Brussels backs telecoms against TVs in frequency fight

As digital TV replaces our old analogue TV, four-fifths of the airwaves that used to carry TV broadcasts to our homes will be freed up. This means that they can be used for new, innovative services that use radio spectrum, from wireless internet and more advanced mobile phones to new interactive and high-definition TV channels. Remote regions could be big winners from this as wireless broadband could use the new spectrum to deliver high-speed internet to areas not yet reached by landlines.

The European Commission set out on the 28 October 2009 plans for a coordinated distribution of spectrum that encourages investment and competition in these potential new services.

If the allocation of the newly freed airwaves – the "digital dividend" – to new services is coordinated across Europe it could give the economy a boost of €20 to €50 billion. The plan for the realisation of the digital dividend's full potential involves the European Parliament and EU countries, reflecting the major part they have to play.

• Primary Source

European Commission: Press Release: IP/09/1595: European Commission wants airwaves freed-up by move to digital TV to work for swift economic recovery http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/09/1595&format=DOC&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

European Commission: DG Information Society: Policies: eCommunications: Delivering the digital dividend http://ec.europa.eu/information_society/policy/ecomm/radio_spectrum/topics/reorg/dividend/index_en.htm

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