Tag: Radio spectrum

The top radio frequencies freed by technological updates should be devoted to new services, such as wireless Internet and high-definition mobile offers, rather than being allocated to extra broadcasting uses, the European Commission will propose today (28 October).

EU telecoms ministers meeting at the end of November are moving towards rejecting European Commission proposals to reform the fast-changing world of electronic communications, EurActiv has learned.

Half of the radio spectrum freed by the switchover from analogue to digital should be allocated to mobile and telephone operators by 2010 to provide broadband internet to rural areas, Information Society Commissioner Viviane Reding suggested to EU telecommunications ministers gathered in Luxembourg yesterday.

Police, fire-fighters and hospitals have joined an EU-wide battle to secure chunks of radio frequencies - made available by the move towards the digital era - for their own services, in a move that contradicts the Commission's more market-driven and flexible approach.

Football fans everywhere may discover a new way to enjoy the next European Championships just by looking at the screen of their own mobile phones. The European Commission hopes that mobile television will finally take off in Europe, driven by the summer's sport, but uncertainty still dominates.

While the Commission's proposals to introduce more competition into the telecoms sector are fuelling a lively and open-ended debate, almost equally fed by supporters and critics, the plan for a new European regulatory authority seems destined to fail due to an increasingly evident lack of support.

To promote the development and take-up of new wireless advanced mobile data and multimedia services, the Commission is set to repeal the current GSM Directive that prevents the coexistence of more advanced technologies on its frequencies.