The EU's technical rules would ensure that radios, handsets and base stations – usually towering wireless antennas that carry cellular networks – would use an 800mhz spectrum band as a result of the "digital switchover" (see 'Background'), without any harmful interference caused to TVs and radios using the same bands, according to a statement from the EU executive.
Yesterday's decision stems from an EU consultation on the allocation of the 800 MHz band which is being freed up from its traditional analogue broadcasting function to accommodate popular digital services, especially in remote rural areas.
Interference fears remain
However, industry sources say they are unsure on what kind of empirical information or testing the Commission is basing yesterday's decision on.
"We have not seen any independent testing of this [harmful interference] done by the Commission," said one source.
Industry experts across the EU have been complaining that Brussels has not run enough tests to see how much interference could arise from crowding wireless and terrestrial services onto the same bands (EurActiv 07/04/10).
In Germany and in the Netherlands, experts have been warning that doling out spectrum to too many operators will cause more interference on televisions and radios.
"We are expecting massive interference on television and other receivers," Uwe Bärmann, chief technology officer at Germany's third largest cable operator, Kabel BW, said in an interview with the German press.
In the Netherlands, tests showed that there was a 90% chance of interference when an LTE mobile – a new and faster generation of mobile networks - was used at a distance of one metre from a television set.
Tests conducted in Germany reportedly showed little or no interference caused by mobile networks to cable television, though critics argue that the LTE mobile networks, believed to cause such interference, are not prevalent enough to test their full effects.
Meanwhile, an EU official told EurActiv that to accommodate every operator and every service, the EU needs to discuss what constitutes "tolerable interference".
In March, a report commissioned by the UK media regulator Ofcom investigated the possibility of interference from LTE handsets with digital terrestrial television, and concluded that the installation of high quality filters and aerial flyleads – additional cables - would resolve the majority of issues.
44bn euro boost
The Commission believes its new technical standards will not only facilitate greater use of wireless services, but could also boost the European economy by up to €44bn.
"This decision paves the way for implementation of innovative broadband technologies and for fast-growing demand for wireless services to be met," said Digital Agenda Commissioner Neelie Kroes.
A study conducted for the Commission found that an EU-coordinated spectrum policy would increase the potential economic impact of the digital dividend by between €17 and €44 billion.
