Commission Implementing Decision (EU) 2016/2317 of 16 December 2016 amending Decision 2008/294/EC and Implementing Decision 2013/654/EU, in order to simplify the operation of mobile communications on board aircraft (MCA services) in the Union (notified under document C(2016) 8413) (Text with EEA relevance )

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Decision No 676/2002/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 7 March 2002 on a regulatory framework for radio spectrum policy in the European Community (Radio Spectrum Decision)⁽¹⁾, and in particular Article 4(3) thereof,

Whereas:

1. Commission Decision 2008/294/EC⁽²⁾ sets technical and operational conditions necessary to allow the use of GSM, UMTS and LTE on board aircraft (MCA services) in the European Union.

2. Current legislation requires the presence of a Network Control Unit (NCU) as part of MCA equipment on board airplanes to prevent mobile terminals on board aircraft from attempting to register with terrestrial mobile communications networks.

3. The Commission gave a mandate on 7 October 2015 to the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (‘the CEPT’), pursuant to Article 4(2) of Decision No 676/2002/EC, to undertake technical studies regarding the need to keep the usage of the NCU mandatory on-board MCA enabled aircraft.

4. Following that mandate, the CEPT adopted on 17 November 2016 its Report 63 which concluded that it is possible to make the use of an NCU optional for GSM and LTE systems considering that MCA operations without NCU guarantee a reasonable protection against interference for terrestrial networks.

5. In accordance with the conclusions of the CEPT Report, it is no longer necessary to actively prevent through an NCU the connection of mobile terminals to terrestrial mobile networks operating in the band 2 570-2 690 MHz. Article 2 of Commission Implementing Decision 2013/654/EU⁽³⁾ therefore becomes obsolete and should be deleted.

6. However, with regard to UMTS systems, the CEPT concluded that an NCU remains necessary to prevent connections between terrestrial UMTS networks and user equipment on board aircraft. Studies showed that such connections could cause a partial and temporary reduction in capacity for the connecting and neighbouring cells on the ground. The other solution to attenuate signals entering and leaving the cabin and to prevent unwanted connections is to add sufficient shielding to the aircraft fuselage.

7. MCA technical specifications should remain under review in order to ensure that they always match technological progress.

8. The measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Radio Spectrum Committee,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: