The European Commission has announced a new proposal, which could boost mobile internet performance across the whole of Europe.
It’s proposed freeing up spectrum in the 700 MHz band (694-790 MHz) for use with mobile services. Currently much of this spectrum is used for TV broadcasting, but it’s perfect for providing high-quality internet to people, whether they’re in urban or rural locations, as it offers both wide coverage and high speeds.
As such the Commission wants to reallocate it for use with high-speed mobile services and use bands below 700 MHz for TV, as these aren’t as useful for mobile data but are fine for audiovisual uses.
Günther H. Oettinger, Commissioner for the Digital Economy and Society, wants all European member states to make the change by 2020, in time for the roll out of 5G.
In fact, he believes it’s necessary for 5G, saying: “We cannot have high quality mobile internet for everything and for everyone everywhere unless we have modern infrastructure and modern rules.
“With this proposal we show that we can have both: a vibrant audiovisual sector as well as the spectrum we will need for 5G.
“The 700 MHz band will be ideal for new promising fields like connected driving and the Internet of Things. I want Europe to lead in 5G. That is why all Member States must act by 2020.“
By that deadline the European Commission expects mobile internet traffic to be eight times higher than it is today, so we’re going to need all the spectrum we can get. Having all EU countries using the same spectrum will also help reduce costs and make it faster and easier to develop services.
Andrus Ansip, Vice-President for the Digital Single Market, said: "28 different approaches to manage radio frequencies in the EU do not make economic sense in the Digital Single Market. Today we come with our first proposal on how to better coordinate spectrum in the EU.
“We propose a joint approach to use the 700 MHz band for mobile services. This band is the sweet spot for both wide coverage and high speeds. It will give top-quality internet access to all Europeans, even in rural areas, and pave the way for 5G, the next generation of communication network.
“At the same time, we secure frequencies for the audiovisual sector and boost the development of technologies which make an efficient use of radio waves. Spectrum is a scarce resource: we need to make the best of it."
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