Digital dividend communication and recommandation

The Commission published a communication on "Transforming the digital dividend into social benefits and economic growth" and a recommandation on "Facilitating the release of the digital dividend in the European Union".

Currently, this is the status on the switchover:

- switch off completed:BE (Flanders) , DE, FI , LU, NL, SE
- switch-off date end 2010 or earlier: AT , DK, EE, ES, MT , SI
- switch-off before end 2012: BE (Brussels and Wallonia) , BG, CY, CZ, EL , FR, HU, IT, LT, LV, PT, RO, SK, UK
- switch-off after 2012 or no confirmed switch-off plans available: IE, PL

The Recommandation requires Member States to :

- take all the measures necessary to ensure that all terrestrial television broadcasting services use digital transmission technology and cease using analogue transmission technology on their territory by 1 January 2012;

- support regulatory efforts towards harmonised conditions of use in the Community of the 790-862 MHz sub-band for electronic communications services other than, and in addition to, broadcasting services, and refrain from any action that might hinder or impede the deployment of such communications services in that sub-band.

The Communication calls for strategic actions:

1 to decide, following a debate with the European Parliament and Council, whether and when all Member States should open the 790-862 MHz sub-band for uses other than high power broadcasting;

2 to adopt a common EU position, to be endorsed by the European Parliament and Council, in future international negotiations on the digital dividend;

3 to consider requiring all Member States to apply a minimum level of spectrum efficiency for future uses of the digital dividend.

4 to allow further increases by using the "white spaces", i.e. the unused spectrum between two TV coverage zones;

5 to ensure the smooth migration to other spectrum bands of existing applications operating in the same Ultra High Frequency spectrum as secondary uses, such as wireless microphones;

6 to facilitate research in order to improve future equipment's capability to use the digital dividend spectrum

Now, the Commission will define the harmonised technical conditions for the use of the 790-862 MHz sub-band for new services and conduct a debate with the European Parliament and the Council on its proposed strategic actions in view of a political agreement in 2010. The point 4 to 6 above will be further discussed with industry and consumer representatives.