European Commission Reserves 800Mhz Bands for LTE and WiMAX Networks

Cellular News today reported that European Commission has Reserved 800Mhz Bands for LTE and WiMAX Networks. 800MHz band (also known as 790-862 MHz, channels 61 to 69 in UHF Bands IV and V) was previously used by analog broadcasting, and is particularly suitable for delivery of high-bandwidth services and indoor coverage.

Today's decision does not itself require Member States to make available the 790-862 MHz band for electronic communication services. However, the Commission is considering such a proposal in the forthcoming Radio Spectrum Policy Programme.

European Commission is supporting the use of the 790-862 MHz band 4G services and wants EU countries to act quickly.

In several Member States the 800 MHz frequencies are being freed up. The target date set by the EC for analog switch-off in EU member countries is 2012. Finland, Sweden, France, Switzerland, Germany, Spain and Denmark have already decided to release the whole of the 800 MHz band.

A 3GPP work item is currently under works to provide specification for "UMTS/LTE in 800 MHz for Europe" to provide support for LTE and UMTS with paired channel arrangement in the band 790-862 MHz.

Based on 3GPP work item the 790-862 MHz band is arranged as 2x30 MHz with 11 MHz duplex gap:

• FDD Uplink: 832 – 862 MHz
• FDD Downlink: 791 – 821 MHz