Ofcom To Free Radio Spectrum For Multiple Uses
Media regulator Ofcom has announced proposals to deregulate the use of the UK’s radio frequencies, allowing more services to share the airspace and extending the offerings currently available from broadcasters.
Ofcom currently splits the use of radio signals into 11 categories for specific types of usage, including aeronautical and maritime, amateur and citizens and broadband fixed wireless access. Other categories defined by the regulator are those for broadcasting, business radio, programme making and special events. Ofcom also differentiates the spectrum for satellites, space science and non-operational licensing.
Under the new proposals, which are subject to public consultation, these categories could be blurred, with three key licence types: business radio, fixed wireless access and fixed wireless services being addressed as a priority. The watchdog states that holders of these licence types could benefit from deregulation before the end of 2004.
The changes are required of Ofcom under the recently introduced Communications Act, as the regulator must secure ‘optimal use of the electro-magnetic spectrum’ in the UK, a provision which necessitates deregulation to allow new services the chance to evolve.
However, as the watchdog states, spectrum liberalisation is not without risk. Radio signals can interfere with each other, resulting in a poor experience for the user and loss of revenue for the operator. Ofcom intends to look at licence change applications on a case-by-case basis to prevent this, determining the potential for interference separately for each application.
Ofcom expects the deregulation to make it ‘easier for entrepreneurs and innovators to enter the market, deploy new technologies and applications, and compete with existing players’. The watchdog claims the new freedom for broadcasters will result in airspace becoming a much more valuable commodity, with the spectrum migrating from ‘relatively low value uses to higher value ones’.
The proposals will also allow current frequency licence holders to sell their airspace in an open market, should they find a bidder with a better use for it. The deadline for submissions to Ofcom’s public consultation is 12 November.
Ofcom recently freed a large proportion of the broadcast radio spectrum for use as small scale community radio stations. The proposals attracted criticism from commercial broadcasters, amid fears that advertising revenue would be cannibalised by the new stations, particularly when operating in low population areas (see Community Radio Edges Closer Despite Opposition).
The regulator has also stated that it is in no rush to set a switchover date for the UK’s radio broadcasters to begin digital-only services. The regulator’s chief executive, Stephen Carter, claimed that a switch-off date that was too early could make the transition to digital less achievable for the majority of radio companies. He said: “Using the force majeure of a date to focus on can easily backfire” (see Ofcom In No Rush To Set Switch-Off Date For Radio).
Ofcom: 020 7981 3040 www.ofcom.org.uk
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