TCCA welcomes new EC focus on digital communications as support for public safety spectrum

In his New Start for Europe document, President Juncker states: “.... we will need to have the courage to break down national silos in telecoms regulation, in copyright and data protection legislation, in the management of radio waves and in the application of competition law. … Enhancing the use of digital technologies and online services should become a horizontal policy, covering all sectors of the economy and of the public sector.”

Emergency services have an increasing demand for access to mobile broadband data services for their PPDR operations. The establishment of mission critical mobile broadband data services ideally requires a frequency band located below 1 GHz. An opportunity is opening at 700MHz. This band is today inter alia used by terrestrial broadcasting services, but is expected to be shared or ultimately fully re-allocated to mobile service at the World Radiocommunications Conference in November 2015 (WRC-15).

Jeppe Jepsen, Director of Broadband Spectrum for the TCCA said: “Mission-critical broadband services need spectrum to be effective. The PPDR community must not be put in a situation where they are competing with the mass market smartphone users for bandwidth to communicate.”

London School of Economics analysis of the use of mission critical broadband by emergency services has estimated a socioeconomic benefit for the use of 2x10MHz 700MHz of €20.98 billion p.a. that encompasses 60 per cent of the European population across 10 selected countries representing three regions. This figure is higher if it is extrapolated to cover the EU28 figure of 500 million people, yielding a socioeconomic benefit of €34.94 billion p.a.

The PPDR community, through the EU Council’s Law Enforcement Working Party (LEWP) has worked jointly with the spectrum regulator community (CEPT-ECC) and concluded in an ECC Report that a minimum of 2 x 10 MHz spectrum is required for mobile broadband data services, with additional spectrum required to implement voice services, Air Ground Air, Direct Mode Operation and ad hoc networks.

President Juncker also states: “Combating cross-border crime and terrorism is a common European responsibility. We need to crack down on organised crime, such as human trafficking, smuggling and cybercrime. We must tackle corruption; and we must fight terrorism and counter radicalization.”

To be successful, we must ensure our PPDR first responders are properly supported.