CELEX: 51989PC0166(01)
Language: en
Date: 1989-06-05
Title: PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL RECOMMENDATION ON THE COORDINATED INTRODUCTION OF PAN-EUROPEAN LAND-BASED PUBLIC RADIO PAGING IN THE COMMUNITY

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,                          mobile terminals (paging receivers) which will be capable
                                                                  of creating, by virtue of its size, service features and costs,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European             the necessary development conditions to enable undertak-
Economic Community, and in particular Article 235                 ings to maintain and improve their presence in world
thereof,                                                          markets;
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,                Whereas it is necessary to allow unrestricted access to
                                                                  paging services and free circulation of paging receivers
                                                                  throughout the Community;
Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament,
                                                                  Whereas in this context Community law and in particular
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social           the competition rules should be respected;
Committee,
                                                                 Whereas the implementation of Council Directive 86/361/
Whereas Council recommendation 84/549/EEC (*) calls               EEC of 24 July 1986 on the initial stage of the mutual
for the introduction of services on the basis of a common         recognition of type approval for telecommunications
harmonized approach in the field of telecommunications;           terminal equipment (2) will make an important contri-
                                                                  bution towards this goal;
Whereas the resources offered by modern telecommuni-
cations networks should be utilized to the full for the          Whereas consideration should be given to Council
economic development of the Community;                            Directive 83/189/EEC of 28 March 1983 laying down a
                                                                 procedure for the provision of information in the field of
Whereas paging services are the only low-cost means of           technical standards and regulations (3) and to Council
alerting and/or sending messages to people on the move;          Decision 87/95/EEC of 22 December 1986 on standard-
                                                                 ization in the field of information technology and
                                                                 telecommunications ( 4 );
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            Whereas it is appropriate to make use of the potential of the
European-wide paging services and European-wide mar-              Community's existing financial instruments in order to
kets;                                                            promote the development of the telecommunications
                                                                 infrastructure in the Community;
Whereas the European Conference of Postal and Telecom-
munications administrations (CEPT) set up a special Sub-         Whereas consideration should be given to Council
Working Group referred to as Radio Equipment Speci-              recommendation 87/371/EEC (5), which points out that
fications Sub-Working Group 4 (RES-4) since transferred          special attention should be paid to the urgent requirement
to the European Telecommunication Standards Institute            of certain users for pan-European land-based communi-
(ETSI) for planning all system aspects of a more advanced        cations and that the Commission will in the future submit
public display paging system named European Radio                other proposals in the field of mobile communications,
Messaging System (ERMES);                                        including radiopaging systems;
Whereas the change to a truly advanced paging system             Whereas the implementation of such a policy will lead to
named ERMES being specified by CEPT will provide a               closer cooperation within Europe between the public
unique opportunity of establishing a truly pan-European          telecommunications administrations and the recognized
paging service;                                                  private operating agencies offering public mobile telecom-
                                                                 munications services, hereinafter referred to as 'telecom-
                                                                 munications administrations';
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
                                                                  (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.
0) OJ No L 298, 16. 11. 1984, p. 49.                              (5) OJ No  L 196, 17. 7. 1987, p. 81.
 ---pagebreak--- 31. 7. 89                                 Official Journal of the European Communities                              No C 193/9
Whereas a favourable opinion has been delivered by the               2. that the telecommunications administrations continue
Senior Officials Group on Telecommunications (SOG-T),                the cooperation within the CEPT and ETSI, particularly
on the basis of the detailed recommendations drawn up by             concerning the objectives and time schedule set out in the
the Analysis and Forecasting Group (GAP) which provide a             Annex for the completion of the specifications and service
strategic basis for the development of public mobile                 implementation of the pan-European land-based public
communications in the Community with a view to enabling              radio paging system;
European users on the move to communicate efficiently
and economically ( ! );                                              3. that the telecommunications administrations plan for a
                                                                     gradual evolution from existing public paging systems to
Whereas on the basis of the detailed recommendations                 the pan-European land-based public radio paging system
drawn up by the SOG-T, the Commission recommended                    so as to ensure a transition which meets the needs of users,
that CEPT should reach an agreement by 1990, related to a            telecommunications administrations and manufacturers;
more advanced code and a common radio interface in order             4. that Member State Governments and telecommuni-
to introduce a European service as soon as possible                  cations administrations complete the technical arrange-
afterwards;                                                          ments for the implementation of the means of call routing
                                                                     and processing, so that tone, numeric and alphanumeric
Whereas favourable opinions on these recommendations
                                                                     messages can be sent from anywhere in the Community, to
have been delivered by the telecommunications adminis-
                                                                     a paging receiver anywhere in the geographical coverage of
trations, and by CEPT;
                                                                     the ERMES service by January 1992;
Whereas the envisaged measures will allow the economic               5. that the Commission takes appropriate initiatives,
benefit and rapidly increasing market potential of public            within the application of existing Directives, to encourage
display paging to be fully realized in the Community;                the completion of the specifications and the implemen-
                                                                     tation of the pan-European land-based public radio paging
Whereas the Treaty has not provided the necessary specific           system, within the time schedule set out in the Annex;
powers to this end,
                                                                     6. that the Community's financial instruments take this
                                                                     recommendation into account within the framework of
HEREBY RECOMMENDS:                                                   their interventions, particularly as regards capital invest-
                                                                     ments required for the implementation of the infrastructure
1. that the telecommunications administrations imple-                for the pan-European land-based public radio paging
ment with due respect to Community law the detailed                  system, and that the Community's technological research
recommendations as described in the Annex concerning the             and development programmes do likewise as regards the
coordinated introduction of pan-European land-based                  development of the required technological base;
public radio paging service in the Community. For the
purposes of this recommendation, a pan-European land-                7. that the telecommunications administrations prepare
based public radio paging service shall mean a public radio          and sign by January 1990 at the latest a memorandum of
paging service based on terrestrial infrastructure, provided         understanding on the implementation of pan-European
in each of the Member States to a common specification               land-based public radio paging;
which allows persons wishing to send and/or to receive an
alert and/or numeric or alphanumeric messages anywhere               8. that Member State Governments inform the Commis-
within the coverage of the service in the Community;                 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
C1) Proposals by the Analysis and Forecasting Group (GAP) for the
    coordination introduction of public mobile communications in     Senior Officials Group on Telecommunications (SOG-T)
    the Community of 5 December 1985.                                set up by the Council on 4 November 1983.
 ---pagebreak--- No C 193/10                             Official Journal of the European Communities                                           3 1 . 7. 89
                                                                ANNEX
            DETAILED REQUIREMENTS O N 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
 ---pagebreak--- 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.
 ---pagebreak--- N o C 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,                            Whereas the resources offered by modern telecommuni-
                                                                    cations networks should be utilized to the full for the
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European               economic development of the Community;
Economic Community, and in particular Article 100A
thereof,
                                                                    Whereas radio paging services are the only low cost means
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,                  of alerting and/or sending messages to users on the move;
In cooperation with the European Parliament,
                                                                    Whereas radio paging services depend on the allocation
                                                                    and availability of frequency bands in order to transmit and
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social             receive between fixed-base stations and radio paging
Committee,                                                          receivers respectively;
Whereas Council recommendation 84/549/EEC (!) calls
for the introduction of services on the basis of a common           Whereas the frequencies and land-based public radio
harmonized approach in the field of telecommunications;             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
(!) OJ No L 298, 16. 11. 1984, p. 49.                               markets;