German Parliament moves to protect “cultural frequencies” in the 470 to 694 MHz band

The future of this frequency range will be discussed at the next World Radiocommunication Conference, which will take place in 2023, promoted by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU/ITU).

Several parliamentarians from different groups of the Bundestag in German have mobilized to defend the frequencies used by DTT, cameras and wireless microphones in the 470 to 694 MHz band. The future of this frequency range will be discussed at the next World Radiocommunication Conference, which will take place in 2023, promoted by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU/ITU).

Already preparing for this summit, the Federal Agency for Electricity, Gas, Telecommunications, Post and Railway Networks in Germany has commissioned a study on the use of the decimeter wave band. Some pressure groups are calling for culture and broadcasting to give up frequencies and transfer them to mobile telephony.

These frequencies have been reduced twice since 2010 and are now just a shadow of what they once were. On the contrary, mobile telephony has been able to ensure wide frequency ranges that the sector does not fully exploit. The increase in mobile phone use during the pandemic has not revealed any lack of resources.

As far as mobile telephony is concerned, the UHF band would also represent only a negligible addition to transmission capacity. On the other hand, culture and terrestrial broadcasting urgently need this spectrum, which has technical characteristics that other frequency ranges cannot offer.

To date, the UHF band has been guaranteed for culture and broadcasting until December 2030. According to German parliamentarians, no more frequencies in the UHF range are needed, either now or in the future, to achieve the Federal Government's broadband targets. However, these frequencies are extremely important and are vital to the broadcasting and cultural industries. Despite all the technological advances, it is still unclear whether digitalization and the use of 5G will be available for broadcasting, the cultural industry and the events industry as an efficient alternative.

These parliamentarians now propose that the Bundestag reaffirms its commitment to supporting culture and broadcasting by renewing its promise to safeguard frequencies until December 2030. At the same time, they believe that broadcasting and the cultural and creative industries deserve a roadmap for the next decade.

With this roadmap, the aim is to protect small and medium-sized radio companies and also stations in Germany. Ultimately, it would be about preserving terrestrial broadcasting in the long term, they say.

At the same time, for security reasons, Germany needs a broadcast channel (DVB-T2, 5G broadcast technology) that is available autonomously, without any influence from third parties. We must take measures to avoid total dependence on mobile phone companies and social networks in the interests of diversity of opinions and the functioning of democracy. Therefore, multiple and independent systems are better than a monoculture of mobile telephony, for the sake of culture and broadcasting, as well as for the benefit of citizens and the state, say parliamentarians from the political groups SPD, Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, Die Linke and FDP.