The Austrian regulatory authority RTR has opened a public consultation on the utilisation of the 450 MHz band. This frequency band is currently designated to be used for the provision of mobile services and is unused in Austria.

RTR is conducting this public consultation in order to establish what the best use would be for this particular frequency band. The consultation document asks questions as to which application the frequencies should be used for (mobile or fixed – such as backhaul) and whether it should be used for narrowband, broadband, the transmission of speech, trunking, etc.

RTR seems particularly keen on using the frequencies to improve the possibility for users to have wireless broadband access in rural areas, and suggests dividing up the spectrum in channels of 1,25 MHz, although other solutions are also proposed further on in the consultation document.

The deadline for responding to this public consultation is 30 June 2005.

The consultation document (in German only) can be accessed by clicking here.