25 August, 2023
ETNO comments to the RSPG Draft Opinion on the development of 6G and possible implications for spectrum needs and guidance on the roll-out of future wireless broadband networks
The European Telecommunication Network Operators' Association (ETNO) welcomes the opportunity to provide feedback to the Draft RSPG Opinion on the development of 6G and possible implications for spectrum needs and guidance on the roll-out of future wireless broadband networks.
In the first section, ETNO provides generic views to a selected set of topics relevant to the Draft Opinion, and in the second section, comments to the proposed recommendations are provided.
General comments:
ETNO welcomes RSPG engagement on an early assessment on the demands for the 6G, in particular the demand for additional spectrum resources. We support the idea of RSPG continuing the exchange and sharing information and experience in this respect. The provided Draft Opinion could be seen as a first attempt to achieve an initial understanding on the requirements for making the new envisaged technology generation a success for Europe.
However, ETNO notes that the Draft Opinion mostly covers the 5G development in Europe but misses the opportunity to provide clear steps for supporting 6G use cases and needs from the radio spectrum perspective. This is also reflected in the recommendation section which actually mainly contains observations rather than recommendations.
Only one very high-level recommendation invites the EC and Member States to develop a 6G strategy to facilitate the timely launch of 6G services across the EU based on the RSPG recommendations. To enable EU to build on this, we urge RSPG to carefully consider the 6G development, in particular the 6G research linked to use cases, traffic increase and spectrum demand.
Furthermore, ETNO appreciates RSPG recognising the role of 5G pioneer bands for enabling 5G deployments in the EU, and especially the importance of the 3.6 GHz band as a primary band for 5G. We believe that 6G could benefit from a similar approach with the identification of frequency bands being made available/prioritised for initial 6G deployments.
We elaborate on our recommendations in the attached document. For further questions, please contact Xhoana Shehu, Policy Manager, ETNO (shehu@etno.eu).
