Wireless Telegraphy (Mobile Communication Services on Aircraft) (Exemption) Regulations 2017: Extension to Jersey

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A decision made 24 July 2017:

Ministerial decision reference MD-C-2017-0063
Decision summary title Extension of the Wireless Telegraphy (Mobile Communication Services on Aircraft) (Exemption) Regulations 2017 to Jersey
Decision summary author	Digital Policy and Liaison Officer	Is the decision summary public or exempt?	Public
Report title Notice of proposal to make the Wireless Telegraphy (Mobile Communication Services on Aircraft) (Exemption) Regulations 2017
Report author or name of person giving report		Is the report public or exempt?	Public
Decision and reason for the decision Further to the extension, with modifications, of the Wireless Telegraphy Act 2006 to Jersey, via the approval by the States Assembly of P.117/2006 on 22nd November 2006, the Assistant Chief Minister agreed that, subject to registration in the Royal Court, the Wireless Telegraphy (Mobile Communication Services on Aircraft) (Exemption) Regulations 2017 would take effect in Jersey. The UK’s Office of Communication (Ofcom) is bringing forward the Wireless Telegraphy (Mobile Communication Services on Aircraft) (Exemption) Regulations 2017 (the “Proposed Regulations”) which would revoke and replace the Wireless Telegraphy (Mobile Communication Services on Aircraft) (Exemption) Regulations 2014 in order to implement the requirements of the European Commission Implementation Decision of 16 December 2016 (2016/2317/EU) (the “2016 Amending Decision”). The Proposed Regulations will apply in the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, subject to formal agreement of the Crown Dependencies. The Proposed Regulations would allow airline passengers to use mobile services, within certain bands of spectrum, as authorised by Ofcom providing that all necessary security requirements have been met. The regulations will be enforced by Ofcom, as the body responsible for regulating spectrum allocation in the UK, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. The Assistant Minister considers that there is a rationale to extend the Proposed Regulations as they are deregulatory in effect, contribute to the harmonisation of international standards and offer benefits to Jersey: i) The authorisation of the licence exempt use of GSM, UMTS and LTE technologies available on board aircrafts reduces the regulatory and administrative burden and helps to secure the optimal use of spectrum. ii) Updating the regulatory framework to reflect that the use of the Network Control Unit (NCU) should be made optional where GSM and LTE technologies are in operation and the proposal to invite Mobile Communications on Aircraft (MCA) operators to stop current NCU operation at 2.6 GHz wherever possible would help significantly reducing their cost to MCA operators. iii) The Proposed Regulations allows for the mutual recognition of authorisations for MCA on the basis of common technical and authorisation requirements. This will make communication more accessible to citizens and consumers on board aircrafts across the EU. If Jersey did not participate in this approach, the competitive position of airlines operating in Jersey compared to those of EU Member States might be damaged and it might be argued that Jersey businesses and consumers would be disadvantaged in not implementing the Proposed Regulations. Not implementing the decision would mean that MCA operators will be faced with unnecessary regulatory burdens faced with the mandatory requirement to use NCU for GSM and LTE systems.
Resource implications There are no resource implications arising from this Ministerial decision.
Action required This decision will be sent to Ofcom in order to cover Jersey under the terms of the regulations.
Signature		Position Senator Paul Routier M.B.E. Assistant Chief Minister
Date signed		Effective date of the decision