Amended proposal for a European Parliament and Council Decision on the co-ordinated introduction of mobile and wireless communications (UMTS) in the Community
Date: 1998-07-27
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU policy, communications systems, radio telecommunications, standardisation, telecommunications industry

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 27.07.1998 
COM(1998) 496 final 

98/0051 (COD) 

Amended proposal for a 

EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND COUNCIL DECISION 

ON THE CO-ORDINATED 

INTRODUCTION OF MOBILE AND WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS  ( U M T S) IN 
THE  COMMUNITY 

(presented by the Commission pursuant to Article 189 a (2) 
of the EC-Treaty) 

EXPLANATORY  MEMORANDUM 

The Commission  hereby presents an amended proposal for a European  Parliament 
and Council Decision on the co-ordinated introduction of mobile and wireless 
communications  (UMTS) in the Community. The modified proposal  incorporates 
those amendments  proposed by the European Parliament in first reading which were 
accepted by the Commission. 

1.  Introduction 

1.1  Background 

The Commission adopted its proposal on 11 February  1998, which was formally 
transmitted to the Parliament and the Council on 3 March 1998. 

The Economic and Social Committee gave its opinion on 29 April 1998.  The 
European Parliament adopted a favourable opinion in first reading on 18 June 1998, 
and proposed  10 Amendments to the Commission proposal''. 

1.2.  Purpose  of the  Decision: 

This decision aims at facilitating within the existing Community legal framework - such 
as the Licensing Directive - the early co-ordinated licensing of compatible third 
generation mobile communications  (UMTS) services in the Community on the basis 
of co-ordinated allocation of frequencies and of common, open and internationally 
competitive standards while ensuring pan-European roaming. 

European Parliament Doc. A4-0221/3 

JL 

2.  Position  of the  Commission  relating  to the  Parliament  amendments 

The position of the Commission on the  10 amendments  adopted by the  European 
Parliament in first reading is summarised in the following table, taking into 
consideration the fact that Amendment 2 of the Report by Mr. Camison Asensio has 
been incorporated in amendment 3. 

Situation 

Number 

Total 

Amendments acceptable 

1 , 3 , 5 , 8 , 9 , 11 

Amendments acceptable  in part /  7 (in principle) 
in principle 

6 (in part) 

Amendments  not acceptable 

4,10 

6 

2 

2 

2.1.  Amendments  accepted  by the  Commission: 

•  Amendment  1 to recital  10: change the terms "UMTS service providers" into 

"organisations  providing  UMTS networks". This is in line with the need to put the 
focus on network operators  rather than on service providers.  Recital  10 is also 
modified to call on national authorities  not to impose excessive fees to UMTS 
service providers  for entry  into the market. As a matter of principle,  the 
Commission  supports the elimination of excessive fees as already  expressed in 
article 6 of the  Licensing  Directive  97/13/EC. 

•  Amendment  3 to  recital  16 changes the timing from "2005" to "within a number 

of years" by which time additional frequency  spectrum is likely to  become 
necessary.  Since the original date of 2005 was indicative, the Commission  may 
accept some flexibility. Amendment  2 of the  Report to  recital  16 has  been 
incorporated in amendment  3; amendment 2 calls for freeing and refarming of 
the 900, 1800 and  1900 MHz bands to be done with a view to ensure  non 
discrimination. This amendment  makes clear that non-discrimination  applies to 
the result of the  refarming  and freeing exercise  and not to the refarming  and 
freeing  itself. 

•  Amendment  5 modifies  article  2 and makes clear that the list in annex I 

includes  the  minimum capabilities which the  UV.TS system shall be capable of 
supporting. The Commission agrees that the purpose of Annex  I is to provide for 
a list of minimum capabilities the system should be able to support. There is no 
obligation for each operator to effectively  offer  the services corresponding to 
such capabilities. 

•  Amendment  8 to  article  9(2) deletes the words "make proposals to take all 

necessary  actions to", so that the Commission will be directly  entitled to seek 
effective  implementation  of international  agreements  applicable to UMTS, The 
words "make proposals to take all necessary  actions  to"  are not necessary  given 
that  art. 9 par.1 already  allows the Commission to take all measures  necessary 

to facilitate the introduction of  UMTS services and the free circulation of UMTS 
equipment  in third countries. 

Amendment  9 to  annex  I, 1st section, par.1 redrafts title to make clear that 
annex  I refers to "system  capabilities  needed to accommodate  service features". 
The new wording  is also more precise as to the levels of application  mobility: "full 
mobility  and low mobility  applications  in different geographical  environments 
beyond the capability  of the second generation systems  such as GSM". This 
makes clear that UMTS will be a complete technological change compared to 
GSM-type  second generation. 

Amendment  11 on annex  I, 3d section, "core  network"  takes into 
consideration  call handling, service control and location and mobility 
management,  in line with comments  received in particular from industry. The last 
part of the  sentence  stresses the need to take into account the  convergence 
. between fixed and mobile networks. 

2.2 Amendments  not  accepted  by  the  Commission 

•  Amendment  4 modifies  Recital  22 in order to include coverage of less 

populated  areas in the scope of roaming agreements that organisations  providing 
UMTS networks  should have rights and obligations to negotiate in view of 
ensuring  Community-wide  roaming. Since less populated areas are already 
covered in recital  19 on national roaming, the Commission believes that it is out 
of context  in recital 22 which addresses  cross-border  roaming.  . 

«  Amendment  10 to Annex  I point  5 replaces  "full roaming between GSM"  with 
"full roaming with  ail GSM services". The exact wording of the proposal, as 
published  in the OJ, is'"full roaming with GSM" and not "between GSM". This part 
of the amendment  is therefore not necessary.  Furthermore, the words "all" and 
"services" are not acceptable: Commission does not want to impose roaming with 
all possible  GSM services; the purpose of the requirement  is to create the 
possibility  for roaming with GSM as far as needed pursuant to market demand. 
As to the refusal of  the word "services" by the Commission, the purpose of this 
paragraph is to allow roaming between networks and not between services. 

2.3. Amendments  partly  accepted  by  the  Commission 

«  Amendment  8 adds  in article  3(3) a reference to Community  law and in 

particular  to the principles of non-discrimination  and transparency.  Commission 
believes  that this amendment  is superfluous  as Community  lav/ applies  anyway 
and as there  is no need to repeat that the principles  of non-discrimination  and 
transparency  are part of Community  law. Moreover, the proposed wording is not 
best positioned  in 3.3  as article 3.3  purpose is to make annex  I applicable to 
national licensing procedures. Therefore, although the Commission is ready to 
accept the addition of the wordc "in compliance with the Community  legislation in 
force" as proposed in amendment 6, it rejects the addition of a specific  reference 
to the principles  of  non-discrimination  and transparency. The Commission also 
proposer  to move the words "in compliance with the Community  législation in 
force"  to the beginning of article 3.2. after "shall ensure". 

U 

•  Amendment 7 to article  3(4) makes clear that the justification for limiting the 

number of UMTS services authorisations in case of incompatibility of potential 
systems is the lack of frequency spectrum. Commission agrees in substance with 
the addition of the words "for reasons of frequency spectrum efficiency" which 
reflects the idea which is behind article 3.4  and is in conformity with article 10 of 
the Licensing Directive. Recital 11 of the proposal also makes clear that pursuant 
to the licensing directive and Commission Directive 96/2/EC the number of UMTS 
licenses may only be limited for reasons of demonstrated lack of frequency 
spectrum capacity. Commission therefore also proposes to add the words  "in 
accordance with existing Community law", considering that the term efficient use 
of frequency spectrum needs to be interpreted in the light of existing Community 
law. 

Conclusion 

The Commission has accepted 8 out of the 10 amendments proposed by the 
European Parliament in First reading either in whole or in part. 

In accordance with Article  189 A paragraph 2 of the EC Treaty, the Commission 
amends its initial proposal, so as to incorporate these amendments. 

S~ 

Initial  Proposal 
Proposal  by  t he  C o m m i s s i on 
for  a  Decision  of  the  E u r o p e an  Parliament  and  of 
the  Council  on  the 
co-ordinated  i n t r o d u c t i on  of  m o b i le  and  w i r e l e ss 
c o m m u n i c a t i o ns  (UMTS)  in  the  C o m m u n i ty 

Amended  Proposal 
P r o p o s al  by  the  C o m m i s s i on 
for  a  D e c i s i on  of  t he  European  Parliament  and  of 
the  C o u n c il  on  the 
c o - o r d i n a t ed  i n t r o d u c t i on  of  m o b i le  and  wireless 
c o m m u n i c a t i o ns  (UMTS)  in  the  C o m m u n i ty 

( A m e n d m e nt  1) 

Recital  10.  Whereas  UMTS  service  providers  should 
be  able  to  enter  the  market  without  unnecessary 
constraints  to  allow  for  a  dynamic  market  and  a 
broad  competitive  service  offering;  whereas  where  an 
authorisation  procedure  is  considered  necessary, 
general  authorisations  or  declarations  should  be  the 
rule; 

Recital  10. Whereas  organisations  providing  UMTS 
networks  should  be  able  to  enter  the  market  without 
unnecessary  constraints  or  excessive  fees to  allow 
for  a  dynamic  market  and  a  broad  competitive 
service  offering;  whereas  where  an  authorisation 
procedure  is  considered  necessary,  general 
authorisations  or  declarations  should  be the  rule; 

Recital  16.  Whereas  this  ERC  decision  has 
designated  the  frequency  bands  1900-1980  MHz, 
2010-2025  MHz  and  2110-2170  MHz  to  terrestrial 
UMTS  applications,  and  accommodates  UMTS 
satellite  component  applications  within  the  bands 
1980-2010  MHz  and  2170-2200  MHz,  whereas  it 
already  appears  that  additional  frequency  spectrum 
capacity  will  be  necessary  to  meet  the  demand  in  the 
Community  and  to  ensure  introduction  of  UMTS  in 
Europe  even  before  1 January  2002,  whereas 
sufficient  spectrum  must  be  allocated  within  the 
bands  identified  by  WARC  92  according  to  the 
increasing  needs  therefor  before  UMTS  services  are 
commercially  deployed;  Whereas  additional 
frequency  spectrum  may  become  necessary  by  2005 
and  therefore  the  900,  1800  and  1900  MHz  bands 
would  also  need  to  be  freed  or  refarmed  as  far  as 
possible; 

( A m e n d m e nt  3) 

Recital  16.  Whereas  this  ERC  decision  has 
designated  the  frequency  bands  1900-1980  MHz, 
2010-2025  MHz  and  2110-2170  MHz  to  terrestrial 
UMTS  applications,  and  accommodates  UMTS 
satellite  component  applications  within  the  bands 
1980-2010  MHz  and  2170-2200  MHz;  whereas  it 
already  appears  that  additional  frequency  spectrum 
capacity  will  be  necessary  to  meet  the  demand  in  the 
Community  and  to  ensure  introduction  of  UMTS  in 
Europe  even  before  1 January  2002;  whereas 
sufficient  spectrum  must  be  allocated  within  the 
bands  identified  by  WARC  92  according  to  the 
increasing  needs  therefor  before  UMTS  services  are 
commercially  deployed,  Whereas  additional 
frequency  spectrum  may  become  necessary  within  a 
few  years  and  therefore  the  900,  1800  and  1900  MHz 
bands  would  also  need  to  be  freed  or  refarmed  as  far 
as  possible  with  a  view  to  ensuring  non 
discrimination; 

Article  2 

Definition 

( A m e n d m e nt  5) 

Article  2 

Definition 

For  the  purpose  of  this  Decision,  Universal  Mobile 
Telecommunications  System  (UMTS)  shall  mean  a 
third  generation  mobile  communications  system 
capabie  of  providing  in  particular 
innovative  wireless 
multimedia  services,  beyond  the  capability  of  current 
second  generation  systems  such  as  GSM,  and 
combining  the  use  of  terrestrial  and  satellite 
components.  It  shall  include  the  characteristics 

For  the  purpose  of  this  Decision,  Universal  Mobile 
Telecommunications  System  (UMTS)  shall  mean  a 
third  generation  mobile  communications  system 
capable  of  providing  in  particular 
innovative  wireless 
multimedia  services,  beyond  the  capability  of  current 
second  generation  systems  such  as  GSM,  and 
combining  the  use  of  terrestrial  and  satellite 
components.  This  system  shall  at  least  be  capable  of 
supporting  the  characteristics  referred  to  under 

C 

referred to under Annex 

Annex I. 

Article 3 

(Amendment  6) 

Article 3 

Co-ordinated  authorisation 

Co-ordinated  authorisation 

2. When preparing  and applying their  authorisation 
systems  Member  States shall  ensure 

- that the provision of UMTS services  is organised in 
frequency  bands which are harmonised  by CEPT in 
accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 5, 

- and pursuant  to European standards  developed by 
ETSI where available,  including  in particular a 
common,  open and internationally  competitive  air-
interface standard.  Member  States  shall ensure that 
licenses support  roaming throughout the Community. 

2. When preparing  and applying their  authorisation 
systems Member  States shall ensure, in compliance 
with the Community  legislation  in force, 

- that the provision of UMTS services  is organised in 
frequency  bands which are harmonised  by CEPT in 
accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 5, 

- and pursuant to European standards  developed by 
ETSI where available,  including  in particular a 
common, open and internationally  competitive  air-
interface standard.  Member  States shall ensure that 
licenses support  roaming throughout the Community. 

(Amendment 7) 

Article 3 

Article 3 

4.  In the case of incompatibility  of potential  systems 
and if it is established  in accordance with the 
procedure laid down in Article  17 of  Directive 
97/13/EC and in conjunction with CEPT that  it is 
necessary to limit the number  of UMTS services 
authorisations,  Member  States  shall co-ordinate their 
authorisation  procedures with a view to  authorising 
compatible  UMTS services  in the Community. 

4.  In the case of incompatibility  of potential systems 
and if it is established  in accordance with the 
procedure laid down in Article  17 of Directive 
97/13/EC and in conjunction with CEPT that it is 
necessary to limit the number  of UMTS services 
authorisations  for  reasons of frequency  spectrum 
efficiency  in accordance with existing  Community 
law, Member States shall co-ordinate their 
authorisation  procedures with a view to  authorising 
compatible UMTS services  in the Community. 

Article 9 

International  Aspects 

(Amendment  8) 

Article 9 

International  Aspects 

2. For this purpose, the Commission  shall  make 
proposals to take all necessary  actions to seek the 
effective  implementation  of international  agreements 
applicable to UMTS, and shall, in particular  and 
where necessary,  submit  proposals  to the Council 
for appropriate  mandates  for the negotiation of 
bilateral and multilateral  agreements with third 
countries  and international  organisations.  The 

2. For this purpose, the Commission  shall seek the 
effective implementation  of international  agreements 
applicable to UMTS, and shall, in particular  and 
where necessary,  submit  proposals to the Council 
for appropriate mandates for the negotiation of 
bilateral and multilateral  agreements with third 
countries  and international  organisations. The 

1-

Council shall decide  by qualified  majority. 

I  Council  shall decide by qualified  majority. 

Characteristics  of  UMTS 

Characteristics  of UMTS 

(Amendment  9) 

ANNEX I 

ANNEX  I 

Services 

1.  Multimedia  capability  with wide area 

mobility 

System capabilities  needed to accommodate  service 
features 

1.  Multimedia  capability;  full mobility and low 

mobility  applications  in different  geographical 
environments  beyond the capability of the 
second generation  systems  such as GSM. 

Core network 

Core network 

(Amendment  11) 

•  Evolution  from  GSM system family;  call 

control  mobility  management  including 
full roaming  functionality  based on core 
GSM network  standard 

•  Mobile/fixed  convergence  elements 

•  Call handling, service control and 
location  and mobility  management 
including  full roaming functionality  based 
on an evolution of  existing core network 
systems, for example on an evolved 
GSM core network  , taking the 
convergence  between fixed and mobile 
networks  into  account. 

• P 

ISSN 0254-1475 

COM(98) 496  final 

DOCUMENTS 

EN 

16  15  10  01 

Catalogue  number  :  CB-CO-98-496-EN-C 

ISBN  92-78-38650-2 

Office  for Official  Publications of the European Communities 

L-2985 Luxembourg 

Q