EC to harmonise radio frequencies for development of 5G

At the European level, on 24 January 2019 the European Commission announced the adoption of an amendment to Decision 2008/411/EC that will harmonise the radio spectrum in the 3.4-3.8 GHz. As the 3.6 GHz band has been identified as the primary band for 5G in the EU, the amendment has updated the technical conditions of this band of spectrum to better enable 5G. It is intended that this will better encourage the adoption of 5G services across the EU and is necessary to enable the roll-out of 5G technologies by the end of 2020, as required by the new EU Electronic Communications Code. As the amendment is based on the principle of "technology and service neutrality", mobile network operators will not be obliged to use this spectrum band only for 5G. The progressive deployment of 5G will depend on the other two pioneer bands in the EU, 700 MHz and 26 GHz, and on further spectrum in mm-wave bands. There is a similar harmonisation initiative underway for the pioneer 36GHz band and a UHF Decision (EU) 2017/899 that foresees the availability of the pioneer 700 MHz band across the EU by mid-2020. The Commission intends that radio spectrum will be better assigned and coordinated once the new EU Communications Code enters into force, enabling Europe to become a leader in the roll-out of 5G networks.