EBU welcomes CEPT-approved report on the future of the UHF frequency band

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has given a welcome to a report by the Electronic Communications Committee of the CEPT, the regulatory body in the field of electronic communications in Europe, which points out some important principles to be applied to the future use of UHF frequencies.

The Electronic Communications Committee of the CEPT has approved a new Report 224 on a ‘Long term vision for the UHF broadcasting band’. This is the main outcome of the CEPT study of the future use of UHF frequencies, with a focus on the 470-694 MHz band.

This report is consistent with the report by Pascal Lamy and the draft RSPG Opinion on a long-term strategy for the future use of the UHF band (470-790 MHz) in the European Union. These are some of the key documents in the European preparations for the WRC-15 and the next Radio Spectrum Policy Programme.

EBU director of Technology & Innovation Simon Fell said: “We are pleased that the new ECC Report 224 clearly demonstrates the importance of the UHF band for the provision of free-to-air TV services and the vital role of the terrestrial broadcasting platform (DTT) in Europe.

“We trust that the European spectrum regulators will ensure a sufficient amount of radio spectrum to remain available for DTT in the forseeable future,” he said.

The report covers some of the key regulatory and policy issues and touches upon some of the relevant developments in technology, services and user behaviour. While it identifies a number of possible future scenarios, the report does not make any recommendations for the future use of the UHF band.

However, it does recognise that this frequency band is essential for the delivery of audiovisual services, and concludes that more flexibility may be needed in the regulatory environment to allow for varied use in different countries that require it.