A plan to enable the UK to meet the growing demands placed on its wireless infrastructure over the next decade was today published by Ofcom.
30 Apr 2014 12:58 PM
The Spectrum Management Strategy sets Ofcom’s
strategic approach and priorities for managing radio spectrum, which underpins
all wireless services.
Applications that use this invisible but valuable resource include: mobile
phones and tablets, TV and radio broadcasting, communications for the emergency
services, aeronautical communications, wireless cameras, microphones,
smart-meters and wearable communications devices.
This work complements the Government’s aim to double the contribution
that spectrum services make to the UK economy to £100bn a year by
2025.
Ofcom has also today published its approach to spectrum sharing to promote
further innovation and the efficient use of this valuable resource. Ofcom is
already supporting trials of ‘white space’ technology, a new
concept that allows spectrum sharing and which can be used in a wide range of
fields such as transport, energy, healthcare and agriculture.
The Spectrum Management Strategy has examined approaches to enable use of
sharing by a wide range of sectors. As the intensity of spectrum use increases,
with greater levels of sharing between different uses, managing the
co-existence between services will become more important. Ofcom plans to meet
this challenge in the following ways:
- exploring opportunities for new types of spectrum sharing;
- managing the co-existence of different services and by promoting
technology improvements that minimise interference;
- providing more information on how spectrum is used in the UK. As
part of this, Ofcom has published today an interactive
spectrum map providing easy-to-access details on how different
frequencies are used in the UK; and
- leading discussions on international spectrum issues.
Six priorities for spectrum management
Ofcom has identified six priority areas for future spectrum use. They
are:
1. Future mobile data
demands: Ofcom will consider the potential impact these demands
have on other users of spectrum. Ofcom will also contribute to international
decisions, examine in detail the case for using more spectrum for mobile data,
support improvements in mobile coverage and monitor developments towards 5G
technology.
2. The future of the 700MHz
band and free-to-view TV: Ofcom is
investigating the potential to rearrange the bands used for digital terrestrial
TV. This could release more of this prime spectrum for mobile broadband use
sometime after 2018, while ensuring that viewers would continue to benefit from
digital terrestrial TV.
3. Public sector spectrum
release: Ofcom will support the Government in achieving its
target to release 500 MHz of spectrum from the public sector. A first step will
be the release of spectrum at 2.3 and 3.4 GHz, currently held by the Ministry
of Defence.
4. Programme Making and Special
Events: Ofcom is working with PMSE stakeholders to understand
their current and future spectrum demands for wireless microphones and
cameras.
5.Machine-to-Machine applications: Ofcom has started
work to understand the implications of the expected growth in M2M. Enabling
licence exempt access to the 870-915 MHz band is a first step towards ensuring
spectrum availability to support innovation in this area. The UK is among the
first countries globally to release spectrum that can support M2M
communications.
6.The emergency services: Ofcom will support the
Government is assessing how best to deliver the wireless communications needs
of the emergency services over the long term.
Encouraging the wider use of spectrum sharing
In the UK, half of all adults own a smartphone and one in four households
has a tablet computer, fuelling a surge in demand for more data capacity.
Meanwhile, researchcommissioned by Ofcom found that
by 2022 over 350 million additional devices in the UK – including cars,
crop sensors and washing machines – are also likely be connected to the
internet, many using tiny slivers of spectrum.
To help meet this demand and building on our existing work to open up TV
white spaces for use by a range of innovative services, Ofcom has identified
three key areas where spectrum sharing can play an important role:
- for indoor use: by continuing to provide high speed
wireless network connectivity to ensure that consumers can fully benefit from
the increasing availability of superfast broadband;
- for outdoor use: by increasing the supply of spectrum for
use by a growing number of small mobile broadband cells, which are being
deployed to help meet the growth in demand for mobile data capacity driven by
the increasing use of smartphones and tablets; and for
- the internet of things (IoT) use: by helping provide the
spectrum needed to support growth and innovation in the emerging IoT sector,
which is set to see hundreds of millions of devices become wirelessly
interconnected by the end of the decade. These new services have the potential
to provide benefits across a wide range of sectors, including healthcare,
energy distribution, transport and agriculture.
Ed Richards, Ofcom’s Chief Executive, said: “As we move to an
increasingly digital infrastructure across our economy it is wireless services
which offer some of the most exciting opportunities for growth and innovation.
Our spectrum management strategy is aimed at ensuring the regulatory approach
helps the UK take as many of these opportunities as possible.
“We are looking forward to working closely with people and
organisations across the UK and beyond who share our ambitions for this crucial
and growing area.”
The Ofcom Spectrum Management Strategy can be found here. A Statement on Spectrum Sharing can be
found here.
ENDS
NOTES FOR EDITORS:
- Assessment of Spectrum Demand for M2M Applications, report
by Aegis and Machina Research for Ofcom.
- Ofcom is the independent regulator and competition authority for
the UK communications industries, with responsibilities across television,
radio, telecommunications, wireless communications and postal services.
- For further information about Ofcom please visit: www.ofcom.org.uk.
Ofcom’s news releases can be found at: http://media.ofcom.org.uk/
CONTACT
Elliott Ball
elliott.ball@ofcom.org.uk
Ofcom Communications
(+44) (0)300 123 4000