Split over when to use digital dividend
Divide over best use of spare radio spectrum.
Radio spectrum that will become available when analogue television is switched off at the end of 2012 should immediately be made available for broadband services, the European Commission will say on 20 September.
The end of analogue television at the end of 2012 will release the 800 MHz band, and the Commission believes that the spectrum, which is ideal for high-speed wireless services, should be in use by broadband providers on 1 January 2013.
However, this is two years earlier than a deadline suggested by member states.
In June, national officials in the EU’s radio spectrum policy group said that the freed-up spectrum – described as the ‘digital dividend’ – should be made available to the market by 2015 and even suggested that the deadline “may have to be postponed” in countries facing “exceptional national or local circumstances”.
However, Neelie Kroes, the European commissioner for the digital agenda, said in June that steps already undertaken by Germany, Italy and Spain to allocate the ‘digital dividend’ suggested there was a case for setting a pre-2015 deadline.
Technological advances
The Commission and member states want the spectrum to be allocated to wireless broadband communications, as they see it as a sector ripe for technological advances and also as a relatively cheap way to bring broadband to remote areas. The Commission sees particular potential in mobile broadband – internet access provided on smartphones and, via dongles, on computers.
The deadline will be set out in a proposal for a “radio spectrum policy programme” to be presented by the Commission for adoption by the European Parliament and by the Council of Ministers. The policy is intended in part to ensure that the reallocation of the spectrum does not become bogged down in technical issues, but also deals with competition issues.
A draft of the proposal, seen by European Voice, would require member states to takes steps to ensure that there is “effective competition” for access to spectrum, even, if necessary, barring dominant operators from buying more spectrum.
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The Commission was critical of the outcome of Germany’s auction – in April and May – of the 800 MHz band, as two-thirds of the spectrum was allocated to just two operators, Deutsche Telekom and Vodafone. These two companies already controlled two-thirds of the 900 MHz band, which can also be used for broadband services.
The European Competitive Telecommunications Association has echoed concerns about competition. Erzsebet Fitori, the association’s senior manager for regulatory affairs, said: “It is important that spectrum enabling high-speed mobile broadband is divided between operators in a fair and pro-competitive manner.”