Implementing decision 2018/1538 - Harmonisation of radio spectrum for use by short-range devices within the 874-876 and 915-921 MHz frequency bands (notified under document C(2018) 6535) - Main contents

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 257/57

Short-range devices (SRDs) are typically mass-market and/or portable products which can easily be taken and used across borders. Differences in spectrum access conditions may prevent their free movement, increase their production costs and create risks of harmful interference with other radio applications and services due to unauthorised use. Commission Decision 2006/771/EC (2) harmonises the technical conditions for use of spectrum for a wide variety of short-range devices.

Decision No 243/2012/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council (3) requires Member States in cooperation with the Commission to foster, where appropriate, the collective use of spectrum as well as shared use of spectrum in order to improve efficiency and flexibility, and to seek to ensure spectrum availability for the ‘Internet of Things’ (IoT) including for radio-frequency identification (RFID). The technical conditions for using the 863-870 MHz frequency range for IoT including for RFID are covered by Decision 2006/771/EC, which sets the general harmonised technical conditions for using a wide variety of short-range devices which, as a result, are subject to no more than a general authorisation under national law. However, the sharing environment in the 874-876 MHz and 915-921 MHz bands deviates from this approach to spectrum for short-range devices and therefore calls for a specific regulatory regime.

On the basis of the permanent mandate issued in July 2006 to the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT) under Article 4(2) of Decision No 676/2002/EC to update the Annex to Decision 2006/771/EC to technological and market developments in the area of short-range devices, the Commission specifically asked the CEPT in July 2014, in its guidance letter for the corresponding sixth update cycle (RSCOM 13-78rev2), to examine the possibility of introducing short-range devices in the 870-876 MHz and 915-921 MHz bands while allowing national administrations some flexibility and protecting existing use of spectrum for public order and public security purposes and defence (such as unmanned aeronautical and ground vehicles, remote control and telemetry, tactical radio relays, tactical communication systems and data links) and railways.

In response, on 6 March 2017 the CEPT submitted an Addendum (RSCOM17-07) to its 17 July 2016 Report 59, which provides conclusions regarding the possibility of technically harmonised use of the 870-876 MHz and 915-921 MHz bands in order to enable the introduction of technically advanced RFID solutions as well as new short-range devices enabling new types of machine-to-machine and IoT applications. These machine-to-machine and IoT applications are based on networked short-range devices under the control of network access points which, as fixed network access points in a data network, act as a connection point for the other short-range devices in such a network to service platforms outside of that network by transferring data collected from terminal nodes under their control. These possibilities for harmonisation also take into account new opportunities in the 863-868 MHz band...