No C 193/8 Official Journal of the European Communities 31. 7. 89 
Proposal for a Council recommendation on the coordinated introduction of pan-European land-
based public radio paging in the Community 
COM(89) 166 final 
(Submitted by the Commission on 12 May 1989) 
(89/C 193/02) 
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, 
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European 
Economic Community, and in particular Article 235 
thereof, mobile terminals (paging receivers) which will be capable 
of creating, by virtue of its size, service features and costs, 
the necessary development conditions to enable undertak­
ings to maintain and improve their presence in world 
markets; 
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, 
Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament, 
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social 
Committee, 
Whereas Council recommendation 84/549/EEC (*) calls 
for the introduction of services on the basis of a common 
harmonized approach in the field of telecommunications; 
Whereas the resources offered by modern telecommuni­
cations networks should be utilized to the full for the 
economic development of the Community; 
Whereas paging services are the only low-cost means of 
alerting and/or sending messages to people on the move; 
Whereas the land-based public paging systems currently in 
use in the Community do not in general allow people on the 
move throughout the Community to reap the benefits of 
European-wide paging services and European-wide mar­
kets; 
Whereas the European Conference of Postal and Telecom­
munications administrations (CEPT) set up a special Sub-
Working Group referred to as Radio Equipment Speci­
fications Sub-Working Group 4 (RES-4) since transferred 
to the European Telecommunication Standards Institute 
(ETSI) for planning all system aspects of a more advanced 
public display paging system named European Radio 
Messaging System (ERMES); Whereas it is necessary to allow unrestricted access to 
paging services and free circulation of paging receivers 
throughout the Community; 
Whereas in this context Community law and in particular 
the competition rules should be respected; 
Whereas the implementation of Council Directive 86/361/ 
EEC of 24 July 1986 on the initial stage of the mutual 
recognition of type approval for telecommunications 
terminal equipment (2) will make an important contri­
bution towards this goal; 
Whereas consideration should be given to Council 
Directive 83/189/EEC of 28 March 1983 laying down a 
procedure for the provision of information in the field of 
technical standards and regulations (3) and to Council 
Decision 87/95/EEC of 22 December 1986 on standard­
ization in the field of information technology and 
telecommunications (4); 
Whereas it is appropriate to make use of the potential of the 
Community's existing financial instruments in order to 
promote the development of the telecommunications 
infrastructure in the Community; 
Whereas consideration should be given to Council 
recommendation 87/371/EEC (5), which points out that 
special attention should be paid to the urgent requirement 
of certain users for pan-European land-based communi­
cations and that the Commission will in the future submit 
other proposals in the field of mobile communications, 
including radiopaging systems; 
Whereas the change to a truly advanced paging system 
named ERMES being specified by CEPT will provide a 
unique opportunity of establishing a truly pan-European 
paging service; 
Whereas a coordinated policy for the introduction of a pan-
European land-based public display paging service will 
make possible the establishment of a European market in Whereas the implementation of such a policy will lead to 
closer cooperation within Europe between the public 
telecommunications administrations and the recognized 
private operating agencies offering public mobile telecom­
munications services, hereinafter referred to as 'telecom­
munications administrations'; 
0) OJ No L 298, 16. 11. 1984, p. 49. (2) OJ No L 217, 5. 8. 1986, p. 21. 
(3) OJ No L 109, 26. 4. 1983, p. 8. 
(4) OJ No L 36, 7.2. 1987, p. 31. 
(5) OJ No L 196, 17. 7. 1987, p. 81. 
31. 7. 89 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 193/9 
Whereas a favourable opinion has been delivered by the 
Senior Officials Group on Telecommunications (SOG-T), 
on the basis of the detailed recommendations drawn up by 
the Analysis and Forecasting Group (GAP) which provide a 
strategic basis for the development of public mobile 
communications in the Community with a view to enabling 
European users on the move to communicate efficiently 
and economically (!); 
Whereas on the basis of the detailed recommendations 
drawn up by the SOG-T, the Commission recommended 
that CEPT should reach an agreement by 1990, related to a 
more advanced code and a common radio interface in order 
to introduce a European service as soon as possible 
afterwards; 
Whereas favourable opinions on these recommendations 
have been delivered by the telecommunications adminis­
trations, and by CEPT; 
Whereas the envisaged measures will allow the economic 
benefit and rapidly increasing market potential of public 
display paging to be fully realized in the Community; 
Whereas the Treaty has not provided the necessary specific 
powers to this end, 
HEREBY RECOMMENDS: 
1. that the telecommunications administrations imple­
ment with due respect to Community law the detailed 
recommendations as described in the Annex concerning the 
coordinated introduction of pan-European land-based 
public radio paging service in the Community. For the 
purposes of this recommendation, a pan-European land-
based public radio paging service shall mean a public radio 
paging service based on terrestrial infrastructure, provided 
in each of the Member States to a common specification 
which allows persons wishing to send and/or to receive an 
alert and/or numeric or alphanumeric messages anywhere 
within the coverage of the service in the Community; 
C1) Proposals by the Analysis and Forecasting Group (GAP) for the 
coordination introduction of public mobile communications in 
the Community of 5 December 1985. 2. that the telecommunications administrations continue 
the cooperation within the CEPT and ETSI, particularly 
concerning the objectives and time schedule set out in the 
Annex for the completion of the specifications and service 
implementation of the pan-European land-based public 
radio paging system; 
3. that the telecommunications administrations plan for a 
gradual evolution from existing public paging systems to 
the pan-European land-based public radio paging system 
so as to ensure a transition which meets the needs of users, 
telecommunications administrations and manufacturers; 
4. that Member State Governments and telecommuni­
cations administrations complete the technical arrange­
ments for the implementation of the means of call routing 
and processing, so that tone, numeric and alphanumeric 
messages can be sent from anywhere in the Community, to 
a paging receiver anywhere in the geographical coverage of 
the ERMES service by January 1992; 
5. that the Commission takes appropriate initiatives, 
within the application of existing Directives, to encourage 
the completion of the specifications and the implemen­
tation of the pan-European land-based public radio paging 
system, within the time schedule set out in the Annex; 
6. that the Community's financial instruments take this 
recommendation into account within the framework of 
their interventions, particularly as regards capital invest­
ments required for the implementation of the infrastructure 
for the pan-European land-based public radio paging 
system, and that the Community's technological research 
and development programmes do likewise as regards the 
development of the required technological base; 
7. that the telecommunications administrations prepare 
and sign by January 1990 at the latest a memorandum of 
understanding on the implementation of pan-European 
land-based public radio paging; 
8. that Member State Governments inform the Commis­
sion at the end of each year, from the end of 1989 onwards, 
of the measures taken and problems encountered in the 
course of implementing this recommendation. The prog­
ress of work will be examined by the Commission and the 
Senior Officials Group on Telecommunications (SOG-T) 
set up by the Council on 4 November 1983. 
No C 193/10 Official Journal of the European Communities 31. 7. 89 
ANNEX 
DETAILED REQUIREMENTS ON THE COORDINATED INTRODUCTION OF PAN-EUROPEAN 
LAND-BASED PUBLIC RADIO PAGING IN THE COMMUNITY 
1. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS 
The future pan-European public radio paging system should fulfill the following general requirements: 
— be suitable for operation in the frequency band 169 MHz to 170 MHz with 25 kHz radio channels, 
— permit an increase in the number of paging users which can be supported per paging area per unit of 
spectrum and for the same grade of service compared to systems based on CCIR radio paging code No 1 
(POCSAG), assuming the same mix of tone, numeric and alphanumeric pagers, 
— permit easy access via PSTN, PSS, videotex terminals, telex and other forms of direct access such as via 
ISDN, 
— permit simultaneous operation of two or more independent systems in the same geographic area and permit 
several independent systems in areas where several national boundaries meet. 
The cost of the system should be considered in terms of the cost of the fixed infrastructure, met by the network 
operator, and the cost of the paging receiver, met by the users. Both costs should be within affordable limits and 
should not exceed current costs. The cost of using the home paging service should not be more than the costs of 
current home paging services. 
Access facilities should be provided for a calling party to initiate a paging request from service areas anywhere in 
the Community in the most cost effective and easy manner. 
2. CHOICE OF RADIO SUB-SYSTEM 
Considerable experience in designing, manufacturing and operating public paging systems already exists in 
Europe. Much of this experience derives from the successful development and exploitation of the European 
POCSAG paging code (now CCIR radio paging code No 1) by manufacturers and telecommunications 
administrations. This accumulated experience and knowledge should speed the task of selecting a suitable radio 
sub-system for the pan European paging system. On the basis of the work underway within ETSI and in 
particular the RES 4 group, final decisions on the radio sub-system should be made by August 1989. The system 
specification should be decided by January 1990. The radio sub-system specification covers the modulation 
method, channel coding, the radio system structure and the pager's radio identity code structure (RIC). 
3. THE PAGING RECEIVER SPECIFICATION 
The specification of the paging receiver will cover the radio-performance, services and facilities and physical 
characteristics. The receiver specification should be finalized by March 1990. However, the optimization and 
commencement of production of prototype paging receivers should begin with or before the decision on the 
radio sub-system in August 1989. This will provide a lead time for the testing and production of equipment 
before the start of service in January 1992. This early start to development should be ensured by the close 
relationship and cooperation between manufacturing industry and ETSI. 
4. SYSTEM IMPLEMENTATION 
National operators and telecommunication administrations should be responsible for the implementation of 
the paging system in their countries. The largest proportion of traffic on each national system will be national 
traffic, but implementation should support full roaming. Furthermore, the system specification should allow 
flexibility to enable economic implementation both in areas of low traffic density and areas of very high density. 
To enable the service to commence in January 1992, the system specification should be completed by January 
31. 7. 89 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 193/11 
1990. The manufacture of the system or parts of it may commence before completion of the specification and 
this will depend on a close working relationship between industry and ETSI. 
The system specification should include system access, call routing and processing, numbering scheme, and 
specification of paging network controller. 
5. SERVICES AND FACILITIES SPECIFIED AND SUPPORTED BY THE PAN-EUROPEAN PAGING 
SYSTEM 
The services and facilities specification should be completely specified by December 1989, and should fall into 
two categories: mandatory and optional. 
Mandatory services and facilities 
Mandatory services and facilities should define the minimum features available on each national system and 
hence the pan-European system as a whole. 
Optional services and facilities 
The optional services are value added services and should be provided at the discretion of each operator under 
the conditions of open competition. The non-provision of an optional service or facility should not affect in any 
way the functioning of the pan-European service at a basic level. The provision of an optional service or facility 
on one national system should not increase the cost of the basic service on that system, or require an increase in 
functionality or an increase in cost on any other national system. 
6. TARIFF CONSIDERATIONS 
Telecommunication administrations should establish the principles of charging, taking full account of the 
competition rules of the Treaty, for the European service and of cross charging between national operators for 
the handling of roaming traffic. These principles should be established so that the network implications can be 
identified and resolved, and provision should be made in the functional specification for the network controller. 
This functional specification should be finalized by January 1990. 
7. GEOGRAPHICAL SERVICE COVERAGE 
The pan-European public radio paging system should be introduced by January 1992 at the latest. Geographical 
service coverage in each Member State should progressively extend as follows: 
January 1992 — start of service. 
January 1993 — at least 30 % of population. 
January 1994 — at least 60 % of population. 
January 1995 — at least 80 % of population. 
The coverage obligation should include the provision of service on the main travel routes between areas where 
service has been provided. 
Administrations should study priorities for service coverage in order to stimulate the maximum pan-European 
traffic demand at the earliest possible stage compatible with commercial strategies. 
8. SCHEDULE FOR THE COMPLETION OF THE PAN-EUROPEAN PAGING SPECIFICATION AND 
SERVICE PROVISION 
Figure 1 to this Annex gives the important milestones for the production of specifications by the CEPT, the 
schedule for the implementation of the system and the coverage obligation by the Member States. 
9. SPECIAL REQUIREMENT 
Consideration should be given to providing within the ERMES system, the ability to have displayed on the radio 
paging receiver characters in all official Community languages where appropriate. 
NoC 193/12 Official Journal of the European Communities 31. 7. 89 
FIGURE 1 
Schedule for the completion of pan-European paging specification by the CEPT and service provision, 
by the telecommunications administrations 
Year/ month 
MM J MM MM MM MM 
A. SERVICE AND FACILITIES 
B. SYSTEM SPECIFICATION 
C. RADIO SUBSYSTEM 
a) Decide Subsystem 
b) Optimization 
D. RECEIVER AND TRANSMITTER 
SPECIFICATIONS 
E. START OF SERVICE 
F. PERCENTAGE OF THE POPULATION 
COVERED 
30% COVERAGE 
60% COVERAGE 
80% COVERAGE lllllllllmTifl 
Proposal for a Council Directive on the frequency bands to be reserved for the coordinated 
introduction of pan-European land-based public radio paging in the Community 
COM(89) 166 final — SYN 193 
(Submitted by the Commission on 12 May 1989) 
(89/C 193/03) 
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, 
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European 
Economic Community, and in particular Article 100A 
thereof, 
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, 
In cooperation with the European Parliament, 
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social 
Committee, 
Whereas Council recommendation 84/549/EEC (!) calls 
for the introduction of services on the basis of a common 
harmonized approach in the field of telecommunications; 
(!) OJ No L 298, 16. 11. 1984, p. 49. Whereas the resources offered by modern telecommuni­
cations networks should be utilized to the full for the 
economic development of the Community; 
Whereas radio paging services are the only low cost means 
of alerting and/or sending messages to users on the move; 
Whereas radio paging services depend on the allocation 
and availability of frequency bands in order to transmit and 
receive between fixed-base stations and radio paging 
receivers respectively; 
Whereas the frequencies and land-based public radio 
paging systems currently in use in the Community vary 
widely and do not allow all users on the move to reap the 
benefits of European wide services and European wide 
markets;