EC: Move to Digital TV Makes Space for Wireless Broadband
As digital TV replaces analog TV in Europe over the next two to three years, four-fifths of the airwaves that used to carry the old TV signals will be freed up. This spectrum can then be used for wireless broadband access, advanced mobile applications, interactive TV and HDTV channels.
The European Commission (EC) sees a big opportunity to connect rural regions to the Internet, as the freed up spectrum could be used for delivering broadband access to areas not yet reached by landlines.
On Wednesday, the Commission set out plans for a coordinated distribution of spectrum that encourages investment and competition in these potential new services.
If the allocation of the newly freed airwaves to new services is coordinated across Europe it could give the economy a boost of EUR 20 to 50 billion, according to the EC.
The so-called “digital dividend” proposals adopted by the EC ask the EU member states to speed up the analog switch-off and to complete it by 1 January 2012. Finland, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Sweden and the U.S. have demonstrated that the analog switch-off can be done quickly.
The proposals also seek to realize the potential EUR 20 to 50 billion economic impact of effective European coordination of the digital dividend (over 15 years compared to EU countries acting alone).
The plans set out how one part of the freed-up spectrum, namely the 790-862 MHz sub-band (the spectrum that travels far and through buildings), can be set aside to support the emergence of wireless services (3G and 4G) that allow video streaming, full web browsing and fast downloads.
This will contribute to achieving the target of high-speed broadband coverage of 100% of the EU population by the end of 2013.
The Commission said it would harmonize the technical conditions for using the 790-862 MHz sub-band so that the EU market is not fragmented when EU countries open this band for new services.
Service providers and makers of devices and applications could do business across borders more easily, while consumers might find it easier to use roaming services when they travel. A similar approach laid the ground for the emergence of GSM phones in the 1990s.
In the first half of 2010, the Commission will seek the European Parliament’s and Council’s support on the road map, and further debate with existing and potential users of the spectrum on longer term issues before finalizing proposals.
In a similar development in the U.S., the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) granted an experimental license for the use of recently freed-up spectrum for wireless broadband use, lobbied for by an industry group including Dell, Google and Microsoft. Testing will soon begin on a local scale.
Read the EC press release.
Source: EC, Broadband Reports
