The review will consider the telecoms sector’s environmental impact and the potential for spectrum to help reduce carbon emissions and promote sustainability
Consultation on future spectrum needs and market developments: The French regulator, Arcep, has launched a public consultation on future mobile market regulation to help inform its short, medium and long-term work on spectrum management, and define award procedures for frequencies that are or will become available. It follows Ofcom’s ongoing review of the UK mobile market and future spectrum needs. Arcep’s consultation, which runs until 23 September 2022, has been structured in four parts:
5G and beyond: current 5G deployments, the road to 6G, new mobile network architectures and future use case expectations;
Connectivity needs of verticals: spectrum availability and technical solutions for business and industrial users;
Societal imperatives: coverage and quality obligations, network sharing and the environmental impact of digital communications networks, devices and services; and
Questions specific to different bands: spectrum sharing, local assignments and bandwidth expectations.
The regulator is seeking input from a broad set of stakeholders: According to Arcep, the technological developments taking place in France’s telecoms market are likely to cause considerable upheavals in terms of applications, industries and business models. Rising connectivity demands, technological shifts, evolving spectrum requirements, new players, societal expectations and environmental imperatives are all issues for the country’s mobile industry. Arcep states that it is committed to keeping pace with these changes and to making them (and the challenges they present) part of its ongoing regulation of the sector. The regulator has posed 97 questions across the consultation, which is aimed at a wide audience – including stakeholders that may be unfamiliar with Arcep’s activities, such as academics, local authorities, businesses, and consumer and trade associations. It has produced guidance and held numerous webinars in order to facilitate engagement and dialogue with these groups.
A focus on the environment sets Arcep apart: For Arcep, the environmental impact of telecoms networks, devices and ICT is a growing source of concern and has become a central feature of its regulatory work. This is in contrast to Ofcom, which has not included environmental issues within its review. Given its spectrum management duties, Arcep is keen to hear from citizens, associations and others about any positive or negative environmental effects of the use of certain bands and the potential of frequency assignments to help reduce networks’ carbon footprint and support digital sustainability.
