Spectrum Management

National Spectrum Management Obligation

 In accordance with Uganda Communications Act 1997, 

1. Uganda Communications Commission to ensure the orderly development and efficient operation of radio communications in Uganda, shall be the exclusive authority to issue:

(a) Licences for radio communications apparatus and spectrum use, and licences for possession and operation of radio communication apparatus;

(b) Any licence the Commission may consider appropriate and may fix the terms including the paying of fees for those licences.

2. Uganda Communications Commission, notwithstanding any other law, shall have the exclusive duty to:

(a) Plan, monitor, manage and allocate the use of radio frequency spectrum;

(b) Establish technical requirements and technical standards in relation to:

(i) radio communications apparatus;
(ii) interference-causing apparatus or any class there of; 

(c) Negotiate with the International telecommunications Union or its affiliated bodies in matters referred to in paragraph (a).

Office of Spectrum Management

In executing its functions as outlined above, Office of Spectrum Management was established within Uganda Communications Commission. 

The office of Spectrum Management is responsible for spectrum management activities, which effectiveness is essential for maintaining access to radio spectrum and hence the benefits radio can provide to Uganda as a country. 

The Office is responsible for the frequency planning, coordination allocations, assignments, regulating and administering of the use of radio frequencies; and the monitoring and enforcement procedures. It is further responsible for establishing regulations, frequency fees structure, technical parameters and standards governing the use of each band ensuring that current international regulations are met.

Frequency Allocation Strategies

The use of the radio spectrum is critical Uganda’s communications and indeed the country’s economy. 

The use of radio frequency spectrum is constantly increasing with new services in the market to the advantage of technological changes. 

Uganda Communications Commission is putting in place spectrum management policies that must be flexible and responsive to the needs of the market, recognising that each class of spectrum user has different requirements. For example, promoting the use spectrum -efficient technologies, such as narrow band transmission, trunking between cells with high mutual traffic loads and digital signalling, can sometimes relieve crowding in the mobile radio frequencies. 

The rise of competition in the restructured telecommunications and broadcasting sectors in Uganda is presenting new challenges in the way the radio frequency spectrum is managed. 

With such increase in the use of the radio frequencies, spectrum management has become particularly important for Uganda especially where:

 (a) local terrain favours the use of digital microwave as a transmission media for telephony;

 (b) currently there is an existing need for rural telephony penetration, a need that may be met by radio extensions ( such as through mobile cellular networks /wireless local loop) from the existing backbone systems;

Frequencies are allocated to service categories based on the total projected service requirements, and assigned to specific users as their needs develop. For Example, in the case of  cellular networks, where most countries have followed a policy of, first setting aside certain frequency bands for each of the cellular technologies, then licensing specific number of operators in each local market, and finally, granting specific frequency authorizations for each operator based on their system designs and market requirements. 

Although international frequencies allocation to broad service categories is done at World Radio communication Conferences under the uspices of ITU, actual frequency assignments is done in Uganda, which, at times may choose to adopt more narrowly defined allocation plans than the ITU's.

This process needs long-term planning that is essential to ensure that useable frequencies are available when continuing market developments lead to the introduction of newer and more advanced technologies. 

Considering that radio spectrum is a natural but limited resource and that no additional spectrum cannot be produced and discovered, the UCC can maximise spectrum capacity by adopting one or more of the following strategies:

(a) Making more efficient use of the current allocations;

 (b) Re-accommodating incumbent spectrum users to less congested frequency bands;

(c) Replacing spectrum technologies with non-spectrum technologies such as fiber optics;

(d) Taking advantage of newer technologies that utilize high frequencies.

UCC plans to work with spectrum users to develop Uganda’s national table of frequency allocations with a degree of conformity with ITU table of frequency allocations but based on market requirements within the country.