PPDR community cautiously welcomes European UHF report

The European public protection and disaster relief (PPDR) community has given a cautious welcome to the recommendations in the High Level Group (HLG) report made to the European Commission on the future use of the 470-790 MHz UHF band.

In a statement released by the TETRA and Critical Communications Association (TCCA), the PPDR community say it concurs with the report’s finding that the re-allocation of the 700 MHz band for mobile services throughout the EU is the desirable way forward.

The statement adds that this will ensure capacity for mobile broadband services, in light of steadily rising demand, while serving Europe’s broadband coverage targets and delivering the benefits of global economies of scale.

These mobile services include the PPDR broadband services that are critical to ensuring the safety of the public.

“Available and harmonised UHF frequencies for the emergency services across Europe is a prerequisite for the effective functioning of this vital sector, not only nationally but also cross-borders,” said TCCA Chairman Phil Godfrey. “Disasters, man-made or natural, do not confine themselves to convenient geographic regions.”

“Secured and reliable communication is the most important tool that emergency services need when they are on mission serving the European citizens,” agreed Public Safety Communication Europe Forum (PSCE) President Harold Linke. “In the PSCE Forum, PPDR users for several years [have expressed] their need for European-wide harmonised UHF frequencies to allow a better cooperation between the services of all EU member states.

“The 700 MHz band under discussion will be the only chance [in the next 20 years] for a whole generation to accomplish this. We should not forget that all European citizens count on the effectiveness of their emergency services when the next disaster strikes.”

Harmonisation the objective

Although PPDR services are not referenced anywhere in the report, the requirements of the European PPDR community have been clearly stated elsewhere, including through the EU Council’s Law Enforcement Working Party (LEWP) working jointly with the spectrum regulator community (CEPT-ECC).

The conclusion, in ECC Report 199, is that a minimum of 2 x 10 MHz spectrum is required for critical mobile broadband data services.

The harmonisation of frequency spectrum for PPDR is a declared policy objective of the European Union and the only place where that will be possible the next 20 years is within the 700 MHz band.

The vast majority of government officials dealing with public safety matters in the EU see use of the 700 MHz band as the best way to achieve this.

“The PPDR community is arguably already at the point where data (as well as voice) is deemed ‘mission critical’. This requirement will only grow over the next few years, and additional spectrum will be needed to support that growth," said British APCO President Sue Lampard.

“The 700 MHz bandwidth is ideal for PPDR needs in terms of coverage over large areas and in buildings. Release of 2 x 10 MHz will provide additional capacity required. Additionally, the opportunity for harmonisation to allow cross-border interoperability should not be missed.”

“The arguments for allocating dedicated spectrum to the PPDR community are compelling and now is the time to make the necessary policy decision,” said European Emergency Number Association Deputy Executive Director Tony O’Brien. “The PPDR community and the citizens they serve need to have the necessary infrastructural tools to react more effectively and efficiently. This is an opportunity we cannot afford to miss.”

The LEWP position paper, from the LEWP Greece presidency, clearly indicates the unanimously agreed preference by all member states for the 700 MHz band.

HLG Chairman Pascal Lamy states in his report: “I believe there is already one lesson learned on the future use of the 700 MHz band in Europe - this process has been influenced by developments outside Europe, namely the emergence of a globally significant band plan from stakeholders in the Asia-Pacific region as well as a concerted effort of some African and Middle Eastern states at WRC-12 to obtain the co-primary allocation of this band to the mobile service in the whole ITU Region 1.

“It can hardly be imagined that Europe would agree on an alternative long-term option for the 700 MHz band, which would be more beneficial for its digital economy and society, other than adopting mobile usage in line with the aforementioned band plan.”

Benefits outweigh commercial considerations

Asia-Pacific nations, the Middle East and the US have already allocated dedicated spectrum for PPDR at 700 MHz.

The TCCA says a united community within the field of public safety and emergency services is key to ensuring the future safety of frontline officers, which can only be achieved by allocating spectrum for PPDR in Europe within the 700 MHz band.

The business case for PPDR spectrum is strong. London School of Economics analysis of the use of mission-critical broadband by emergency services has estimated a substantially better socioeconomic benefit for this purpose than if the 2 x 10 MHz in the 700 MHz band are auctioned for commercial use.

The socioeconomic benefit is estimated to be more than €20 billion pa, relating to 60% of the European population across 10 selected countries representing three regions.

This figure is higher if it is extrapolated to cover the EU-28 figure of 500 million people, yielding a socioeconomic benefit of €34.94 billion pa.

“Without state-of-the-art mission-critical communications, we will not meet the challenges of future major disastrous events,” said Federation of the European Union Fire Officer Associations President Dieter Nuessler. “The population will have to pay the toll if government policy neglects the needs of those organisations dedicated to helping people in distress.”