Protection criteria and licensing process
Taking account of the examples calculations and according to experience the German administration concluded that in the frequency range from 800 to 2600 MHz a reasonable maximum permissible field strength value is 90 dBµV/m. The permissible field strength for the frequency range below 800 MHz is set at 80 dBµV/m.
The licensing process is adapted to verify that a transmitter will not exceed the set field strength. A software tool is used to predict the field strength at the monitoring station caused by the transmitter. Depending on the result, the license will be issued.
• If the calculated value is obviously below the limit, the application will be accepted.
• A conditional acceptance will be issued if the calculated value gets close to or slightly exceeds the limit. To assign a final acceptance or to withdraw the conditional one an on-site field measurement is obligatory.
• The license request will be declined, if the calculated value exceeds significantly the threshold value.
An important party that has to respect the protections zones are the commercial telecommunication providers. To save time, man power and costs on both sides, necessary information needs to be shared between the regulatory authority and the providers. Beside the set protection criteria the provider should have a complete and updated listing of the monitoring stations that needs to be protected. This information allows the providers a practical handling with the applicable regulations and enables to an efficient network planning despite of the existence of protection criteria.