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at the sitting of
Wednesday
24 September 2008
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Common approach to the use of the spectrum
released by the digital switchover
The European Parliament,
– having
regard to the Commission Communication of 13 November 2007 entitled Reaping the
full benefits of the digital dividend in Europe: A common approach to the use
of the spectrum released by the digital switchover (COM(2007)0700) (Commission
Communication on a common approach to the use of spectrum),
– having
regard to its resolution of 14 February 2007 entitled Towards a European policy
on the radio spectrum[1],
– having
regard to the Commission Communication of 29 September 2005 entitled EU
spectrum policy priorities for the digital switchover in the context of the
upcoming ITU Regional Radiocommunication Conference 2006 (RRC-06)
(COM(2005)0461),
– having
regard to the opinion of the Radio Spectrum Policy Group of 14 February 2007
entitled EU Spectrum Policy Implications of the Digital Dividend,
– having
regard to its resolution of 16 November 2005 on accelerating the transition
from analogue to digital broadcasting[2],
– having
regard to Rule 45 of its Rules of Procedure,
– having
regard to the report of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy and the
opinions of the Committee on Culture and Education, the Committee on Economic
and Monetary Affairs and the Committee on the Internal Market and Consumer
Protection (A6‑0305/2008),
A. whereas
the switchover from analogue to digital terrestrial television by the end of
2012 will, as a result of the superior transmission efficiency of digital
technology, free up a significant amount of spectrum in the European Union,
thus offering the possibility of reallocating spectrum and presenting new
opportunities for market growth and for the expansion of quality consumer services and choice,
B. whereas
the benefits of the use of radio spectrum will be maximised through coordinated
action at EU level in order to ensure optimal use in terms of efficiency,
C. whereas
radio spectrum is key to the provision of a wide range of services and to the
development of technology-driven markets whose value is estimated at 2,2 %
of the EU's GDP, and is therefore a key factor for the growth, productivity and
development of EU industry in accordance with the Lisbon Strategy,
D. whereas
radio spectrum is both a scarce natural resource and a public good, and its
efficient use is critical in ensuring access to spectrum by the various
interested parties that want to offer connected services,
E. whereas
a large part of the spectrum is currently used for military purposes under
analogue technology and therefore the large increase in the total amount of
spectrum in public will also include this part after the digital switchover,
F. whereas the Member States do not have a common timetable for the
digital switchover; whereas in many Member States plans for the digital switchover are
at an advanced stage, while in a few others the switchover has already taken
place,
G. whereas
the Commission Communication on a common approach to the use of the spectrum is
an integral part of the package on electronic communications adopted by the
Commission in November 2007 concerning the reform of the regulatory framework
for electronic communications,
H. whereas
the (re-)allocation of broadcast frequencies to digital broadcasters is
currently under way in many Member States, with the consequence that those
frequencies are being allocated and thereby locked away for many years,
I. whereas technological neutrality is key to the promotion of
interoperability and essential to a more flexible and transparent digital
switchover policy which takes into account the public interest,
J. whereas
the Council has called on the Member States to complete, as far as possible,
the digital switchover before 2012,
K. whereas all the Member States
have published their proposals concerning the digital switchover,
1. Recognises the importance of
the i2010 initiative as part of the renewed Lisbon Strategy, and emphasises the
importance of efficient access to and use of spectrum in achieving the Lisbon
goals; stresses, in this context, the need for access to broadband services in
order to overcome the digital divide;
2. Emphasises the need for
digital switchover which, together with the development of new information and
communication technologies and the digital dividend, will help to bridge the
digital divide and contribute to the achievement of the Lisbon goals;
3. Notes
the divergence in national regimes relating to spectrum allocation and
exploitation; notes that these differences may represent obstacles to the
achievement of an effectively functioning internal market;
4. Stresses
that the size of the digital dividend will vary from one Member State to
another, owing to national circumstances and reflecting national media and
audiovisual policies;
5. Recognises
that the increased spectrum efficiency of digital terrestrial television should
allow for around 100 MHz of digital dividend to be re-allocated to mobile
broadband and other services (such as public safety services, radio-frequency
identification and road safety applications) whilst ensuring that broadcasting
services can continue to flourish;
6. Notes
that most Member States today are lagging behind other developed countries
regarding investment in new generation communication infrastructures, and
stresses that achieving leadership in broadband and internet development is
crucial to the competitiveness and cohesion of the European Union in the
international arena, especially as regards the development of interactive
digital platforms and the provision of new services such as e-trade, e-health,
e-learning and e-government services; emphasises that greater investment should
be made at national and EU level to encourage the take-up of innovative
products and services; stresses that efforts to secure access to broadband
services should not be focused on the digital dividend alone;
7. Is
convinced that new multi-play packages, containing innovative technologies and
services, may soon be offered due to increased technological convergence, and
at the same time observes that the emergence of those offers depends crucially
on the availability of valuable spectrum as well as of new interactive
technologies enabling seamless interoperability, connectivity and coverage,
such as mobile multimedia technologies and broadband wireless access
technologies;
8. Notes
that technological convergence is a reality, offering traditional services new
means and opportunities; emphasises that access to the parts of the spectrum
that have previously been reserved for broadcasting can enable the emergence of
new services provided that the spectrum is managed as efficiently and
effectively as possible in order to avoid interference with the delivery of
high-quality digital broadcasting programmes;
9. Calls
for close cooperation among Member States to achieve an efficient, open and
competitive electronic communications internal market which will allow the
deployment of new network technologies;
10. Stresses
the strategic importance of an environment in the European Union where room for
innovation, new technologies, new services and new entrants is guaranteed in
order to enhance European competitiveness and cohesion; emphasises that it is
crucial to give end-users freedom of choice as regards products and services in
order to achieve the dynamic development of markets and technologies in the
European Union;
11. Emphasises
that the digital dividend provides the European Union with unique opportunities
to develop new services such as mobile television and wireless Internet access
and to remain a world leader in mobile multimedia technologies whilst bridging
the digital divide, providing new opportunities for citizens, services, media
and cultural diversity throughout the European Union;
12. Calls
on the Members States, whilst fully respecting their sovereignty in this
regard, to analyse the impact of the digital switchover on the spectrum used in
the past for military purposes, and, if appropriate, to reallocate part of that
specific digital dividend to new civilian applications;
13. Acknowledges
that coordination at EU level would encourage development, boost the digital
economy and allow all citizens affordable and equal access to the information
society;
14. Urges the Member States to release their
digital dividends as quickly as possible, allowing citizens of the Union to
benefit from the deployment of new, innovative and competitive services; emphasises
that, for this purpose, the active cooperation between Member States to
overcome obstacles existing at national level for the efficient (re)allocation
of the digital dividend is required;
15. Stresses
that broadcasters are essential actors in the defence of pluralistic and
democratic principles and strongly believes that that the opportunities offered
by the digital dividend will enable public and private broadcasters to provide
a much larger number of programmes serving general interest objectives – set
out in national legislation – such as the promotion of cultural and linguistic
diversity;
16. Believes
that the digital dividend should provide an opportunity for broadcasters to
develop and expand their services and at the same time to take into account
other potential social, cultural and economic applications, such as new and
open broadband technologies and access services designed to overcome the
digital divide, while not allowing interoperability barriers;
17. Underlines
the potential benefits of a coordinated approach to the usage of spectrum in the
European Union in terms of economies of scale, the development of interoperable
wireless services, and avoiding fragmentation which leads to a suboptimal use
of this scarce resource; considers that, while closer coordination and greater flexibility are
necessary for efficient exploitation of spectrum, the Commission and the Member
States need to strike an appropriate balance between flexibility and the degree
of harmonisation, with a view to deriving maximum benefit from the digital
dividend;
18. Observes
that efficient allocation of the digital dividend may be achieved without
hampering any of the players that currently hold spectrum licences in the
ultra-high frequency (UHF) band, and that the continuation and expansion of
current broadcasting services can be effectively achieved, at the same time
ensuring that new mobile multimedia and broadband wireless access technologies
are allocated substantial spectrum resources in the UHF band to bring new
interactive services to citizens of the Union;
19. Considers
that where auctions are used to allocate frequencies, Member States should
adopt a common approach as regards the conditions and methods of auction and
the allocation of the generated resources; calls on the Commission to present
guidelines along these lines;
20. Stresses that the main guiding principle in
the allocation of the digital dividend should be to serve the general interest
by ensuring the best social, cultural and economic value in terms of an
enhanced and geographically wider offer of services and digital content to
citizens, and not only to maximise public revenues, while also protecting the
rights of current users of audiovisual media services and reflecting cultural
and linguistic diversity;
21. Emphasises that the digital dividend
provides a unique opportunity for the European Union to develop its role as a
world leader in mobile multimedia technologies and at the same time to bridge
the digital divide with an increased flow of information, knowledge and
services connecting all citizens of the Union with each other and providing new
opportunities for media, culture and diversity in all areas of the territory of
the European Union;
22. Emphasises
that a way in which the digital dividend could help to achieve the Lisbon goals
is by increasing the availability of broadband access services to citizens and
economic players throughout the European Union, addressing the digital divide
by providing benefits in underprivileged, remote or rural areas and ensuring
universal coverage in the Member States;
23. Deplores
the uneven access of citizens of the Union to digital services, particularly in
broadcasting; notes that rural and peripheral regions are especially
disadvantaged (in terms of promptness, choice and quality) with regard to the
roll-out of digital services; urges Member States and regional authorities to
do everything in their power to ensure that the digital switchover is conducted
quickly and fairly for all their citizens;
24. Stresses
that the digital divide is not just a rural issue; highlights the difficulty in
fitting some older high-rise buildings with the infrastructure for new
networks; emphasises the benefit that spectrum can play in overcoming the
digital divide in both urban and rural areas;
25. Emphasises
the contribution that the digital dividend can make to the provision of
enhanced interoperable
social services, such as e-government, e-health, e-vocational training and e-education to citizens,
in particular those living in less favoured or isolated areas, such as rural and less developed
areas and islands;
26. Urges
the Member States to step up measures to enable disabled and elderly users and those
with special social needs to make the most of the benefits provided by the
digital dividend;
27. Confirms
the societal value of public safety services and the need to include support
for their operational requirements in the spectrum arrangements arising from
the reorganisation of the UHF band resulting from the switch-off of analogue
services;
28. Emphasises
that the main priority of the policy on reaping the full benefits of the
digital dividend in Europe is to ensure that consumers enjoy a very broad range
of high quality services, while their rights are fully respected, taking
account of the need to make effective use of the spectrum released by the digital
switchover;
29. Stresses
that the digital dividend provides new opportunities for audiovisual and media
policy objectives; is therefore convinced that
decisions on digital dividend management should promote and protect general
interest objectives linked to audiovisual and media policies such as freedom of
expression, media pluralism, cultural and linguistic diversity and the rights
of minors;
30. Encourages
Member States to recognise the social, cultural and economic value of
allowing unlicensed users access to the dividend, in particular small and
medium-sized enterprises and the not-for-profit sector, and thus increasing the efficiency of spectrum
use by concentrating such unlicensed uses in the currently unused frequencies
(white spaces);
31. Calls
for a step-by-step approach in this field; is of the opinion that effects for
smaller networks - especially local wireless networks - for which no licence
requirements currently apply must be taken into account and that universal
access to broadband, especially in rural areas, should be promoted;
32. Calls on Member States to
support enhanced cooperation measures between spectrum management authorities
to consider areas where unlicensed white space spectrum allocation would allow
new technologies and services to emerge so as to foster innovation;
33. Encourages Member States to
consider, in the context of allocating white space, the need for unlicensed
open access to spectrum for non-commercial and educational service providers
and local communities with a public service mission;
34. Stresses
that one of the key elements when seeking to provide access to the digital
dividend to unlicensed users is the need to take account of the needs of social
groups threatened with exclusion, particularly disabled and elderly users and
users with special social needs;
35. Recognises
the benefit of new technologies, such as WiFi and Bluetooth, that have emerged
in the unlicensed 2,4 GHz band; recognises that particular frequencies are best
suited to particular services; believes that allocating a small amount of
unlicensed spectrum in other lower frequencies could encourage yet more
innovation in new services;
36. Emphasises,
therefore, that frequencies should be assigned in a transparent manner, taking
into account all the potential uses for the new spectrum and their benefits to
society;
37. Encourages
the Member States to assess in detail the social and economic value of any
spectrum freed up in the years to come by the switchover from analogue to
digital broadcast;
38. Recognises
the importance of the ITU Geneva-06 Agreement (Regional Radio Communication
Conference 2006) and of the national frequency allocation plans as well as of
the decisions of the World Radio Communication Conference 2007 (WRC-07) to the
reorganisation of the UHF band;
39. Calls
on the Member States to develop, following a common methodology, national
digital dividend strategies by the end of 2009; urges the Commission to assist
Member States in the development of their national digital dividend strategies
and to promote best practice at EU level;
40. Emphasises
that the immediacy of switchover in some Member States and the differences in
national switchover plans require a response at Community level that cannot await
the entry into force of the amending directives;
41. Acknowledges
the right of Member States to determine their use of the digital dividend, but
also affirms that a coordinated approach at Community level greatly enhances
the value of the dividend and is the most efficient way to avoid harmful
interference between Member States and between Member States and third
countries;
42. Reiterates
that, in the interest of citizens of the Union, the digital dividend should be
managed as efficiently and effectively as possible in order to avoid
interference with the delivery of high quality digital TV programmes to an
increasing number of citizens and to respect consumers' rights and interests
and their investment in equipment;
43. Emphasises
that Member States may consider technology-neutral auctions for the purpose of
allocating frequencies that are liberated because of the digital dividend and
making those frequencies tradable; considers, however, that this procedure
should be in full compliance with ITU radio regulations, national frequency
planning and national policy objectives in order to avoid harmful interference
between services provided; warns of spectrum fragmentation which leads to the
suboptimal use of scarce resources; calls on the Commission to ensure that a
future coordinated spectrum plan will not create new barriers to future
innovation;
44. Supports
a common, balanced approach to the use of digital dividend, allowing both
broadcasters to continue offering and expanding their services and electronic
communications operators to use this resource to deploy new services addressing
other important social and economic uses, but stresses that in any event the
digital dividend should be allocated on a technology-neutral basis;
45. Stresses
that spectrum policy must be dynamic and must enable broadcasters and
communications operators to employ new technologies and develop new services,
allowing them to continue to play a key role in achieving the objectives of
cultural and media policy, while also providing new high-quality communications
services;
46. Stresses
the potential benefits in terms of economies of scale, innovation,
interoperability and the provision of potential pan-European services of more
coherent and integrated spectrum planning at Community level; encourages Member
States to work together and with the Commission to identify common spectrum sub-bands
of the digital dividend for different application clusters that could be
harmonised on a technology-neutral basis;
47. Believes
that clustering within the UHF band should be based on a 'bottom-up' approach
according to the specifics of the national markets while ensuring that
harmonisation at Community level takes places wherever this creates a clear
added value;
48. In
order to achieve a more efficient use of spectrum and to facilitate the
emergence of innovative and successful national, cross-border and pan-European
services, supports a coordinated approach at Community level, based on
different clusters of the UHF spectrum for uni-directional and bi-directional
services, taking into account the potential for harmful interference arising
from the co-existence of different types of networks in the same band, the
outcomes of the ITU Geneva RRC 06 and WRC 07 and the existing authorisations;
49. Considers
that the part of the harmonised spectrum at Community level dedicated to
emergency services should be capable of providing access to future broadband
technologies for the retrieval and transmission of information needed for the
protection of human life through a more efficient response on the part of the
emergency services;
50. Urges
the Commission to undertake, in cooperation with the Member States, the
appropriate technical, socio-economic and cost-benefit studies to determine the size and characteristics of the
sub-bands that could be coordinated or harmonised at Community level; recalls
that such
studies should take into account that the dividend is not static, but that
technological development is ongoing and implementation of new technologies
should allow the usage of the UHF band for new types of innovative social,
cultural and economic services beyond broadcasting and wireless broadband;
calls on the Commission to ensure that Member States contribute to such studies
in order to identify common bands to be harmonised at European level for
clearly defined and interoperable pan-European services, as well as for the
allocation of these bands;
51. Urges
the Commission to seek to cooperate with the countries neighbouring the Member
States so that they adopt similar frequency maps or coordinate the allocation
of their frequencies with the European Union, in order to avoid disruptions to
the operation of telecommunications applications;
52. Calls on the
Commission to conduct a study on conflicts between users of open source
software and certification authorities concerning software defined radios;
53. Calls on the
Commission to propose steps to reduce legal liabilities in the context of
wireless mesh network provision;
54. Calls
on the Commission to submit, as soon as the above-mentioned studies have been
completed, and having consulted both the Radio Spectrum Policy Group and the
European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations, and
taking due account of national specificities, a proposal to the European
Parliament and the Council for better coordination measures at Community level on the use
of the digital dividend, in accordance with internationally agreed frequency
plans;
55. Instructs
its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission and the
governments and parliaments of the Member States.
