2012/688/EU: Commission Implementing Decision of 5 November 2012 on the harmonisation of the frequency bands 1920 - 1980 MHz and 2110 - 2170 MHz for terrestrial systems capable of providing electronic communications services in the Union (notified under document C(2012) 7697) Text with EEA relevance
Data as of 2026-07-04 · Compiled from an official source version. Later amendments or repeals may not be reflected; the official text prevails. · Read the official text ↗
This Decision aims at harmonising the conditions for the availability and efficient use of the frequency bands 1 920-1 980 MHz and 2 110-2 170 MHz (hereafter ‘the paired terrestrial 2 GHz band’) for terrestrial systems capable of providing electronic communications services in the Union.
1. By 30 June 2014 at the latest, or whenever applying Article 9a of Directive 2002/21/EC at an earlier date to an existing right or issuing new rights to use part or all of the paired terrestrial 2 GHz band, Member States shall designate and make available, on a non-exclusive basis, the paired terrestrial 2 GHz band for terrestrial systems capable of providing electronic communications services, in compliance with the parameters set out in the Annex. 2. By way of derogation from paragraph 1 and pursuant to Article 4(5) of Decision No 676/2002/EC, Member States may request transitional periods that may include radio spectrum sharing arrangements and that shall expire by 24 May 2016 at the latest. 3. Member States shall ensure that the systems referred to in paragraph 1 give appropriate protection to systems in adjacent bands. 4. Member States shall facilitate cross-border coordination agreements with the aim of enabling the operation of the systems referred to in paragraph 1, taking into account existing regulatory procedures and rights.
Member States shall keep the use of the paired terrestrial 2 GHz band under scrutiny and report their findings to the Commission to allow regular and timely review of this Decision.
This Decision is addressed to the Member States.
ANNEX PARAMETERS REFERRED TO IN ARTICLE 2(1) The technical conditions presented in this Annex are in the form of frequency arrangements and block-edge masks (BEMs). A BEM is an emission mask that is defined, as a function of frequency, relative to the edge of a block of spectrum for which rights of use are granted to an operator. It consists of in-block and out-of-block components which specify the permitted emission levels over frequencies inside and outside the licensed block of spectrum, respectively. The BEM levels are built up by combining the values listed in the tables below in such a way that the limit at any frequency is given by the highest (least stringent) value of (a) the baseline requirements, (b) the transition requirements, and (c) the in-block requirements (where appropriate). The BEMs are presented as upper limits on the mean equivalent isotropically radiated power (EIRP) or total radiated power (TRP) ( 1 ) over an averaging time interval, and over a measurement frequency bandwidth. In the time domain, the EIRP or TRP is averaged over the active portions of signal bursts and corresponds to a single power control setting. In the frequency domain, the EIRP or TRP is determined over the measurement bandwidth specified in point B(2), Tables 1, 2 and 3 ( 2 ) . In general, and unless stated otherwise, the BEM levels correspond to the aggregate power radiated by the relevant device including all transmit antennas, except in the case of baseline and transition requirements for base stations, which are specified per antenna. BEMs shall be applied as an essential component of the technical conditions necessary to ensure coexistence between services at national level. However, it should be understood that the derived BEMs do not always provide the required level of protection of victim services and additional mitigation techniques would need to be applied in a proportionate manner at national level in order to resolve any remaining cases of interference, also with respect to adjacent bands. Member States shall also ensure that operators of terrestrial systems capable of providing electronic communications services can use less stringent technical parameters than those set out below in points A, B and C provided that the use of these parameters is agreed among all affected parties and that these operators continue to comply with the technical conditions applicable for the protection of other services, applications or networks and with obligations resulting from cross-border coordination. Equipment operating in this band may also make use of power limits other than those set out below provided that appropriate mitigation techniques are applied which comply with Directive 1999/5/EC and which offer at least an equivalent level of protection to that provided by these technical parameters. A. General parameters Within the paired terrestrial 2 GHz band, the frequency arrangement shall be as follows: (1) The duplex mode of operation shall be Frequency Division Duplex (FDD). The duplex spacing shall be 190 MHz with terminal station transmission (FDD uplink) located in the lower part of the band starting at 1 920 MHz and finishing at 1 980 MHz and base station transmission (FDD downlink) located in the upper part of the band starting at 2 110 MHz and finishing at 2 170 MHz. (2) The spectrum block edge nearest to 1 920 MHz starts at 1 920,3 MHz or above ( 3 ) . The spectrum block edge nearest to 1 980 MHz ends at 1 979,7 MHz or below ( 4 ) . The spectrum block edge nearest to 2 110 MHz starts at 2 110,3 MHz or above ( 5 ) . The spectrum block edge nearest to 2 170 MHz ends at 2 169,7 MHz or below ( 6 ) . Base station and terminal station transmission within the paired terrestrial 2 GHz band shall be in compliance with the BEMs in this Annex. B. Technical conditions for FDD base stations (1) In-block requirements An in-block EIRP limit for base stations is not obligatory. However, Member States may set an EIRP limit of between 61 dBm/5 MHz and 65 dBm/5 MHz in the FDD downlink band, noting that this limit can be increased for specific deployments, e.g. in areas of low population density provided that this does not significantly increase the risk of terminal station receiver blocking. (2) Out-of-block requirements Table 1 Baseline requirements — base station BEM out-of-block EIRP limits per antenna ( 7 ) Frequency range of out-of-block emissions of FDD downlink Maximum mean out-of-block EIRP Measurement bandwidth Frequencies spaced more than 10 MHz from the lower or upper block edge 9 dBm 5 MHz Table 2 Transition requirements — base station BEM out-of-block EIRP limits per antenna ( 8 ) Frequency range of out-of-block emissions of FDD downlink Maximum mean out-of-block EIRP Measurement bandwidth –10 to –5 MHz from lower block edge 11 dBm 5 MHz –5 to 0 MHz from lower block edge 16,3 dBm 5 MHz 0 to +5 MHz from upper block edge 16,3 dBm 5 MHz +5 to +10 MHz from upper block edge 11 dBm 5 MHz C. Technical conditions for FDD terminal stations Table 3 In-block requirements — terminal station BEM in-block emission limit over frequencies of FDD uplink Maximum mean in-block power ( 9 ) 24 dBm ( 10 ) Member States may relax the limit set out in Table 3 for specific deployments, e.g. fixed terminal stations in rural areas provided that protection of other services, networks and applications is not compromised and cross-border obligations are fulfilled. ( 1 ) TRP is a measure of how much power the antenna actually radiates. The TRP is defined as the integral of the power transmitted in different directions over the entire radiation sphere. EIRP and TRP are equivalent for isotropic antennas. ( 2 ) The actual measurement bandwidth of the measurement equipment used for purposes of compliance testing may be smaller than the measurement bandwidth provided in the tables. ( 3 ) Member States may decide to reduce this frequency to 1 920,0 MHz for consistency with conditions of existing authorisations. ( 4 ) Member States may decide to increase this frequency to 1 980,0 MHz for consistency with conditions of existing authorisations. ( 5 ) Member States may decide to reduce this frequency to 2 110,0 MHz for consistency with conditions of existing authorisations. ( 6 ) Member States may decide to increase this frequency to 2 170,0 MHz for consistency with conditions of existing authorisations. ( 7 ) The BEM level is defined per antenna and applicable to base station configuration with up to four antennas per sector. ( 8 ) The BEM level is defined per antenna and applicable to base station configuration with up to four antennas per sector. ( 9 ) This power limit is specified as EIRP for terminal stations designed to be fixed or installed and as TRP for terminal stations designed to be mobile or nomadic. EIRP and TRP are equivalent for isotropic antennas. It is recognised that this value may be subject to a tolerance defined in the harmonised standards to take account of operation under extreme environmental conditions and production spread. ( 10 ) For the determination of out of band emissions of terminals in CEPT Report 39 the maximum conducted transmit power of 23 dBm has been used as a reference.
Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the EU), © European Union, reuse permitted under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.