Copenhagen, May 11, 2020: The European Communications Office (ECO) has released its annual report for 2019 – highlighting one of its busiest years to date. The ECO provides expert advice and administrative support to the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT).

This year’s edition lists a multitude of activities and achievements in support of the work of CEPT’s three autonomous business committees – CERP, Com-ITU and the ECC.

Highlights from the year include:

• Supporting CEPT at the World Radio Communication Conference with two dedicated spectrum experts onsite in Egypt for the four-week conference;
• Actively contributing to 97 physical meetings within the CEPT’s committees: 276 person-days shared across its team. 27 of these meetings were hosted  by ECO in its newly refurbished offices in Copenhagen,  attracting more than 570 participants:
• Releasing a new version of SEAMCAT, an open source and free-of-charge software tool which can assess the potential interference between different radiocommunication systems that operate in shared, overlapping or adjacent frequency bands. The new version includes important improvements and new features for simulating 5G systems;
• Organising a thematic workshop on “New Spectrum Solutions for Industry Sectors” and an induction workshop on “European Spectrum Management and Numbering” aimed at newcomers to the work of CEPT;

Speaking at the launch of the annual report, ECO Council Chairperson Marta Leandro said: “It is 10 years since the ECO published its first annual report, which it did to improve the understanding of our work and to provide greater transparency. A decade on, I believe we have achieved that goal. With communication being ever important in today’s society, our team – of just 12 people – yet again demonstrated its ability to provide first class support and advice to CEPT and vital information to the public and all of CEPT’s stakeholders.”

Per Christensen, ECO Director, added: “I am proud of the work the entire ECO team continues to do.  In this ever-changing world of communications, their commitment is constant. Recent global events have highlighted yet again the importance of communications technology and how it will play a key role in meeting those challenges. The ECO looks forward to playing its part in the continued improvement of Europe’s communications services.”

To read the full ECO Annual Report for 2019, please visit https://cept.org/eco/eco-in-brief/eco-annual-report.

About the ECO: The European Communications Office (ECO) is the permanent office of the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT), an organisation where policymakers and regulators from 48 European countries co-operate and contribute to developing more vibrant and dynamic markets for electronic communications and postal services.

The ECO provides expert advice and administrative support to CEPT to help it to develop and deliver its policies and decisions effectively and transparently. The Office is a European centre of expertise in electronic communications providing a platform for CEPT member countries and concerned stakeholders to discuss, debate and collaborate on advancing European communications policy for the benefit of all Europe’s citizens.

About CEPT: The European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT) is an organisation founded in 1959 and comprises three autonomous business committees.

• CERP: The European Committee for Postal Regulation (CERP) is responsible for postal regulation, as well as European co-ordination and preparation for meetings of the Universal Postal Union (UPU).
• Com-ITU: The Committee for ITU Policy (Com-ITU) organises and co-ordinates CEPT actions for the preparation for, and during the course of, meetings and conferences of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).
• ECC: The Electronic Communications Committee develops common policies and regulations for Europe in the field of electronic communications and related applications and prepares European positions and common proposals to represent European interests at a global level.

For further information, please contact the ECO at eco@eco.cept.org.