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Digital Dividend Moves Step Closer ...
(29 Oct 2009, BWCS Staff)The European Commission has today urged all member states to use radio frequencies freed up by the switch to digital TV for new mobile broadband services. According to the EC a coordinated distribution of the available spectrum will encourage investment and competition in potential new services including high-definition TV and advanced mobile phones.
If the "digital dividend" - the allocation of existing frequencies to new services - is coordinated across Europe, the EC argues it could help boost the combined economies of member states by up to €50 billion.
Viviane Reding, EU Commissioner for Information Society and Media said "The digital dividend is a once in a lifetime opportunity to make 'broadband for all' a reality all over Europe and boost some of the most innovative sectors of our economy. Europe will only make the most of the digital dividend if we work together on a common plan. The Commission cooperated closely with EU countries, the European Parliament, industry and consumers' representatives to prepare such a plan." She said.
Reding called on all EU countries to accelerate the move to digital TV and to make it happen by 1 January 2012. She also urged national authorities to use the new spectrum in a pro-competitive way - opening up the market for new operators and new services.
The EC's proposals, which it adopted today, call for the switch to digital TV to be made in all states by the beginning of 2012. The Commission also described how one part of the freed-up spectrum, 790MHz - 862MHz band should be dedicated to new wireless services which, it argues, will contribute to achieving the target of high-speed broadband coverage of 100% of the EU population by the end of 2013.
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