Issue
6: January
Previous
editions
In this edition:
New Visions after the World Summit on the Information Society
1. *Spectrum
management in a converging world: The case of the UK
2. The road ahead after the first phase
of WSIS: Hot topics for 2004
3. ITU
reform: Solutions in the making
*"Spectrum Management
in a Converging World" is the title of a new
workshop organized by the ITU Strategy and Policy Unit (SPU) in the
context of a new series of workshops and symposia to take
place during 2004. A publication based on each event will be
made available for sale through the ITU Sales Service
(sales@itu.int), and background information pertaining to
each event is published on the ITU website at: http://www.itu.int/ni.
This series of ITU events and publications has been made
possible with the help of the Japanese Ministry of Public
Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications (MPHPT).
Material in this issue of our Newsletter provides a
preview of some of the topics of focus in 2004. These topics
have been selected based on responses to an annual
questionnaire from ITU Member States and Sector Members, as
well as on calls made in the World Summit on the Information
Society (WSIS) Declaration of Principles and
Plan of Action
to develop international studies on some of the particularly
pressing issues of the information society.
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1. Spectrum Management in a Converging
world: The case of the UK
This article is an extract from a case study on spectrum
management in the United Kingdom prepared by Martin
Cave, Professor and Director,
Centre for Management under Regulation, Warwick Business School,
University of Warwick (United Kingdom) as part of an ITU Workshop
on Radio Spectrum Management for a Converging World organized in
collaboration with the ITU Radiocommunication Bureau (BR). The
workshop manager is Eric Lie and the series is organized
under the overall responsibility of Tim Kelly, Head, ITU
Strategy and Policy Unit (SPU). Further information and other case
studies on spectrum management in Australia and Guatemala can be
found at: http://www.itu.int/spectrum.
The views expressed in the paper are
those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of ITU
or its membership.
The communications environment in the
United Kingdom
The UK communications sector is regulated by
a variety of Acts, the two most recent of which are the Wireless
Telegraphy Act of 1998 and the Communications Act of 2003.
These Acts are of special interest because, as outlined in
more detail in the full case study, they introduced major reforms
into spectrum management – the former permits the application of
administered prices for spectrum and auctions, the latter spectrum
trading.
The principal body responsible for spectrum
management has since 29 December 2003 been the Office of
Communications, known as OFCOM, an independent agency which on
that date took over the function from the Radiocommunications
Agency, part of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).
OFCOM is responsible for spectrum management and is also
responsible for the issue and enforcement of licences.
Such licences take various forms.
In relation to the bulk of licensed spectrum, they take the
form of apparatus licences, which precisely define the radio
station, its location and technical characteristics.
Some licences are issued annually, subject to renewal;
others are issued without specific time limitation, but subject to
revocation in certain circumstances.
Unlicensed
spectrum
The mode of spectrum management applied to
unlicensed spectrum involves eschewing licensing completely,
making the spectrum licence-exempt and allowing access to any user
satisfying certain conditions, such as on the power of equipment
utilized. A list of bands
which are currently licence-exempt in the United Kingdom is given
in Table 1 below.
Table 1:
Unlicensed spectrum in the UK
Generic
Frequency Band
|
Application
|
9 kHz to 30 MHz
|
Short-range inductive applications
|
27 MHz
|
Telemetry, telecommand and model
control
|
40 MHz
|
Telemetry, telecommand and model
control
|
49 MHz
|
General purpose low power devices
|
173 MHz
|
Alarms, telemetry, telecommand and
medical applications
|
405 MHz
|
Ultra low power medical implants
devices
|
418 MHz
|
General purpose telemetry and
telecommand applications
|
458 MHz
|
Alarms, telemetry, telecommand and
medical applications
|
864 MHz
|
Cordless audio applications
|
868 MHz
|
Alarms, telemetry and telecommand
applications
|
2400 MHz
|
General purpose short-range
applications, including CCTV and RFID.
Also used for WLANs including Bluetooth applications
|
5.8 GHz
|
HiperLANs, general purpose short-range
applications, including road traffic and transport
telematics
|
10.5 GHz
|
Movement detection
|
24 GHz
|
Movement detection
|
63 GHz
|
2nd phase road traffic and
transport telematics
|
76 GHz
|
Vehicle radar systems
|
Source: OFCOM (United
Kingdom)
Unlicensed spectrum has caught the
imagination in the UK, as elsewhere, as a result of the
development of Wireless Fidelity, or "Wi-Fi" hotspots,
offering Internet access to nomadic users over a small radius. Following a consultation, the UK Government permitted
operators to provide commercial services using unlicensed
spectrum. This has allowed,
for example, the supply of paying Wi-Fi services in places such as
coffee-shops.
In its Strategy
for the Future use of the Radio Spectrum in the UK (2002), the
Radiocommunications Agency noted that:
"Licence-exemption can offer significant
advantages for users, particularly the cost savings and
convenience resulting from the possibility of using radio
equipment without the need to apply for a Wireless Telegraphy Act
Licence and a specific spectrum assignment. This offers obvious
advantages in relation to mass-produced items for domestic use,
such as remote controls or garage-door openers, for which
individual licensing would not be feasible, and for private users
or small businesses who wish to use radio equipment in a domestic
or office setting. The Agency has made a number of bands available
on a licence-exempt basis and these are set out in Exemption
Regulations which are reviewed periodically.
[...]
Licence-exempt bands are not centrally
coordinated and interference between devices on the same frequency
is limited to some extent by the power imitations imposed in the
Interface Requirements. The self-evident limitation of
uncoordinated licence-exempt bands is that there can be no
guarantee of any degree of spectrum quality for users in any given
area, who must expect that on occasions there will be instances of
co-channel interference. Moreover, the Agency is aware that
short-range low-power devices for mass market applications
invariably have limited receiver performance in terms of poor
selectivity. This renders them liable in particular to
interference from generally higher power devices operating in
adjacent licensed bands.
As the number of short-range wireless
applications increases, it is possible that, in some areas of
dense use, the noise floor will increase and new techniques may be
required to ameliorate the effects of interference. Such
techniques are available in the form of technologies to improve
channel access generally through dynamic frequency selection and
power control. Nevertheless, the Agency is aware that under
extreme conditions there will be limitations through possible
congestion and intends to work with industry to ensure that these
are understood by potential users, particularly in regard to the
unprotected mature of deregulated spectrum.
Another potential difficulty, from a spectrum
management point of view, is that the process of deregulating a
band is very difficult to reverse, as there will be no record of
the equipment used in the band and no way of requiring its use to
be discontinued other than the slow process of withdrawing the
relevant UK Interface Requirement and waiting for the items in use
to reach the end of their life."
In the Spectrum
Trading Consultation, OFCOM notes that:
“Where OFCOM is satisfied that particular
radio equipment is not likely to involve any undue interference
with wireless telegraphy, OFCOM will be required to exempt the use
of that radio equipment from the general obligation to obtain a WT
Act licence. As part of this process, the Radiocommunications
Agency is currently considering the possibility of deregulation in
certain licence classes. For example, it may be possible in future
to exempt on-board maritime spectrum use from individual
licensing. In future, as technologies such as software-defined
radio advance and become more widespread, OFCOM may make much
greater use of licence exemption as a spectrum management tool,
rather than issuing tradable licences."
As an illustration of this approach, In
October 2003, the Radiocommunications Agency published a
consultation document on Use
of the 2010 to 2025 MHz Band for the Provision of 3G
Telecommunications Services. This
is of interest, since for the first time it sought views on
whether the band should be employed for licence-exempt
self-providing applications, or whether it should be licensed.
2. The road ahead after the first
phase of WSIS: Hot topics for 2004
This section provides a preview of some of the major
topics of focus of ITU in 2004. These topics have been selected based on
responses to an annual questionnaire from ITU Member States and Sector
Members, as well as on calls made in the World Summit on the Information
Society (WSIS) Declaration of Principles and Plan of Action to develop
international studies on some of the particularly pressing issues of the
information society.
1. Workshop on Internet governance (26-27
February 2004)
The WSIS Declaration of Principles states the following on
the topic of Internet governance:
"The
Internet has evolved into a global facility available to the public and its
governance should constitute a core issue of the Information Society agenda.
The international management of the Internet should be multilateral,
transparent and democratic, with the full involvement of governments, the
private sector, civil society and international organizations. It should
ensure an equitable distribution of resources, facilitate access for all and
ensure a stable and secure functioning of the Internet, taking into account
multilingualism."
It
goes on to state:
"[...]
International Internet governance issues should be addressed in a
coordinated manner. We
ask the Secretary-General of the United Nations to set up a working group on
Internet governance, in an open and inclusive process that ensures a
mechanism for the full and active participation of governments, the private
sector and civil society from both developing and developed countries,
involving relevant intergovernmental and international organizations and
forums, to investigate and make proposals for action, as appropriate, on the
governance of Internet by 2005."
The
WSIS Plan of Action also sets
out proposals as follows:
"We
ask the Secretary General of the United Nations to set up a working group on
Internet governance, in an open and inclusive process that ensures a
mechanism for the full and active participation of governments, the private
sector and civil society from both developing and developed countries,
involving relevant intergovernmental and international organizations and
forums, to investigate and make proposals for action, as appropriate, on the
governance of Internet by 2005. The
group should, inter alia:
i)
develop a working definition of Internet governance;
ii)
identify the public policy issues that are relevant to Internet
governance;
iii)
develop a common understanding of the respective roles and
responsibilities of governments, existing intergovernmental and
international organisations and other forums as well as the
private sector and civil society from both developing and developed
countries;
iv)
prepare a report on the results of this activity to be presented for
consideration and appropriate action for the second phase of WSIS in Tunis
in 2005."
One of the objectives of this new ITU workshop is to initiate a process
to prepare ITU's inputs and position vis-à-vis the working group to be
established on Internet governance resulting from the Declaration
of Principles and Plan
of Action adopted on 12 December 2003 at the first phase of the World
Summit on the Information Society (WSIS).
The workshop will provide a forum for exchanging views on definitions,
viewpoints, visions and analytical studies on Internet governance. The
output of the workshop will be submitted to the appropriate ITU
decision-making bodies for their further consideration. Attendance is
open to all
ITU Member States and Sector Members and individually
invited selected experts in Internet governance. For additional
information, see the related links or contact the ITU
Strategy and Policy Unit at spumail@itu.int.
2. Spectrum Management in a Converging
World (16-18 February 2004) (see above)
3. Shaping the Future Mobile Information Society and the
Future Broadband Convergence Network (3-5 March 2004)
Following on from major telecommunications issues in 2003,
and on the basis of ITU Member States' and Sector Members' selections, a
two-day workshop on this topic will be held in Seoul, Republic of Korea
(hosted by the Korean Ministry of Information and Communication (MIC)),
on 4 and 5 March 2004, preceded by a one-day symposium focusing on
broadband.
For further information visit: http://www.itu.int/futuremobile.
4. SPAM (31 May-1 June 2004)
Also selected as an area of high current interest by ITU
Member States and Sector Members, and highlighted by the World Summit on the
Information Society (WSIS) as one of the key issues to be tackled by
policy-makers, regulators and other interest groups in the near future, is
SPAM. A workshop on the topic will be held on 31 May and 1 June 2004.
Further information will become available presently at: http://www.itu.int/ni.
3. ITU
Reform: Solutions in the making
Based on Decision 7 (Marrakesh, 2002) of the highest
decision-making body of ITU, the Plenipotentiary Conference, in 2002, and as
a result of ongoing work within the ITU Administrative Council (composed of
government representatives), an external consultancy has been recruited by
ITU with a view to helping the organization respond to the fast-changing
telecommunications environment. As a true reflection of the international
and independent nature of ITU, the reform process has been carried out with
the full involvement of the organization's members representing 189 world
economies.
For
further information on Strategy
and Policy
Unit Monthly News Flash, please
contact: ITU Strategy and Policy Unit, International
Telecommunication Union, Place des Nations, CH-1211 Geneva 20
(Switzerland). Fax: +41 22 730 6453. E-mail: spumail@itu.int
. Website: www.itu.int/spu/ |
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