European Commission makes additional radio spectrum available for 4G services

The Commission said that 120MHz of frequency band that has been traditionally used for the delivery of 3G services should be utilised for the delivery of 4G services.

"The Decision makes it mandatory for Member States to open the relevant spectrum by 30 June 2014 at the latest, and lays down harmonised technical conditions to allow coexistence between different technologies," the Commission said in a statement. "On this basis the EU will enjoy up to twice the amount of spectrum for high speed wireless broadband as in the United States, namely around 1000 MHz."

"The Commission's decision means mobile operators will have more opportunities to invest in improved mobile networks, which benefits the whole economy, and consumers will, over time, enjoy faster data transfers and more broadband services," it added.

The term '4G' is generally used to refer to mobile broadband services delivered using the next generation of mobile broadband technologies; including Long Term Evolution (LTE) and WiMAX. LTE technical standards make more efficient use of radio spectrum, which makes them ideally suited for the high bandwidth data services including video streaming, social networking and GPS and mapping services used by smartphones and laptops.

The "paired terrestrial 2 GHz band" that the Commission is ordering all EU member states to make available for 4G covers the 1920-1980 MHz and 2110-2170 MHz frequencies. This "harmonised liberalisation" will avoid "internal market fragmentation in the future use of this band," the Commission said. It said that 4G technologies are "increasingly capable of offering 30 Mbps to many users at the same time" and can therefore give consumers "access to high speed broadband at competitive prices."

"This extra spectrum for 4G in Europe means we can better meet the changing and growing demand for broadband," European Commission vice president Neelie Kroes said. "I want to see Member States acting swiftly to change existing licenses. We all win from faster wireless connections in Europe."

The Commission said that even more spectrum may be made available for the provision of 4G services at a later date.

"The Commission is also considering a follow-up measure on the unpaired terrestrial 2 GHz spectrum (1900-1920 MHz and 2010-2025 MHz) which is currently allocated to use by UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) networks but remains unused throughout the EU," it said. "Such an initiative will aim at ensuring efficient use of the unpaired bands that is most beneficial from an economic, social and environmental point of view by considering alternative applications to terrestrial mobile broadband and taking into account existing rights of use."

"In this regard, the Commission has already issued a Mandate to CEPT (European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations) to study suitable applications and develop appropriate technical conditions and sharing arrangements," the Commission added.