WGRR Meeting The Hague, The Netherlands, 2 - 5 February 1999

The Working Group considered the following subjects:

• Conformity Assessment matters R& TTE directive
• Consequences of the R&TTE directive for the non-EEA countries and the CEPT output documents
• Maritime issues Licensing and free circulation
• PMR Meteor burst
• One Stop Shopping for satellite networks
• Spectrum pricing Enforcement Radio Amateurs
• UMTS WRC-2000
• Green Paper on radio spectrum policy ERO reports

Conformity Assessment matters

ERC/DEC/(97)10 regime has been functional for about a year and the number of notified certificates is approaching 100 (typically PMR, SRD and GSM base station equipment) about evenly shared between TAC in Finland and RA in UK. (see database on type approved equipment on the ERO website).

Concerning standardised Application and Test Report Forms RR9 will continue to finalise the forms in the "pipeline", when contributions from ETSI are received.

However ETSI is requested to take over the preparation and publication of these forms in the future, for the R&TTE Directive regime, if the industry sees there is a need for this work, i.e. considers such forms would facilitate their internal testing or having tests performed by commercial laboratories;

WGRR approved an update of Appendix 2 to ERC Report 12 for a number of new ERC Decisions on the implementation of standards including new equipment identification markings for these and has also added some consequential changes to keep it in line with amendments to ERC/REC 70-03.

R& TTE directive

The representative of the Commission informed WG RR about the recent developments regarding the R&TTE Directive.

The R&TTE Directive is on the agenda of the European Parliament on the ninth of February. The Directive was already adopted by the Council. It is expected that the Directive will come into force from March 2000. The first TCAM meeting will be on the 14th of April 1999.

Report from AHG A

Mr. Bert van Dijk, Chairman of the ad hoc group on market surveillance reported the outcome of the group. The group has prepared three important documents. The first document contains a proposal for designing a framework for market surveillance co-operation between Member States. It is suggested that this co-operation can operate under the "umbrella" of ERC. It should be open to all Member States and CEPT administrations. Participation of other organisations (industry or notified bodies) will be considered. An electronic information system for exchange of market surveillance and enforcement information in the Community should also be considered as part of the MS - co-operation.

The representative of the Commission informed that market surveillance is a responsibility of the Member States. It is therefore up to the Member States to organise the platform of market surveillance. However, the EC has to control the effectiveness of market surveillance and evaluate the co-operation of the Member States.

The EC is willing to assist the group in advice and/or funding for e.g. the costs of an electronic information notification system. The co-operation can be done under responsibility of Member States, which also implies a role for the ERC.

The second proposal contains an overview of the consequences of the R&TTE Directive for Member States. The Administrations, responsible for the R&TTE Directive, are at different stages of readiness for the new Directive, particularly in respect to market surveillance. In some member countries market surveillance is already in place but in others, little or no work has been done in this area.

A draft recommendations for a "One-stop electronic notification procedure for non-harmonised radio equipment", also called the OSEN system, for the AHG A. These recommendations contain procedures for the notification of non harmonised radio equipment and possible creation of a database. It is expected that more than 10.000 notifications per year will be done in the Community.

It was agreed in AHG-A that the ERO is a serious candidate to develop and maintain information systems, such as OSEN and the system for market surveillance, assuming that the EC does not intend to undertake these tasks themselves. A feasibility study for the detailed requirements for (central) electronic system was recommended and should start immediately. The one-stop electronic notification system for non-harmonised radio equipment and (radio) interfaces should be realised before the R&TTE Directive will enter into force.

Report from AHG-B

The Chairman of AHG-B, Mr. Lindfors, reported on the work done. AHG-B has considered equipment classification from the point of deciding whether the equipment shall bear the alert symbol signalling that there are restrictions for taking into use of the equipment. There remains further work to advise the Commission on how to establish the equivalence of the notified Radio Interfaces. In the discussion the Commission representative confirmed that on the basis of art. 4.1 a more elaborate classification need not lead to as many Equipment Class Identifiers in the marking system as there may be Equipment Classes.

Notification of the regulated interfaces in the sense of art. 4.1 of the R&TTE Directive, which for radio equipment have been interpreted to mean Radio Interfaces has been the other important task of AHG-B. At least part of this information is already available in electronic form in the national frequency allocation tables as a result of implementing ERC/DEC/(97)01. For the purposes of the R&TTE Directive this information may not be sufficient. AHG-B has prepared a draft list of information elements that are needed to define a Radio Interface in the allocation tables as follows:

Concerning information to the user Mr. Lindfors reported that there is a draft proposal for the special radio issues, which still needs to be discussed further.

AHG-B had considered the question of what are frequency bands the use of which is not harmonised for the purposes of art. 6.4 notification. AHG-B recommends to start the procedure with a rather broad scope by excluding only radio equipment placed on the market on the basis of the present TTE&SES Directive (98/13/EC).

WG RR concluded that the organisation of an R&TTE workshop intended for administrations and market surveillance authorities might be helpful for the smooth implementation of the R&TTE Directive.

Consequences of the R&TTE directive for the non-EEA countries and the CEPT output documents

Documents were discussed, which explain the difficulties to be encountered by non-EU countries as a consequences of the R&TTE Directive.

The introduction of the R&TTE Directive will lead to the need to revise the existing MRAs. In fact, market access from 3rd countries (non-EEA countries) to the EEA countries would be easier by following the R&TTE Directive instead of following the MRA procedure. Further it was noted that an MRA with Associated Member Countries cannot be negotiated because for these countries, problems with respect to mutual recognition will be covered by PECA (Protocol to European Agreement on European Conformity Assessment). However, the PECA has not yet been approved or signed. Without an approved PECA the implementation of R&TTE Directive principles will not be possible.

WG RR concluded that the R&TTE Directive will change the landscape of conformity assessment and market access to such an extent that not only the administrations of the EU and EEA Member States but also the Administrations of EU Associated States as well as other CEPT Administrations will have to change their actual conformity assessment regulation accordingly.

Work, therefore, needs to be undertaken to:

It was proposed that a Special Group should be created to redefine the relation between non-EEA and EEA countries as a consequence of the R&TTE Directive.

Mr. Schmid Ding (Switzerland) agreed to start the work and chair the group until ERC would consider the proposal and make any decisions on how to proceed.

Maritime issues

The meeting approved the draft ERC Decision on the AIS channels in the maritime VHF band. The meeting decided on some modifications and adopted the draft Decision for submission to the ERC.

A draft ERC Recommendation concerning the content of certificates issued by administrations for the GOC and ROC was approved and will be circulated for comments to administrations.

Licensing and free circulation

Mr. Rieder, Chairman of RR6 informed about the progress of the project team.

RR6 identified a number of subjects for further work. The following elements were proposed as a draft action plan: Create a list of further equipment qualifying for licensing exemption, such as: VSAT SNG UMTS Amateur radio, requirement for Morse code, Call for information from industry to get their ideas and priorities Ask administrations to present a list of equipment which is already exempted nationally Mutual recognition of licences Electronic licensing

It was decided to establish a liaison with the Satellite Action Plan, Regulatory Working Group as well as the VSAT Forum because the satellite industry requested on several occasions further investigation of possibilities for harmonisation of licences. The R&TTE Directive might also put pressure on the need for harmonisation of licences and the work of the EU Licensing Committee should be monitored.

A draft ERC Decision on Exemption from individual Licensing of Satellite Interactive Terminals was discussed. A liaison statement from WGSE referred to a study being carried out by WG SE on the protection requirements of aircraft avionics in close proximity to airports and glide paths. This study is expected to be finalised by May 1999. WG SE mentioned also the fact that the standard had not yet been published by ETSI and that the possibility existed that possible changes might have an impact on the Decision.

In order not to delay the final adoption of the Decision by ERC, WG RR decided to adopt the Decision and forward it to ERC for approval at the earliest possible time.

UMTS

The meeting discussed the draft ERC Decision on the harmonised utilisation of spectrum for terrestrial UMTS operating in the bands 1900 - 1980 MHz, 2010 - 2025 MHz and 2110 - 2170 MHz that was prepared by ERC TG1. WG RR was requested to review the regulatory elements of the Decision.

Opinions were expressed that in order to implement harmonised licensing regime for the self-provided self-co-ordinated applications, the frequency band for these applications should be harmonised.

The WG RR discussion showed that most administrations were not able to give a formal opinion regarding the proposed licence regime for this category of applications in their country. WG RR will come back to this issue at a further meeting with a view to prepare a licensing regime for the self-provided applications.

It was further proposed to TG1 not to insert licensing elements into this Decision.

Regulatory developments concerning global circulation of IMT-2000 terminals

Mr. Krassowski (Poland) and Mr. Länsman (Finland) introduced a document containing information on the regulatory developments concerning global circulation of IMT-2000 terminals. A draft document formulating a road map for ERC activities in this area has been developed by ERC/TG-1/WG-2 and is subject to TG-1 approval at a meeting in late February 1999.

It was noted that there is WG RR activity foreseen in this area in future. The meeting endorsed the importance of this issue and expressed support for this activity of ERC/TG-1.

PMR

The PMR Group had held two meetings. It had been decided to undertake the work in two phases:

Considerable progress had been made on the first phase. Information was requested from all Administrations and questionnaires would be sent out.

Meteor burst

A presentation on Meteor Burst Applications operating in 39 MHz band was given. The system provides low speed data transmission by using meteor scatter reflections for delivering the signal to the recipient. The Group noted that studies concerning frequency bands suitable for this system and compatibility issues had been completed by WGFM and WGSE respectively.

WG RR identified regulatory work to be conducted in connection with Meteor Burst Applications, which includes type approval, free circulation and licence exemption of terminals. These items were included in the work programme.

One Stop Shopping for satellite networks

The Chairman introduced the report of the SAT OSS SIG. The report contains a proposed OSS procedure for all satellite licences, except the space segment, which is subject to ITU procedures. The procedure had been presented at the previous ERC meeting and the SIG was requested to reconsider the implementation scheme and to propose a more gradual implementation of the OSS, starting with a database of satellite regulations, then a common application form and finally the operation of a shop. The report was also discussed with the European Commission during the Plenary of the Satellite Action Plan Group. The Chairman informed the meeting that the industry and the EC criticised the report insofar that a OSS would have to be more then just a mailbox, and might be a procedure similar to the Milestone Review Committee. The shop would judge the application on the basis of national provisions and would directly advise administration whether the licence could be granted or not.

Chairman informed WG RR that the EC expressed concern about the realisation of the OSS and that the EC will put their own proposal for an OSS to the next OSS meeting. Furthermore OSS would be a major subject at the next meeting of the Licensing Committee (17th February 1999).

Spectrum Pricing

Mrs Jeanty (Chairman RR8) presented the report of the project team. After finalisation of ERC Report 53, RR8 is now working on a report giving an analysis of the practical application of spectrum pricing, including incentive pricing in the CEPT and other countries. A first draft of the ERC Report would be presented at the next WGRR meeting.

Enforcement

The Chairman of RR11, Mr. Bert van Dijk, presented a progress report of RR11. A questionnaire related to Enforcement/market Surveillance was sent out to all CEPT Administrations in order to identify the different stages of enforcement in the member countries. A summary of conclusions was prepared. The collected information is also very useful for the subgroup responsible for preparing a report of Enforcement/Market Surveillance and for the subgroup on Central Information Exchange.

RR11 has developed a first draft of an ERC Report on Inspection of Radio Equipment, including Common Measurement Protocols as a guidance for Inspection of Radio Stations. The scope of the report is at the moment focused on PMR equipment only, however it was decided to consider also other radio equipment such as maritime equipment or (new) satellite radio equipment. Some suggestions for further additions were made and administrations were requested to give contributions to the chairman of PT11.

A draft Recommendation proposed by "WGFM/PT22 on Spectrum Monitoring" related to "Model Cross Border Agreement on Radio Monitoring" to assist a better co-operation was received from WGFM and noted.

Radio Amateurs

A correction to the application from the Netherlands Antilles to T/R 61-01 was noted. In this application the call sign should be amended to PJ3.

Luxembourg indicated that they had implemented T/R 61-02.

During the meeting France announced that they had implemented T/R 61-02 some time ago.

Switzerland remarked that Swiss radio amateurs still experienced problems when trying to make use of the HAREC system in France.

There was no progress to report on the negotiations with the USA regarding T/R 61-01 or on the assumed FCC proposal for an international amateur radio examination.

Mr Länsman (Finland) draw attention to the fact that a number of amateur issues figured on the agenda of WRC2002. Since interesting contributions were already prepared for these agenda items, care should be taken that these issues are kept on the agenda. RR6 will take the issues on board.

Mr. John Bazley, representative of the IARU informed WG RR that the IARU is in the process of producing a statement concerning their position on article S25 of the Radio Regulations. The IARU will forward their position to WG RR for consideration.

WRC-2000

Mr Länsman Chairman RR2 informed the meeting about RR2 activities with regard to WRC-2000 preparations. A draft ECP and draft CEPT brief have been prepared on WRC-2000 agenda item 1.7. The ECP and brief have been submitted to CPG PT4.

It was agreed that each WGRR Project Team should look at the preliminary agenda of WRC-2002 and submit ideas to CPG.

Green Paper on radio spectrum policy

The Chairman introduced the Green Paper on radio spectrum policy and the Draft CEPT response to the Green Paper. Some administrations expressed mixed feelings regarding the Green Paper. In general it was felt that the questions were written in a rather suggestive tone as if the EC is expecting or hoping for certain type of answers. Further it was felt that the EC is looking for more decision making power with respect to frequency policy in Europe.

The importance of administration attending the special ERC/ECTRA meeting in Paris on the 9th of February to finalise the CEPT response to the Green Paper was emphasised.

It was agreed that the RR views would be passed to the meeting next week.

ERO Reports

Mrs Jeanty reported on the progress with regard to certain ERO reports prepared for the European Commission: The second interim report on the study on Harmonisation of Free Circulation between Regional Telecommunications Organisations was circulated to the WG RR distribution list last week.

Comments to this report are very welcome and can be made preferably until end of February.

It is the intention to issue a draft final report by that time and a final one end March. The draft final report on Conformity Assessment procedures within the CEE countries will be sent to the RR distribution list next week.

Comments, especially from the CEE countries are very welcome during February and first half of March.

The final report is intended to be issued end of March.

Date and place of the next meeting

The next meeting will be in Antalya (Turkey) on 3 - 7 May 1999 on the kind invitation of the Turkish Administration.

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