4.9B.2 Diligent assessment

The decision whether to withdraw (a) specification(s) or whether to remove functionality from within specifications shall only be taken once thorough consideration has been given to the implications and applicability of the action.

The withdrawing of a specification or functionality shall be explicitly identified as one of the objectives of a work item.

The withdrawing of a specification or functionality may be documented in:

• a work item that defines new functionality that will obsolete the specification or functionality; or
• documented in a work item that is solely for the purpose of withdrawing.

Technical Enhancements and Improvement (TEI) and other similar general purpose enhancement work items shall not be used for the withdrawing of a specification or functionality.

The assessment of whether to withdraw functionality may extend beyond 3GPP TSGs and their working groups. A notice shall be placed on the 3GPP site to solicit comments from other concerned parties and shall clearly indicate which specifications and functionality are considered for withdrawal, including which versions of the specification would be affected, the date at which a decision will be taken and the responsible TSG to which third parties may send related Liaison Statements or other correspondence.

A study item may contain, as one of its objectives and/or its conclusions, consideration of whether existing functionality should be withdrawn and the identification of the impact of the withdrawing of functionality or specifications.