Weekly Wrap: European Council prioritises interoperability and resilience

The Council, currently under the Polish presidency, called for a strategic approach that takes into account current and emerging technologies, especially for AI, 6G and quantum communications. It recognised the complementary roles of satellite communication systems for the uninterrupted availability of communication service, in particular to remote and underserved regions, providing critical redundancy and resilience against ground-based disruptions.

The Council also stressed that there is an urgent need for comprehensive support for submarine cables infrastructure, as raised in the EU Action Plan on cable security, including threat prevention, risk detection, rapid incident response, deterrence, and recovery and repair capacities through leveraging existing and improving cable vessels’ capacities.

“Due to the constantly changing geopolitical situation and deepening effects of economic change, European telecommunication infrastructure is facing unprecedented challenges,” said Aleksander Sołtysik, Counsellor at the Permanent Representation of Poland to the EU, at the European Spectrum Management Conference this week.

“In our Council conclusions, we indicated that in order to guarantee the continuity of services and strengthen the EU digital sovereignty, we need a strategic approach encompassing a new perspective on integration of terrestrial and non-terrestrial networksNon-terrestrial Networks (NTN) are wireles…, including submarine networks,” he added.

“In the Council’s conclusion, we made a few remarks on possible measures to enhance network resilience, such as network diversification, interoperability, better coordination and the role of a single market to formalised investments.”

There was a shared view around the table that “we need to tackle this issue, that we need to be more steadfast, more assertive, on where we want to go,” said Renate Nikolay, Deputy Director-General for DG CNECT (part of the European Commission).

“It’s no longer about a collection of disjointed technologies,” she said. “Satellite, submarine cables, mobile networks, they have to be seen as interconnected ecosystems to respond to the growing demand for critical low-latency applications such as automatic vehicles, where the EU needs to catch up, in comparison to China and the US.”

According to Nikolay, the EU needs a new regulatory framework for digital connectivity. “We need to reinvent our vision. That’s why the Digital Network Act (DNA) should not be seen as just another review of the European Electronic Communications CodeThe Electronic Communications Code is a se…. It is a state-of-the-art, fit-for-today’s purposes, approach and pitch on digital connectivity,” she said.

Both views were presented at the European Spectrum Management Conference in Brussels to a room full of spectrum experts from all industries. My main take was that the Council’s and Commission’s visions seem to be aligned on how to proceed with European connectivity.

More clarity is expected in the coming months as the DNA progresses towards its final version. On spectrum, the RSPG’s recent progress at its plenary session also promises more clarity regarding its position on the upper 6 GHz band, future of the UHF band, WRC-27The World Radiocommunication Conference (W… positions and D2D framework. Stay tuned because we’ll be keeping track of all of it!

Here’s what else we covered this week:

• Starlink direct-to-device services become available in Australia via mobile network operator Telstra
• The European Commission is consulting on the future of the 2 GHz MSS bands; it’s perfect for D2D, but awarding this band will be a difficult process
• A detailed feature on Amazon and Microsoft losing interest in offering private 5G, possibly due to a lack of available spectrum
• The RSPGRSPG stands for the Radio Spectrum Policy … approves a draft Opinion for the upper 6 GHz band; a priority band split with 160 MHz of spectrum for WiFi is currently the preference
• Republican Senate telecoms aide Olivia Trusty’s confirmation to fill a seat on the FCC has sparked cheers – and concerns about the regulator’s future
• The head of Bahrain’s regulator questions the need for additional spectrum for future mobile standards