scope:

The present document is intended to cover the provisions of Directive 1999/5/EC (R&TTE Directive) [1] regarding article 3.2, which states that "[...] radio equipment shall be so constructed that it effectively uses the spectrum allocated to terrestrial/space radio communications and orbital resources so as to avoid harmful interference".

The present document with EN 302 217-2-2 (see bibliography) and EN 302 217-3 (see bibliography) intend to replace and supersede, after a suitable transition period, the harmonized EN 301 751 (see bibliography) for all P-P equipment and antennas.

Those documents introduces, for systems (equipment and antennas) already covered by EN 301 751 (see bibliography), equal, technically equivalent or less stringent requirements. Therefore, from a strictly technical point of view, it is expected that antennas, covered in the present document and already conforming to the previous EN 301 751 (see bibliography), would not need a new test report for re-assessment of essential requirements according this new EN 302 217 series (see notes); however, legal implications with respect to the declaration of conformity have not been considered, not being in the scope of the present document.

NOTE 1: Few antenna types of the lower classes, covered by EN 301 751, based on EN 300 631 and EN 300 833 (see these references in the bibliography), have not been carried over into the present document because no longer considered appropriate, from the system point of view, with the increasing demand of spectrum in ETSI Countries, and therefore no more suitable for essential requirements under article 3.2 of the R&TTE Directive [1] within the European Union. Nevertheless, recognizing that ETSI ENs have worldwide relevance, they are still found into EN 301 217-4-1 (see bibliography).

In addition to the present document, other ENs that specify technical requirements in respect of essential requirements under other parts of article 3 of the R&TTE Directive will apply to equipment within the scope of the present document.

NOTE 2: A list of such ENs is included on the web site http://www.newapproach.org .

In order to technically cover different market and network requirements, with appropriate balance of cost/benefit, the present document, together with EN 302 217-2-2 (see bibliography), offers a number of system types and antennas alternatives, for different network/market requirements, including:

• channel separation alternatives (as provided by the relevant CEPT Recommendation);

• spectral efficiency class alternatives (different complexity of modulation formats provided in radio equipment standards);

• antenna directivity class alternatives (for different network density requirement).

As the Fixed Service generally operates in non harmonized bands, national regulatory bodies can limit the licensing only to some selected alternatives according to the provision of R&TTE Directive [1], article 7.2 that reads: "National Regulatory Bodies may restrict the putting into service of radio equipment only for reasons related to the effective and appropriate use of the radio spectrum, avoidance of harmful interference or matters relating to public health".

The permitted alternatives should be included within the "national radio interface notification" under the provisions of the R&TTE Directive [1], article 4.1 so that the covered alternatives could be mentioned in the "notification of the intention to place a DFRS on the national market" under the provision of R&TTE Directive [1], article 6.4.

Instructions for fulfilling notification of interfaces according to article 4.1 of the R&TTE Directive [1] for P-P Fixed Service systems is provided in annex B of EN 302 217-1[3].

The present document is considered applicable to fixed radio systems products with integral antennas, for which all the technical requirements included in the present document, in EN 302 217-2-2 (see bibliography) and in EN 302 217-3 (see bibliography) apply; the present document apply, as well, to separate antenna products, to which only the relevant technical requirements apply, and which might therefore be subject to separate declarations of conformity with respect to the essential requirements of the R&TTE Directive [1].

In particular, it has to be noted that TCAM, while recognizing the "essentiality" of antenna directional requirements for some applications, including the Fixed Service, has deliberated that there should be no obligation for separate declaration of conformity for stand alone antennas and that the respect to the relevant essential requirements should be demanded to the final system integrator.

However, it has also been recognized that the assessment of article 3.2 requirements on the radio-sites is technically impractical. Therefore, it should not be forbidden to a supplier of DFRS antennas, who decides, to declare compliance to the relevant harmonized standard (or part thereof, in this case), to affix the CE label to a stand-alone Fixed Radio antenna product, fulfilling all other obligations foreseen by the R&TTE Directive [1]; in particular, providing information for the user on the intended use of the apparatus. The final system integrator might benefit of such declaration of conformity for any final radio-site assessment obligations.

In any case, the antenna supplier is expected to keep a technical construction file (according to annex II of R&TTE Directive [1]) to be supplied, on request, to the radio system vendor or to the final system integrator.