Who’s Afraid of a Pan-European Spectrum Policy? The EU and the Battles Over the UHF Broadcast Band

Authors

  • Marko Ala-Fossi School of Communication, Media and Theatre, University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland.
  • Montse Bonet Audiovisual Communications and Advertising Department, Faculty of Communication Sciences, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.

Keywords:

European Union, Finland, spectrum policy, broadcasting, mobile telecommunication

Abstract

Several European Union (EU) member states have consistently opposed European Commission (EC) efforts to create a supranational EU spectrum policy, but only Finland voted against the EC at the World Radiocommunication Conference in 2015, proposing the release of the entire ultra-high frequency (UHF) band for mobile use. Originally, in 2007, the EC and Finland wanted quick release of the UHF for mobile, but the EC has changed its UHF policy completely. Based on a new institutionalism approach, this article argues that one of the main reasons for this development is that the EU’s spectrum policy planning system has become intergovernmental. The EU members are now able to force the EC to seek a wide consensus on spectrum policy. The unique Finnish spectrum policy stand is based on certain nation-specific institutional factors: concentration of power in the spectrum policy, strong economic orientation of the communication policy, and oversupply of UHF frequencies.

Author Biographies

Marko Ala-Fossi, School of Communication, Media and Theatre, University of Tampere, Tampere, Finland.

Marko Ala-Fossi (D.Soc.Sc.) is a university lecturer at the University of Tampere, Finland and a research fellow in a project entitled ‘Broadcasting in the post-broadcast era: Policy, technology and content production’ funded by the Academy of Finland (2013–2017). He is a former journalist and market analyst at the Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE) (1989–2004). His research interests include media policy, political economy and social shaping of the media technologies.

Montse Bonet, Audiovisual Communications and Advertising Department, Faculty of Communication Sciences, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.

Montse Bonet is a tenured lecturer at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain and the Spanish partner of the project group (Focus A) involved in a project entitled “Broadcasting in the post-broadcast era: Policy, technology and content production’ funded by the Academy of Finland (2013–2017). She has a Ph.D. degree in Information Sciences (UAB). Her main research subjects include cultural industries, ICT, audio-visual public service and media policy.

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Published

2018-01-16

Issue

Vol. 12 (2018)

Section

Articles

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