17.3.87 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 69/5 
II 
(Preparatory Acts) 
COMMISSION 
Proposal for a Council recommendation on the coordinated introduction of public 
pan-European digital mobile communications in the Community 
COM(87)35final 
(Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 9 February 1987) 
(87/C 69/08) 
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, 
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European 
Economic Community, and in particular Article 235 
thereof, 
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 should be utilized to the full for the economic 
development of the Community; 
Whereas mobile radio services are the only means of 
contacting users on the move and the most efficient 
means for those users to be connected to the public 
telecommunications networks; 
Whereas the mobile communications systems currently in 
use in the Community are largely incompatible and do 
not allow users on the move in vehicles, boats, trains or 
on foot throughout the Community to reap the benefits 
of European-wide services and European-wide markets; 
Whereas the change-over to the second generation 
cellular mobile communications system will provide a 
unique opportunity to establish truly pan-European 
mobile communications; 
Whereas the European Conference of Postal and 
Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT) has set up 
a special working group, referred to as GSM ('Groupe 
Special Mobile'), for planning all system aspects of a 
second generation cellular mobile radio infrastructure; 
(') OJ No L 298, 16. 11. 1984, p. 49. Whereas such a future system, offering both voice and 
data services, is to be based on digital techniques, 
thereby facilitating compatibility with the general digital 
environment as will evolve with the coordinated intro­
duction of the integrated services digital network 
(ISDN) in the Community in accordance with Council 
recommendation 86/659/EEC (2); 
Whereas a coordinated policy for the introduction of a 
pan-European digital cellular mobile radio service will 
make possible the establishment of a European market in 
mobile, portable and hand-held terminals. Whereas such 
a market will be capable of creating, by virtue of its size, 
the necessary development conditions enabling the 
European telecommunications industries to maintain and 
increase their share of the world market; 
Whereas it is appropriate to implement 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); 
Whereas it is necessary to work out rapidly all 
agreements necessary to allow unrestricted access to 
mobile communications and free circulation of mobile 
terminals everywhere in the Community for the 
European user; 
Whereas the rapid implementation of Council Directive 
86/361/EEC of 24 July 1986 on the initial stage of the 
mutual recognition of type approval for telecommuni­
cations terminal equipment (4) will make an important 
contribution towards this goal; 
Whereas consideration should be given to the Council 
Directive relating to standardization in the field of infor­
mation technology and telecommunications, and to any 
later proposal for directives that the Commission may 
make; 
O OJ No L 382, 31. 12. 1986, p. 36. 
O OJ No L 109, 26. 4. 1983, p. 8. 
(4) OJNoL217, 5. 8. 1986, p. 21. 
No C 69/6 Official Journal of the European Communities 17.3.87 
Whereas it is appropriate to make full use of the 
potential of the Community's financial instruments in 
order to promote the development of the Member States' 
infrastructure; 
Whereas special attention should be paid to the urgent 
requirement of certain users for pan-European mobile 
communications, regarding in particular the communi­
cation needs of users in vehicles on major pan-European 
routes and in trains, and those users who would benefit 
from the development of telephony in aircraft and of a 
truly pan-European paging system; 
Whereas the implementation of such a policy will lead to 
closer cooperation, at Community level, between the 
telecommunications industry, on the one hand, and the 
telecommunications administrations and the recognized 
private operating agencies offering public mobile 
telecommunications services, hereinafter referred to as 
'telecommunications administrations' on the other; 
Whereas a favourable opinion has been delivered by the 
senior officials group on telecommunications (SOG-T), 
according to which the recommendations drawn up by 
the analysis and forecasting group (GAP) provide a 
strategic basis for the development of public mobile 
communications in the Community enabling European 
users on the move to communicate efficiently and 
economically; 
Whereas favourable opinions on these recommendations 
have been delivered by the telecommunications 
administrations, by the European Conference of Postal 
and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT) and 
by the telecommunications equipment manufacturers in 
the Member States; 
Whereas these measures will allow the economic benefit 
and rapidly increasing market potential of public mobile 
communications to be fully realized in the Community; 
Whereas the Treaty has not provided the necessary 
powers, 
HEREBY RECOMMENDS: 
1. That the telecommunications administrations carry 
out the detailed recommendations concerning the 
coordinated introduction of public pan-European 
cellular digital mobile communications in the 
Community, as described in the Annex; 2. In so doing, special consideration shall be given to: 
— the choice of the transmission system and network 
interfaces, 
— the time schedule set out in the Annex, 
— the start of service at the latest from 1991 
onwards, with geographical coverage and 
penetration objectives compatible with commercial 
strategies; 
3. That the telecommunications administrations continue 
the cooperation within the European Conference of 
Postal and Telecommunications Administrations 
(CEPT), particularly concerning the objectives and 
time schedule drawn up in the Annex for the 
completion of the specifications of the pan-European 
cellular digital mobile communications system; 
4. That the telecommunications administrations plan for 
a gradual evolution from any existing public mobile 
radio systems to the pan-European cellular digital 
mobile communications system so as to ensure a 
transition which meets the needs of users, 
telecommunications administrations and the European 
manufacturing industry; 
5. That Member State Governments and telecommuni­
cations administrations rapidly complete all technical 
arrangements necessary to allow unrestricted access to 
mobile communications; 
6. That the Community's financial instruments and the 
Community's technological research and development 
programmes take this recommendation into account 
within the framework of their interventions, par­
ticularly as regards investments required for the 
implementation of the pan-European cellular digital 
mobile communications system and the development 
of the required technological base; 
7. That Member State Governments invite the 
telecommunications administrations to carry out this 
recommendation; 
8. That Member State Governments inform the 
Commission at the end of each year, from the end of 
1987 onwards, of the measures taken and problems 
encountered in the course of implementing this 
recommendation. The progress of work will be 
examined by the Commission and the senior officials 
group on telecommunications which was set up by the 
Council on 4 November 1983. 
17.3.87 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 69/7 
ANNEX 
Detailed recommendations concerning the coordinated introduction of public pan-European cellular digital 
mobile communications 
1. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS 
The future pan-European cellular digital mobile communications system should fulfill the following 
general requirements: 
— be suitable for operation in the frequency bands 890 to 915 and 935 to 960 MHz to be made 
available for the pan-European cellular digital mobile communications system, 
— permit a traffic flow (measured in E/kmVMHz) greater than, or equal to, existing systems, bearing 
in mind the scarcity of the bandwidth resource allowed for these systems, 
— provide the user with a voice transmission quality at least equal to the best of the existing systems, 
— allow for efficient use of hand-held terminals, 
— be sufficiently flexible to facilitate the introduction of new services related to ISDN. 
The cost of the system should be considered in terms of the cost of the fixed infrastructure to be met by 
the telecommunications administrations, taking into account both urban and rural areas, and the cost of 
the mobile equipment, usually met by the mobile subscribers. Both costs should be within affordable 
limits and in any case these costs must not exceed those for the existing earlier public mobile telephone 
systems working in the 900 MHz band. Since the cost of the mobile communication equipment will 
constitute the main portion of the total system cost, it is preferable for the mobile equipment cost (for 
quantities in excess of 100 000) to be lower than that for existing earlier public mobile telephone systems 
working in the 900 MHz band. 
2. CHOICE OF TRANSMISSION SYSTEM 
The transmission mode for the pan-European mobile system should be digital. The final choice of the 
particular technical option (radio subsystem multiple access method) within the digital mode should be 
made by the administrations not later than May 1987, on the basis of work carried out by the CEPT 
and particularly its special group for mobile communications, referred to as GSM (Groupe Special 
Mobile). 
3. NETWORK ARCHITECTURE 
The principles of the network structure and the definition and allocation of functions between the 
various system components — mobile stations (MS), base stations (BS), and mobile switching centers 
(MSC) — must be defined by July 1987. In the course of this work, the appropriate interfaces between 
the various system components (MS-BS-MSC) should be completely specified for all OSI layers 
applicable to the relevant services, and for all applications using those interfaces (call processing 
functions, maintenance, etc.). The system must be able to support geographically co-located digital 
cellular mobile radio operators. 
4. MOBILE INTERFACES TO BE DEFINED AND SPECIFIED IN DETAIL BY END 1987 
(a) S reference point, with B (N Kbits/s) + D (NT Kbits/s) structure (N and N' to be defined); 
(b) Interface between MS and BS; 
(c) Interface between BS and MSC. 
A minimum set of man-machine interface specifications (control procedures) should be established. 
5. MOBILE SERVICES TO BE DEFINED AND SPECIFIED IN DETAIL BY END 1987 AND 
AVAILABLE FOR PROVISION IN ALL MEMBER STATES STARTING FROM 1991, WITH 
HAND-OVER AND NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL ROAMING 
Although, initially, voice telephony capabilities will constitute the most important service required, the 
mobile system must nevertheless be open to an overall evolution towards ISDN services (')• 
(') OJNoC 157,24.6. 1986, p. 3. 
No C 69/8 Official Journal of the European Communities 17. 3. 87 
Therefore, the following mobile services should be defined and specified in detail by end 1987 and 
available in all Member States starting from 1991: 
(a) Bearer services 
— Non-transparent bearer service for speech, 
— Transparent bearer service for data transmission at N Kbit/s switched in the network at 64 
Kbit/s (N to be defined); 
(b) Basic services 
— Hand-over, 
— National/International roaming; 
(c) Teleservices 
Telephony at 3,1 kHz (corresponding to N Kbit/s on B channel. N is to be defined); 
(d) Supplementary services 
— Calling line identification, 
— Subscriber call charge meter, 
— Speech encryption. 
This list may be added to by CEPT. 
6. SIGNALLING 
User access signalling (subscriber signalling) should be defined along the principles of the existing CEPT 
recommendations for ISDN, and should be able to permit supplementary services of ISDN/PSTN. 
Network and inter-network signalling processes should be defined in the framework of the SS No 7 in 
such a way that international roaming and hand over facilities are safeguarded. 
7. TARIFF CONSIDERATIONS 
The telecommunications administrations are invited to consider within the CEPT framework the 
following tariff proposals: 
— Given the scarcity of frequency resources, the service should be charged basically according to the 
duration of the radio channel use; 
— The tariffs should take into account the current trend towards less distant dependence considering 
that: 
— the transmission costs for long distance telephone calls represent a relatively small part of total 
costs, and therefore the tariffs for telephone calls will become more and more independent of 
distance, 
— in general there is no practical means at present for the calling subscriber to know the location 
and the status of the called subscriber in another country, namely whether the called subscriber is 
a mobile or fixed. 
By July 1987, the basic framework of charging principles should be identified, so that the network 
implications can be identified and resolved in a timely manner. 
8. GEOGRAPHICAL COVERAGE 
The introduction date of the pan-European cellular digital mobile communications system should be 
1991 at the latest. Major urban areas should be covered by 1993 at the latest. The main links between 
these major urban areas should be covered by 1995 at the latest. 
Further, the administrations should study jointly mutual priorities for coverage in order to stimulate the 
maximum pan-European traffic as early as possible. This should take into account the needs of users in 
vehicles on major European routes, and the needs of air travellers located between city centers and 
international airports.