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European Parliament's "valentine" for unlicensed spectrum

On 14 February (St. Valentine's Day), the European Parliament passed a resolution endorsing license-free radio bands as a necessary complement to spectrum trading in the EU's approach to frequency management. Click here for the text of the resolution, which was presented as part of a report on spectrum policy by the Parliament's Committee on Industry, Research and Energy. MEP Fiona Hall was the report's rapporteur. Excerpts from the resolution, which...

"Encourages the Commission to take into account the reality of the spectrum dividend [produced by the migration of terrestrial television from analog to digital] when defining the future direction of the radio spectrum policy and consider the appropriateness of allowing unlicensed users access to the spectrum dividend..."

The resolution rejects "a one-sided market model of spectrum management and urges the Commission to reform the system of spectrum management in such a way as to facilitate the coexistence of different types of licensing models, i.e. traditional administration, use without numerical restrictions and new, market-based approaches... [The] administrative method of allocating spectrum rights could be supplemented by Member States opening up more frequencies to unlicensed, and therefore possibly shared use, and by allowing spectrum trading, except for broadcasting frequencies, on condition that this opening up does not harm the continuity and quality of services concerned with public information and safety; ...spectrum management should not be based only on a market-driven approach but also needs to take into account wider social, cultural and political considerations; ...besides the market-based approach, attention should also be given to ensuring access to the spectrum market for everyone...."

The Parliament "is of the opinion that effects for smaller networks - especially local wireless networks - for which no license requirements currently apply must be taken into account and that universal access to broadband, especially in rural areas, should be promoted..."

The Parliament also found that "there could be more unrestricted use of spectrum. Where spectrum is unrestricted... a technological approach is taken to issues of interference i.e. the responsibility for avoiding interference lies with the users of the frequency who therefore must each come up with a design solution to avoid interference from other users and technologies. The unlicensed approach has tended to date to be used for frequencies on which short-range devices operate, but there is scope to extend its use..."

"With this balanced approach, although a substantial amount of spectrum would still be managed according to traditional methods, the unlicensed and tradable elements would facilitate a more dynamic and efficient use of spectrum..."

[Europe - 21 February 2007]