The European Commission believes it has provided a boost for more innovative use of radio spectrum with the unveilingof its strategy for introducingmore flexible radio frequencyusage in reaction to evolvingmarket demands. The strategy provides steps for reducing access and usage restrictions, which the EC claims will allow new ideas to flourish and removing potential barriers to innovation, economic growth and consumer choice.“Europe must fully exploit the potential use of certain spectrum bands by new wireless products and services, so as to encourage market development,” says Viviane Reding, EU Commissioner for InformationSociety and Media. “We seek to provide new opportunities for industry through less restrictive regulatory conditions that strengthen competition and increase consumer choice. However, this is a gradual process which will not happen overnight.”Radio spectrum is used by a broad cross-section of European industry for its communication services, with a total turnover estimated to have been between 240-260 billion euros in 2006. However, existing spectrum regulationsare increasingly inadequate for keeping pace with the convergence of mobile, television and Internet services, all of which use wireless communications.The introduction of market-based spectrum management combined with flexible spectrum usage rights could yield a further gain of 8-9 billion euros per year across Europe. Some steps will fall under current telecom rules, because immediate solutions are required and can be pursued as part of the Commission’s existing forward-looking radio spectrum policy for Europe. These include opening up the frequency bands formerly reserved forGSM mobile communications, e.g. for 3G mobile services, and giving new products and services access to the frequencies released by digital broadcasting’s more efficient use of spectrum (the so-called "digital dividend").
