Communiqué de presse

ARCEP launches a public consultation on audio equipment for services ancillary to programme-making and broadcasting.

Version française

Paris, 20 October 2011

ARCEP is launching a public consultation to obtain feedback from stakeholders on planned changes to the regulatory framework governing the use of audio equipment for services ancillary to programme-making and broadcasting employing the 470 - 789 MHz and 823 - 832 MHz frequency bands.

The aim of draft decision being submitted for consultation is to provide greater capacity and flexibility in the use of audio equipment for services ancillary to programme-making and broadcasting, while ensuring that the technical conditions comply with the French regulatory framework and the harmonised framework defined by the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT).

As a result, to allow for the most efficient possible use of the available spectrum resources, and to maximise the amount of equipment that can be used simultaneously in a single location without causing interference, the user categories and their associated frequency series, which were defined by Decision No. 99-781, are being discarded.

Also being specified are the maximum power levels for frequencies adjacent to the 790 - 862 MHz, to protect the mobile communications networks that are due to be deployed in this band in the near future.

To make the regulatory framework more legible, a new decision that takes these changes into account has been established and comes to replace previous decisions.

This decision is based in particular on the following texts:
- CEPT Decision ECC/DEC(09)03 on harmonised conditions for mobile/fixed communications networks (MFCN) operating in the band 790 - 862 MHz;
- CEPT Recommendation ERC/REC/70-03 relating to the use of short-range devices, and particularly its Annex 10;
- CEPT Recommendation ERC/REC/25-10 on frequency ranges for the use of temporary terrestrial audio and video for services ancillary to programme-making and broadcasting (SAP/SAB) links.

Responses to the consultation must reach ARCEP by Monday, 14th November 2011.