Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2024/340 of 22 January 2024 on harmonised conditions for the use of radio spectrum for mobile communication services on board vessels in the Union, repealing Decision 2010/166/EU (notified under document C(2024) 236)
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 establishes harmonised technical conditions for the availability and efficient use of the 900 MHz, 1 800 MHz, paired terrestrial 2 GHz and paired 2,6 GHz frequency bands for systems that provide mobile communication services on board vessels within territorial seas of the Member States in the Union.
For the purposes of this Decision, the following definitions shall apply: (1) ‘mobile communication services on board vessels’ (MCV services) means electronic communication services, as defined in Article 2, point (4), of Directive (EU) 2018/1972, provided by an undertaking to enable persons on board a vessel to communicate via public communication networks using a system subject to Article 3 without establishing direct connections with land-based mobile networks; (2) ‘the 900 MHz frequency band’ means the 880–915 MHz frequency band for uplink (terminal transmit, base station receive) and 925–960 MHz frequency band for downlink (base station transmit, terminal receive); (3) ‘the 1 800 MHz frequency band’ means the 1 710–1 785 MHz frequency band for uplink (terminal transmit, base station receive) and 1 805–1 880 MHz frequency band for downlink (base station transmit, terminal receive); (4) ‘the paired terrestrial 2 GHz frequency band’ means the 1 920–1 980 MHz frequency band for uplink (terminal transmit, base station receive) and 2 110–2 170 MHz frequency band for downlink (base station transmit, terminal receive); (5) ‘the paired 2,6 GHz frequency band’ means the 2 500–2 570 MHz frequency band for uplink (terminal transmit, base station receive) and 2 620–2 690 MHz frequency band for downlink (base station transmit, terminal receive); (6) ‘on a non-interference and non-protected basis’ means that MCV services may not cause harmful interference to any other radio-communication service nor can MCV services claim protection against harmful interference originating from other radio-communication services; (7) ‘territorial sea’ is to be understood as defined in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea; (8) ‘vessel base transceiver station’ (vessel-BS) means a mobile pico-cell located on a vessel and supporting mobile systems in compliance with the Annex to this Decision.
1. Member States shall make available at least 2 MHz of spectrum in both the uplink direction and in the corresponding paired spectrum in the downlink direction within the 900 MHz and/or 1 800 MHz frequency bands for the mobile systems listed in the Annex that provide MCV services on a non-interference and non-protected basis in their territorial seas. 2. Member States shall make available 5 MHz of spectrum in both the uplink direction and in the corresponding paired spectrum in the downlink direction within the paired terrestrial 2 GHz frequency band and within the 1 800 MHz and paired 2,6 GHz frequency bands for the mobile systems listed in the Annex that provide MCV services on a non-interference and non-protected basis in their territorial seas. 3. Member States shall ensure that the systems referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 comply with the conditions and implementation deadlines set out in the Annex.
Member States shall keep under review the use of frequency bands by systems that provide MCV services in their territorial seas, referred to in Article 3(1) and 3(2), in particular with regard to the continued relevance of the conditions set out in Article 3 and in the Annex, and to instances of harmful interference.
Member States shall submit a report to the Commission on their findings with regard to the review referred to in Article 4. The European Commission shall, where appropriate, proceed to a review of this Decision.
Decision 2010/166/EU is repealed.
This Decision is addressed to the Member States.
ANNEX Systems providing MCV services in the territorial seas of the Member States of the Union, and conditions to be met by those systems, in order to avoid harmful interference to land-based mobile networks 1. List of systems referred to in Article 3(1) Table 1 System Implementation deadline GSM complying with the GSM standards as published by ETSI, in particular EN 301 502 and EN 301 511 , or equivalent specifications. 20 March 2011 2. List of systems referred to in Article 3(2) Table 2 System Allowed frequency bands Implementation deadline UMTS complying with the UMTS standards as published by ETSI, in particular EN 301 908 -1, EN 301 908 -2, EN 301 908 -3 and EN 301 908 -11, or equivalent specifications. Paired terrestrial 2 GHz band 2 August 2017 LTE complying with LTE standards, as published by ETSI, in particular EN 301 908 -1, EN 301 908 -13, EN 301 908 -14, and EN 301 908 -15, or equivalent specifications. 1 800 MHz band and Paired 2,6 GHz band 2 August 2017 5G NR non-AAS complying with the 5G NR standards as published by ETSI, in particular EN 301 908 -24 and EN 301 908 -25, or equivalent specifications. 1 800 MHz band and Paired 2,6 GHz band As soon as possible and no later than six months after notification of this Decision. 3. Technical parameters (1) The conditions to be met by GSM systems operating in the 900 MHz and 1 800 MHz frequency bands providing MCV services in the territorial seas of the Member States, in order to avoid harmful interference to land-based mobile networks shall be the following: (a) The system providing MCV services shall not be used closer than 2 nautical miles ( 1 ) from the baseline, as defined in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea; (b) Only indoor vessel-BS antenna(s) shall be used between 2 and 12 nautical miles from the baseline; (c) Limits to be set for mobile terminals when used on board vessel and for vessel-BS: Parameter Description Transmit power/power density For mobile terminals used on board vessels and controlled by the vessel-BS in the 900 MHz frequency band, the maximum radiated output power is set to: 5 dBm For mobile terminals used on board vessels and controlled by the vessel-BS in the 1 800 MHz frequency band, the maximum radiated output power is set to: 0 dBm For base stations on board vessels, the maximum power density measured in external areas of the vessel, with reference to a 0 dBi measurement antenna gain: -80 dBm/200 kHz Channel access and occupation rules Techniques to mitigate interference that provide at least equivalent performance to the following mitigation factors based on GSM standards shall be used: — between 2 and 3 nautical miles from the baseline, the receiver sensitivity and the disconnection threshold (ACCMIN ( 2 ) and min RXLEV ( 3 ) level) of the mobile terminal used on board vessel shall be equal to or higher than -70 dBm/200 kHz and between 3 and 12 nautical miles from the baseline equal to or higher than -75 dBm/200 kHz; — discontinuous transmission ( 4 ) shall be activated in the MCV system uplink direction; — the timing advance ( 5 ) value of the vessel-BS shall be set to the minimum. (2) The conditions to be met by UMTS systems in the paired terrestrial 2 GHz frequency band providing MCV services in the territorial seas of the Member States, in order to avoid harmful interference to land-based mobile networks shall be the following: (a) The system providing MCV services shall not be used closer than 2 nautical miles from the baseline, as defined in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea; (b) Only indoor vessel-BS antenna(s) shall be used between 2 and 12 nautical miles from the baseline; (c) Only bandwidth up to 5 MHz (duplex) can be used; (d) Limits to be set for mobile terminals when used on board vessel and for vessel-BS: Parameter Description Transmit power/power density For mobile terminals transmitting in the 1 920 –1 980 MHz frequency band used on board vessels and controlled by the vessel-BS transmitting in the 2 110 –2 170 MHz frequency band, the maximum radiated output power is set to: 0 dBm/5 MHz Emissions on deck The vessel-BS emission on deck shall be equal or below -102 dBm/5 MHz (Common Pilot Channel) Channel access and occupation rules Between 2 and 12 nautical miles from the baseline, the quality criteria (minimum required received signal level in the cell) shall be equal to or higher than: -87 dBm/5 MHz The Public Land Mobile Network selection timer shall be set to 10 minutes The timing advance parameter shall be set according to a cell range for the MCV distributed antenna system equal to 600 m The Radio Resource Control user inactivity release timer shall be set to 2 seconds Non-alignment with land networks MCV carrier centre frequency shall not be aligned with land network carriers (3) The conditions to be met by LTE non-AAS systems in the 1 800 MHz frequency band and paired 2,6 GHz frequency band providing MCV services in the territorial seas of the Member States, in order to avoid harmful interference to land-based mobile networks shall be the following: (a) The system providing MCV services shall not be used closer than 4 nautical miles from the baseline, as defined in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea; (b) Only indoor vessel-BS antenna(s) shall be used between 4 and 12 nautical miles from the baseline; (c) Only a bandwidth of up to 5 MHz (duplex) can be used per frequency band (1 800 MHz and paired 2,6 GHz); (d) Limits to be set for mobile terminals when used on board vessel and for vessel-BS: Parameter Description Transmit power/power density For mobile terminals used on board vessels and controlled by the vessel-BS in the 1 800 MHz frequency band and paired 2,6 GHz frequency band, the maximum radiated output power is set to: 0 dBm Emissions on deck The vessel-BS emission on deck shall be equal or below -98 dBm/5 MHz (equivalent to -120 dBm/15 kHz) Channel access and occupation rules Between 4 and 12 nautical miles from the baseline, the quality criteria (minimum required received signal level in the cell) shall be equal to or higher than -83 dBm/5 MHz (equivalent to -105 dBm/15 kHz) The Public Land Mobile Network selection timer shall be set to 10 minutes The timing advance parameter shall be set according to a cell range for the MCV distributed antenna system equal to 400 m The Radio Resource Control user inactivity release timer shall be set to 2 seconds Non-alignment with land networks MCV carrier centre frequency shall not be aligned with land network carriers (4) The conditions to be met by 5G non-AAS systems in the 1 800 MHz frequency band and in the paired 2,6 GHz frequency band providing MCV services in the territorial seas of the Member States, in order to avoid harmful interference to land-based mobile networks shall be the following: (a) The system providing MCV services shall not be used closer than 4 nautical miles from the baseline, as defined in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea; (b) Only indoor vessel-BS antenna(s) shall be used between 4 and 12 nautical miles from the baseline; (c) Only a bandwidth of up to 5 MHz (duplex) can be used per frequency band (1 800 MHz and paired 2,6 GHz); (d) Limits to be set for mobile terminals when used on board vessel and for vessel-BS: Parameter Description Transmit power/power density For mobile terminals used on board vessels and controlled by the vessel-BS in the 1 800 MHz frequency band and paired 2,6 GHz frequency band, the maximum radiated output power is set to: 0 dBm Emissions on deck The vessel-BS emission on deck shall be equal or below -98 dBm/5 MHz (equivalent to -120 dBm/15 kHz) (Note 1) Channel access and occupation rules Between 4 and 12 nautical miles from the baseline, the quality criteria (minimum required received signal level in the cell) shall be equal to or higher than -83 dBm/5 MHz (equivalent to -105 dBm/15 kHz) (Note 1) The Public Land Mobile Network selection timer shall be set to 10 minutes The timing advance parameter shall be set according to a cell range for the MCV distributed antenna system equal to 400 m (Note 2) The Radio Resource Control user inactivity release timer shall be set to 2 seconds Non-alignment with land networks MCV carrier centre frequency shall not be aligned with land network carriers Note 1: For SSB channel bandwidth other than 15 kHz, a conversion factor of 10*log10 (SSB BW/15 kHz) shall be added. Note 2: The timing advance parameter has to be set according to the corresponding cell range. (e) Recommendation for operation beyond the territorial sea In order to avoid a harmful interference from a system beyond the territorial sea towards terrestrial mobile networks’ base stations, it is recommended that Member States limit the transmitting (Tx) power of user equipment (UE) connected to a system in the 1 800 MHz and paired 2,6 GHz frequency bands in accordance with the following formula: UE Tx Power (dBm) = 2+(D-12)*0,75 where: D is the distance from the baseline and 12 < D <= 41 nautical miles. This limitation could be included in the licence granted by the flag state and the established procedure for complaint in case of interference, as contained in the ITU Radio Regulations, applies. ( 1 ) One nautical mile = 1 852 metres. ( 2 ) ACCMIN (RX_LEV_ACCESS_MIN); as described in GSM standard ETSI TS 144 018. ( 3 ) RXLEV (RXLEV-FULL-SERVING-CELL); as described in GSM standard ETSI TS 148 008. ( 4 ) Discontinuous transmission, or DTX; as described in GSM standard ETSI TS 148 008. ( 5 ) Timing advance; as described in GSM standard ETSI TS 144 018.
Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the EU), © European Union, reuse permitted under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.