

Source: ECC

Figure: Harmonised frequency arrangements for the 3.4-3.8 GHz bands

The 3.4-3.6 GHz range has been identified for IMT in ITU Radio Regulations since World Radiocommunication Conference 2007. At its last plenary meeting in December 2011, the ECC adopted Decision ECC/ DEC/(11)06 on harmonised frequency arrangements for mobile/fixed communications networks (MFCN) in the bands 3400 - 3600 MHz and 3600 - 3800 MHz.

Based on CEPT Report 15, an EC Decision 2008/411/EC includes the specification of the least restrictive technical conditions. This Decision is binding for EU Member States and has to be transposed in national regulatory frameworks.

An earlier ECC Recommendation, ECC (04)05, defined the ‘Block Edge Masks’ (BEM) which restrict emissions in this band. The ECC decided to develop harmonised frequency arrangements for the high data rate mobile/fixed communications networks (MFCN), including IMT, utilising large channel bandwidths.


2 GHz TDD- The TDD bands in the 2 GHz band (1900-1920 and 2010-2025 MHz) are currently being studied by CEPT. These bands

were allocated in most European countries in the early 2000’s but are almost totally unused today.- Some mobile operators are pressing for paired spectrum in the 2 GHz band. One proposal is to pair the 1900–1920 MHz

band with 2010-2025 MHz or 2090–2110 MHz to extend mobile broadband services. The fact that licences have been granted in almost all European countries with different dates and that the spectrum is used in a limited number of countries constitutes a series of hurdles for regulators.

2 GHz MSS- Almost no use by satellite stakeholders (1980-2010 and 2170-2200 MHz)- Possible re-allocation to terrestrial use

2.7-2.9 GHz- This band is currently used by aeronautical radars. This frequency band could be identified during the WRC-15

conference for IMT use (mobile broadband).

3.8-4.2 GHz- Limited use is made of this frequency band in Europe by satellite systems. Parts of this band could be identified during

the WRC-15 conference for IMT use (mobile broadband).

4.4-4.99 GHz- Little use is made of this frequency band in Europe by satellite systems. Parts of it could be identified during the WRC-

15 conference for IMT use (mobile broadband).

˃ Potential new frequency bands for the long term in Europe


The 3GPP standardisation group is working on LTE-Advanced, as part of Release 10. LTE-Advanced will be both backwards- and forwards-compatible with LTE, meaning LTE devices will operate in newer LTE-Advanced networks, and LTE-Advanced devices will operate in older LTE networks. 3GPP is studying the use of wider bandwidth support for up to 100 MHz via aggregation of 20 MHz blocks. This will enable very high data rates of more than 100 Mbps for mobility and 1 Gbps for nomadic use.

It should be noted that carrier aggregation can only be realised for the same duplexing method, thus FDD with FDD and TDD with TDD.

Source: Huawei

Figure: Example of carrier aggregation

Carrier aggregation

Table: Frequency bands combinations for carrier aggregation

Source: 3GPP

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