PT Sept 2010

Contents
MOBILE
4
OperatOrs have high hOpes fOr new mOBile televisiOn standard
5
OfcOm tests Olympic spectrum
Operators watch and wait as Ofcom juggles hot potato

The UK coalition governments first attempt to address the thorny issue of spectrum reform appears to have gone down better with stakeholders than the previous governments proposals, although there are still a lot of unanswered questions.
6
mOre spectrum nOt necessarily the answer fOr mOBile OperatOrs
7
pmse industry prOtests Over cOmpensatiOn package
8
Brazil plans lte rOllOut in time fOr 2014 wOrld cup
by Michael Newlands The answers will have to come from telecoms regulator Ofcom, which will once again be in the driving seat if legislation now before parliament is passed as expected in the autumn. Ofcom will be directed to prepare the groundwork for the long-delayed 2.6 GHz auction, to be held alongside the digital dividend 800 MHz auction, possibly towards the end of 2011. The regulator had originally planned to hold the 2.6 GHz auction as early as 2007, but pressure from mobile operators and then political interference saw spectrum refarming and possible reallocation of existing spectrum getting lumped together with the issue of new spectrum. Agreement was close by the third quarter of 2009, according to a source close to the operators. Although there were various agendas at play during all the delays and prevarication, at the heart of the matter were the disparate spectrum holdings of the five mobile operators and a desire on the part of the government
Background
9
us lawmakers intrOduce prOpOsal fOr spectrum incentive auctiOns
10
french umts 1800 pilOt has implicatiOns fOr uk OperatOrs
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auctiOn results Bring real cOmpetitiOn tO mexican market
12
BrOadcasters want mOre certainty fOr eng
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pOrtugal and italy mOve tOwards switch-Off
Special report: M2M communications
14
smart metering and smart grids dOminate m2m space
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dOes m2m need its Own spectrum?
16
Battle tO prOvide netwOrk fOr uk smart grid
19
cOuntries deBate pOlicy BefOre itu cOnference
20
active cOnsultatiOns
and Ofcom to see something like a level playing field, with no operator or operators getting a clear advantage over its rivals due to superior spectrum holdings. The two first movers, Vodafone and O2, have all of the available 900 MHz spectrum between them with limited holdings at 1800 MHz. Orange and T-Mobile have no 900 MHz spectrum but share the bulk of the spectrum at 1800 MHz. All four operators plus 3 have 2.1 GHz holdings for their 3G services. The problems surfaced several years ago when the holders of the 900 MHz spectrum wanted to refarm it for 3G use. Ofcoms attitude was; if we just let you refarm, you will have this massive cost advantage, and in effect you will dominate the market because the others will not be able to compete, and that is bad, so what in effect we must do is take some spectrum from you and repackage it and auction it so everybody gets a fair crack, said the source. Vodafone and O2 did not agree with this analysis and said so in no uncertain terms. The result was a very polarised position. But finally the so-called independent spectrum broker, Kip Meek, pretty much brokered a deal in the fiveplayer market. A spectrum cap allowed Vodafone and O2 to keep their 900 MHz spectrum, T-Mobile and Orange would have to release some 1800 MHz and they would also be able to buy some 800 MHz spectrum. There was redistribution of spectrum with some sweeteners thrown in like an extended 3G licence. Pragmatically it looked like a reasonable deal and had p2
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the merger between T-Mobile and Orange not been announced after agreement had been reached, it would probably have gone through, the source said. A special instrument (SI) was laid before Parliament and the then government was hopeful of getting it through before the general election in May 2010. At this stage, however, fixed-line incumbent BT chose to intervene, threatening legal action. A spokesperson told PolicyTracker at the time: BT is disappointed by the conclusions the government has reached on its Digital Britain spectrum proposals. The decisions represent a large gift of very valuable spectrum rights to mobile operators and do nothing to promote competition, innovation or consumer choice. We are reviewing the details of the decision to consider how we respond. The merger announcement between Orange and T-Mobile cast another spanner in the works, with their combined spectrum holdings dwarfing those of the other operators. The European Commission reviewed the merger proposals in parallel with the discussions which were going on in the UK. The EC
political stalemate
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Michael Newlands
Jonathan Watson
decision when it was announced took the market by surprise. As expected, the merged entity was ordered to divest itself of some of its 1800 MHz spectrum, but it was ordered to sell it in a single block to a single buyer. Either Vodafone or O2 could buy the spectrum. They claimed this meant one operator would be left at a severe disadvantage, having nowhere to turn for the extra spectrum it would need to compete in the future world of nextgeneration LTE networks. Thats where it turned, where Vodafone and O2 went from being broadly happy with the spectrum cap world to being very much against the spectrum cap world. They started a vigorous lobbying campaign directed both at the government and the various parliamentary committees the SI had to go through, he said. The lobbying was successful, with the Tories refusing to support the SI and deciding to take a fresh look at the situation if they won the election, which they did. The new government listened to the operators and formed their own opinion of what must be done. Now the original SI has been slimmed down and the rest sent back to Ofcom which is p3
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sub-editor Laura Hilton AnnUAl SUBSCRIPTIOnS Dugie Standeford
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charged with undertaking a competition assessment of likely future competition in mobile markets once additional spectrum is available. Only once this has been completed can Ofcom design and hold an auction of 800 MHz and 2.6 GHz spectrum. We s t i l l h a v e a s u b s t a n t i a l disagreement about facts, and about quite how advantageous using 900 MHz for 3G is. Vodafone and O2 are on one side of the argument and Everything Everywhere (the new name of the merged entity) and 3 on the other side saying it gives the first two an unrivalled advantage. Ofcom is probably the best place to sort out the facts I dont think the government is equipped to do that, whereas the regulator can form an informed view to shape the rules for the auction, the source concluded. What should come as something of a relief to Ofcom is that BT appears to have backed away from its earlier confrontational position. In a terse statement to PolicyTracker, a spokesperson said: Were reviewing the detail of the governments announcement on spectrum strategy and will be making our views known to the government. In an interview with the International Herald Tribune, BT chief executive Ian Livingston said that while BT may bid for spectrum in the forthcoming auction, it is low down on the list of likely things to do. He noted that BT has a mobile virtual network operation with Vodafone. O2 is generally happy with the new development, although as an insurance policy it is continuing with its appeal to the Competition Tribunal aimed at getting Ofcom directed to immediately allow refarming in line with a recent EC directive to this effect. Vodafone issued an upbeat statement: This is a smart move from the new government, which has taken the time to consider the complex and far reaching implications of spectrum allocation in the UK. We are looking forward to
market reaction
working constructively with Ofcom to ensure that network operators have a fair opportunity to buy the spectrum required to compete effectively in the UK market. A timely resolution is in the interests of developing and supporting the economy and delivering advanced mobile services to customers. Anything which makes Vodafone and O2 happy is likely to have the opposite effect on Everything Everywhere, but for the time being the merged entity is keeping its powder dry with a spokesperson saying executives are studying the SI and drafting a response. 3 was quicker off the mark. Chief
Market watchers detect a distinct lack of urgency on the part of the operators to get the auction under way any time soon
executive Kevin Russell said: It is critical for UK consumers that in setting out the auction process Ofcom addresses the distortions now created by allowing the incumbent operators to retain full access to 2G spectrum. Competition puts mobile broadband into the hands of millions - without it, service quality and price will be jeopardised. Colin Long, an independent legal and regulatory consultant who is Of Counsel to law firm Olswang, sees some dangers for Ofcom if any operators object strongly enough to the findings of its competition assessment to take legal action. He argues the original SI aimed to protect Ofcom from legal action surrounding the auction conditions, being in the form of an explicit direction from the Government to the regulator. The new slimmed down SI, which he describes at a hot potato lobbed at the regulator by the government, offers no such protection, he says. There is no real hard deadline for
a suit of chocolate armour
the auction provided in the Directions, even though the government have indicated elsewhere that this should take place before the end of next year. Ofcom is simply required to make the auction regulations as soon as reasonably practicable after concluding its competition assessment, but this of course does not dictate the timing of the auction itself, says Long. Other parts of the Directions, notably the variations to existing 3G licences to impose service coverage requirements, extend their duration and impose annual charges after 2021, are expressly subject to the licensees consenting, which of course is no different to the position that would have applied even without the Directions. So all in all, I am really left questioning the utility of the Directions and whether very much, if anything, of significance remains of their predecessor s main legal purpose, namely to provide Ofcom with a suit of armour against legal challenges. A suit of chocolate armour might be more apt, as certainly this whole area remains something of a confection, he concludes. Market watchers detect a distinct lack of urgency on the part of the operators to get the auction under way any time soon, and wonder if threats of legal action dating back to 2007 have as much to do with this as anything else. This attitude was summed up by Stefan Zehle, the chief executive of Coleago Consulting. It is in the interests of incumbents to have the auction as late as possible so they can continue to profit from 3G spectrum before rolling out LTE networks, he says. New spectrum means potentially new competition, so a delay suits the industry. It does not suit the consumer or policy objectives about universal access to broadband. But is does help the industry. Kicking it into the long grass keeps shareholders happy.
PolicyTracker
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MOBILE
Operators have high hopes for new mobile television standard

Advances in technology have made the European Commission back away from its previous full-on support for the DVB-H mobile TV standard - to the extent it is now highly interested in the results a trial of new solution, IMB.
by Michael Newlands This is a long way from the position adopted by then Information Society Commissioner Viviane Reding who, in March 2007, threatened to mandate DVB-H as the EU standard for mobile TV if member states did not fall in line and support it. In an interview with PolicyTracker in July that year, Reding backed away from the threat, saying it was not necessary to mandate the standard as it will be possible for governments to go ahead, for industry to go ahead, at any rate there is a general agreement to implement DVB-H and I think we are just helping this implementation to come more quickly. Redings vision was for DVB-H to become another European success story like GSM. However, she failed to win support either from the industry or from governments at a time when most countries were moving towards service and technology neutrality in spectrum policy. In the end DVB-H was simply included in the Commissions list of standards in 2008. Since then, there have been several implementations of both DVB-H and other standards around Europe, but take-up has been patchy. The Commission spokesman for its digital agenda told PolicyTracker that Brussels encourages existing and planned implementation of standards from this list. However, there are no legal obstacles to the use of standards other than DVB-H in the European Union for mobile services.
Now three of Europes largest operators, Telefnica O2, Orange and Vodafone are jointly to launch a pilot run of new 3GPP standardised mobile TV solution Integrated Mobile Broadcast (IMB). Working with vendors Ericsson, IPWireless and Streamezzo, the operators will conduct a three-month trial in central London and the nearby town of Slough starting in October this year. The trial will be used to assess how mobile services can be deployed using shared mobile network infrastructure with the GSMA-authorised technology, which claims to link seamlessly with traditional unicast or on-demand services delivered over 3G. What makes it particularly interesting to operators is the fact it runs on unpaired TDD 2.1 GHz spectrum. Most of them acquired this in the 3G auctions of up to a decade ago, alongside the paired FDD spectrum they have used up to now to provide 3G services. More than 150 operators in 60 countries, many of them in Europe, have access to 3G TDD spectrum, which has mainly remained unused until now because of the lack of appropriate technology. In the UK, for example, O2 and H3G each have 5 MHz blocks while the new merged entity Everything Everywhere (Orange / T-Mobile) has 10 MHz. As bandwidth is placed under increasing pressure by the explosion of data traffic, operators are likely to be very interested in a solution which packs another potentially bandwidthhungry service off by itself into an unused spectrum sub-band. The European Commission, in its continuing quest for spectrum harmonisation across Europe, can also see the advantages. With the success of smartphones,
relieving the pressure on bandwidth
new pilot to launch in uk
data traffic in mobile networks is increasing and operators are looking again at mobile broadcast networks, with a view to moving heavy data traffic resulting from the transmission of audiovisual multimedia content away from mobile communication networks. This includes both live broadcast and on-demand services, the Commission spokesman said. The IMB system supports both live broadcast TV services and on-demand broadcast services such as video clips, software updates, data broadcast and music. It can be implemented in a spectrum band which is currently owned, but unused, by many operators as a part of their 3G mobile communications licences. Trials like the one planned with the IMB system in the UK can be extremely useful in exploring the potential of new technologies in a considerable level of detail and the Commission would be highly interested in its results. Gavin Franks, head of new business development at O2, says he believes the road is clear for IMB now that it has been endorsed by the GSMA and gained support from the wider mobile ecosystem. Based on the results of the pilot, we anticipate being able to offer our consumers through our networks a range of innovative new broadcast services such as mobile TV and intelligent broadcasting that will lead to an enhanced user experience, he says. Our experience shows consumers will take advantage of linear broadcast services if the network experience is consistently good, said Orange executive vice-president Thierry Bonhomme. Network capability is key for mobile TV roll-out and IMB will enable more operators to maximise the benefits they get from 3G investments with highquality TV service deployments on an efficient, pragmatic and scalable solution that works from country to country.
PolicyTracker
BROADCASTING
Ofcom tests Olympic spectrum requirements

Field tests at several sporting events show plans to manage spectrum needs during the 2012 london Olympics are on track, the UK regulator says. Part of the spectrum will come from the 2.6 GHz band, which is due to be auctioned by the end of 2011.
by Dugie Standeford The 2012 London Olympics and Paralympics, and events surrounding them, will require a vast amount of spectrum, primarily for broadcasting use, Ofcom senior field engineer Craig Costford told PolicyTracker in an interview. Wireless cameras on boats, wireless microphones, small radio stations, remote-controlled cameras and team walkie-talkies are just a few of the services that will draw on frequencies ranging from 50 MHz - 60 MHz to 50 GHz - 60 GHz, he said. In its Spectrum Plan for the London 2012 Games, published in October 2009, Ofcom said it would source the spectrum by borrowing on a short-term basis from public sector bodies such as the Ministry of Defence; encouraging more efficient use of civil spectrum; making use of spectrum freed up by the digital switchover; and by using licence-exempt spectrum. The regulator plans to establish a monitoring system before the Games to determine who is using a particular band, Costford said. As the event approaches, the regulator may have to coordinate some spectrum to ensure interference is kept to a minimum, he said. The first test of Ofcoms spectrum management regime took place during the Sail for Gold World Cup event in mid-August at the Weymouth and Portland sailing venue that will be used for the Olympics. Field engineering teams were on hand to provide support for licensed radio users and to react quickly
first field tests successful
if problems arose, said the regulators Olympic Delivery Director Richard Sinclair. The teams also managed spectrum issues for a recent Grand Prix athletics event held at Londons Crystal Palace, he said. The point of the exercise was to ensure that the regulator is capable of managing spectrum for multiple events taking place at the same time in different environments, said Costford. It is especially important that Ofcom is able to control spectrum usage on land and sea simultaneously, he said. The Weymouth monitoring exercise boosted Ofcoms relationship with licence holders such as the UKs coast guard agency and yachting clubs, Sinclair said. Participants now have a better understanding of the regulators worklessons learned
The tests also eased coast guard concerns that diffraction of directionfinding radio signals between the sea and land could interfere with its ability to distinguish true distress calls from hoaxes, explained Costford. Tackling coast guard worries was an important part of Ofcoms effort to allow holidaymakers, rescue services, Weymouth port industries and other users to share spectrum in a very congested area, Costford said. As the 2012 Games draw nearer, Ofcom hopes to assist in monitoring more events, Sinclair added. Demand for spectrum for wireless cameras for the Games is expected to be exceptionally high, Ofcom said in an August 23 proposal to reserve some of the 2.6 GHz band for such applications. The consultation on the proposal lasts until 17 September. Experience at the 2010 Winter Olympics, held in Vancouver in Canada, more growth in the use of wireless cameras in sports coverage, plans for airborne television coverage and the emergence of threedimensional television makes it likely that spectrum demand may be greater than we had predicted, the consultation paper said. Ofcoms 2009 plan for the Olympics did not include the 2.6 GHz band even though it is highly suited to wireless cameras and is currently used for such applications - because the idea at the time was to make the band available for commercial use within the time scale of the Games, the regulator said. But with government plans for awarding the spectrum pushed back to the end of 2011 - and an upgrade programme to radars at 2.7 GHz to permit widespread deployment of mobile or broadband services at 2.6 GHz not due to be ready before the end of 2012 - there is now no reason why the band should not be used for the London Olympics, Ofcom said.
2.6 ghz band to be used
The point of the exercise was to ensure that Ofcom is capable of managing spectrum for multiple events taking place at the same time in different environments
ing practices, he said. Similarly, Ofcom has learned more about how spectrum will probably be used in Weymouth, Costford said. The marine band is the most likely to be used, and the test gave the regulators engineers a better idea about where broadcasters and equipment will be located in it, he said. Other lessons to be learned for 2012 included how to contact teams if there are problems, the fastest way to resolve those issues, and how to test equipment for any high-priority uses, he said. The information gained will also help Ofcom advise overseas visitors such as coaches of UK spectrum requirements, said Sinclair.
PolicyTracker
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MOBILE
More spectrum not necessarily the answer for mobile operators

Mobile operators should be changing their business models and making use of new technologies to get the most out of their spectrum holdings, rather than pressing for the release of more spectrum, argue a telecoms consultant and an advocate of femtocells.
is why the road is not full of Ferraris. I cant understand why everybody talks about the massive growth in traffic but nobody talks about money, says Zehle. The growth of traffic seems to have been decoupled from the growth of revenue. Operators are bumping up their capital expenditure to keep up with the growth in traffic, but not making any extra money from it.
by Michael Newlands Once Ofcom has completed its competition review and set the conditions for the auction of 800 MHz and 2.6 GHz spectrum, the focus should shift from where spectrum is coming from to how it is being managed, says Stefan Zehle, chief executive of Coleago Consulting. Clearly networks are starting to suffer from congestion and there are two ways to deal with this, he says. Either you get more spectrum or you try to squeeze more out of your existing network. And he believes it is in the best interests of mobile operators and their shareholders to do this by abolishing unlimited data plans and replacing them with usage plans aimed at maximising revenue. He points out that voice revenues have been dropping, but despite the huge increase in data traffic, overall revenues have remained the same. This, he believes, is because of a flawed way of looking at demand when it comes to mobile broadband. Everybody talks of demand in terms of traffic rather than demand in terms of revenue. That to me is not demand in the traditional economic sense, he says. Demand, in other words, is what somebody is prepared to pay for a product or service. You could say there is huge demand for Ferraris, because who wouldnt want one. But actually very few people have the ability to pay for one, which
what is demand?
I cant understand why everybody talks about the massive growth in traffic but nobody talks about money
He says the problem goes back to between 18 months and two years ago, when new HSPA networks were relatively unburdened. The operators drummed up business by giving away PCs with a dongle attached for a 15 a month contract which gave unlimited download rights. Very soon bandwidth hogs accounting for perhaps
new pricing structures
five per cent of users were responsible for most of what was being downloaded over the networks. These heavy users should be made either to pay for what they are consuming with a price structure reflecting consumption, or to stop clogging up the network, Zehle says. Alongside this, ordinary users should be encouraged to sign up for packages of, say, 2GB per month for a flat fee. Mr Colman did not become a rich man from the amount of his mustard people ate but from how much they left on the side of their plates. In wireless broadband terms, this means charging people for a lot more bandwidth than most of them are likely to use in a month, he says. If you are charging somebody 15 a month for 2GB, you want people who are actually only using a quarter of that. Studies show the average smartphone user is using a lot less than 2 GB a month, and perhaps a tenth of what the average dongle user gets through. As well as using pricing both to constrain traffic growth and to increase profitability, Zehle says operators are increasingly turning to alternap7
femtocells
PolicyTracker
BROADCASTING
PMSE industry protests over compensation package

lobbyists from the programme making and special events (PMSE) sector are accusing the UK government of exploiting technicalities to avoid paying compensation to companies being evicted from the channels they use.
by Michael Newlands When the switchover from analogue to digital broadcasting in the UK is completed in 2012, suppliers of equipment such as wireless microphones to a range of high-profile events will no longer be able to use channel 69, which is currently designated solely for PMSE use, or channels 31 to 37 and 61 to 68, which PMSE shares with other users. Another channel, and possibly the white spaces, will be designated for use by the PMSE sector. This means new equipment tuned to the new channels will have to be purchased, and existing equipment, which is in good working order, will have to
be ditched. The coalition government has announced that there will be a generous compensation package for PMSE users, but only for those in channel 69. Ofcom later added that this generosity would extend to 55 per cent of the replacement cost of the equipment. Alun Rees, campaign co-ordinator for industry lobbying group Save Our Sound UK (SOS UK), said equipment which does not tune to Channel 69, and so which is not eligible for compensation, is generally used for high-profile, large-scale live events as well as in West End theatre productions. The equipment is not provided by the show producers, but by small specialist subcontractors who provide both the service and the equipment. Rees says these firms will have to bear the full costs of equipment replacement costs which may well drive them out of business. To call this package generous is an abuse of the English language, he says. The decision will devastate the small and medium-sized businesses that
p6
tive methods of traffic offload such as Wi-Fi and femtocells. Rupert Baines, marketing chairman of industry body the Femto Forum, says regulators and operators around the world are now familiar with femtocells, with their reactions ranging from intrigued to very positive. He says the Forum is particularly encouraged by the emphasis placed by new UK communications minister Ed Vaizey on the use of new technology to improve spectrum management, with femtocells getting a particular mention. He says femtocells can give operators an inexpensive way both of increasing network capacity and solving problems such as poor in-building reception using certain spectrum bands. Indoor coverage at higher frequencies, say 2 GHz upwards, can be a problem, he says. Femtocells solve that problem very cost effectively. This also makes it less vital for operators to have low-frequency spectrum to be able to launch wireless broadband services. Femtocells also make economic sense where there is no business case for installing a cellular macrocell with backhaul. Operators in Japan and Eastern Europe are achieving 99.8 per cent service coverage by deploying publicaccess femtocells in places like rural villages, small railway stations, national parks and ski lodges. If you have something that costs a few hundred dollars up on a pole somewhere, then you have a business case for extending service to people who could not otherwise get it, he points out.
support the UKs live events industry. Where are they going to find the extra money to continue to do their job? Without them, the large-scale events sector could collapse like a house of cards. This shows that the new Minister (Ed Vaizey) simply does not understand how the PMSE sector works, he says. An injustice has been done, and its an injustice that will have severe consequences. The winners are the spectrum-greedy large corporations and the government. The losers will be the little guys. Rees has had feedback from from SOS UK members - unions and associations representing 2.5 million people - on the 55 per cent package for Channel 69 users. There are significant numbers of users wondering where they will find the additional capital to replace their equipment, he says. The different groups affected include theatres, freelancers, musicians and church and community users. We have argued that if you are not going to be given enough money to replace your equipment with like-forlike alternatives, you are inevitably going to be left worse off, he says. A radio microphone is a tool to do a job, and it does not depreciate in value as it gets older, because it is still doing the same job. If its value does not go down - which is illustrated by the fact that a rental company will rent it out for the same amount no matter how old it is - then as long as it is still working, you should be given enough money to replace it with something that does the same job just as well. It should be a likefor-like alternative. Rees said that another major concern is that the funding has not been formally approved by Ofcom or the Treasury. That cant happen until all applications are in, which wont be until March next year. We will keep up the pressure until then, as we dont want any goalposts moving, or things getting worse.
PolicyTracker
7
MOBILE
Brazil plans LTE rollout in time for 2014 World Cup

Brazil has become the first major country in the Americas to break step with the US bandplan at 2.6 GHz. In line with Europe and much of the rest of the world, it has chosen ITU Option 1 instead.
120MHz has been consolidated by Sprint/Clearwire which is rolling out a WiMAX network as well as trialling both flavours of LTE.
plans for 2.6 ghz
by Michael Newlands Brazils telecoms regulator Agncia Nacional de Telecomunicaes (Anatel) has had to adopt a different approach to that of regulators elsewhere because of the legacy of use in the 2500 to 2690 GHz band, which is referred to as the 2.5 GHz band in the US and countries which follow its lead in spectrum planning. In the 1980s, the US regulator designated the band for use by MMDS providers, a type of wireless cable TV service which never really caught on in the US or elsewhere, partly because of the limited number of TV channels it was able to carry. Brazil and other countries followed the US lead, and between 1997 and 2000 Anatel issued 70 licences covering 333 Brazilian cities. There was no auction and licences were issued on a first-come, first-served basis. But according to Ricardo Tavares, president of telecoms consultancy TechPolis and consultant to the GSM Association, only 300,000 subscribers have been recruited to the service in the intervening decade, with most of the operators only meeting the minimum level required to keep their licences. This is consistent with what happened in the US, Canada and other countries, says Tavares. And now in the US parts of the band are assigned to universities and other educational institutions and a big chunk of it
What the Brazilian regulator plans is quite different. A 50 MHz centre gap of TDD spectrum at the centre of the band plus 2 x10 MHz blocks of paired FDD spectrum at 2500 to 2510 MHz and 2620 to 2630 MHz will be made available for the MMDS licence holders. This will be for a further 15-year period, at a price that is yet to be determined. They will be able to roll out 4G services themselves if they want to or sell as much of the
This will be one of the issues determined by a consultation process when draft auction rules are published in November this year. The final rules are due to be published by September 2011, allowing the auction to take place in 2012 with terms of authorisation for the use of the spectrum published before year-end.
2014 world cup
Brazilian policy makers want to be absolutely sure that soccer fans coming from around the world with their smartphones, laptops and other LTE-capable devices are able to use them
spectrum as they like. The remaining 120 MHz will be sold off, on a technology neutral basis, either as three lots of 2 x 20 MHz of paired spectrum or two lots of 2 x 20 MHz and two lots of 2 x 10 MHz. In the first instance one of the countrys four existing nationwide operators, offering both 2G and 3G services, will lose out and will have to hope it can purchase spectrum from the MMDS licence holders. In the second instance the two operators getting twice the bandwidth would be able to offer a better service than the other two.
The regulator, at the urging of the government, is working towards this tight deadline to allow for what Tavares calls a targeted deployment of LTE in time for the soccer World Cup which will be held in Brazil in mid-2014. Brazilian policy makers want to be absolutely sure that soccer fans coming from around the world with their smartphones, laptops and other LTE-capable devices are able to use them. The priority will be to get networks built out in the 12 Brazilian cities hosting World Cup games, he said. Although communications provision for the World Cup has been a factor in the decision to fall in with the majority of overseas countries, this follows on from Brazils decision in 2000 to make 1800 MHz the PCS band, unlike the US and most of Latin America, which went with 1900 MHz. This departure from coordination with the US continued in 2007, when Brazil auctioned off 3G spectrum at 1.9/2.1 GHz while the US has AWS spectrum with the uplink at 1.7 rather than 1.9 GHz - though the downlink in both cases is at 2.1 GHz. Tavares foresees a bright future for 4G in Brazil, and for LTE in particular. He points out that there are already more than 15 million subscribers for 3G services more than 35 per cent using dongles for laptops and says with an addressable post-paid base of 35 million
PolicyTracker
subscribers there could be more than 30 million 3G subscribers within the next couple of years. Brazil, the worlds fifth largest mobile market, had 187 million subscribers at the end of July. WiMAX is also already being deployed with some success in Brazil at 3.5 GHz, due in part to the lack of fixed lines and DSL services. Tavares feels some of the MMDS operators wanting to be able to compete against wired cable companies and provide triple play may well launch WiMAX in the near future. However, he says the mobile operators have already announced their preference for LTE. Chile plans 2.6 GHz auction Chilean regulator Subtel has announced it plans to hold an auction of 2.6 GHz spectrum to take place before the end of 2010 and licences to be issued by mid-2011. No details were released of the proposed bandplan, the amount of spectrum on offer or the number of licences available. However, a written statement said the band is now in the process of being cleared.
MOBILE
US lawmakers introduce proposal for spectrum incentive auctions

The Voluntary Incentive Auctions Act of 2010, introduced on 27 July by US House of Representatives Members Rick Boucher, a Democrat, and Cliff Stearns, a Republican, aims to help the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) free up 500 MHz of new spectrum over the next ten years.
by Dugie Standeford The measure allows the FCC to conduct voluntary incentive auctions if it finds it to be in the public interest for a licensee to give up some or all of its spectrum for allocation to a new licensee or for unlicensed use. The agency has discretion to decide what percentage of the proceeds will be given to the relinquishing licensee. However, the legislation prohibits the FCC from directly or indirectly taking back any broadcast television or other licence for the purpose of auctioning it. Among other strategies, the FCCs national broadband plan recommends
incentive-based auctions in which broadcasters and other licensees surrender spectrum in return for a portion of the sale proceeds. Our goal is to ensure that any incentive auctions the Federal Communications Commission conducts are truly voluntary, Boucher said. CTIA - The Wireless Association President and chief executive Steve Largent said hes pleased the lawmakers agree with us that there is a looming spectrum crisis. We have no quarrel with incentive auctions that are truly voluntary and the bill is a step in the right direction, said a National Association of Broadcasters spokesman. Sound spectrum policy must recognize the enduring value of free and local broadcasting, he said. The bill is now being reviewed by the House Energy and Commerce Committee. It is one of several pieces of spectrum-related legislation currently making their way through Congress. However, it is not yet clear whether any of these measures will be passed into law.
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PolicyTracker
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MOBILE
French UMTS 1800 pilot has implications for UK operators

A UMTS trial scheduled to be conducted in the 1800 MHz band in France this november will be watched with interest both by operators and regulators, particularly in countries such as the UK, where operators are licensed at either 900 or 1800 MHz.
by Michael Newlands While refarming the 900 MHz band for 3G use is becoming increasingly widespread, particularly following the EC Decision last year instructing member states to liberalise the GSM bands, this trial will be a pilot at 1800 MHz. Mobile operator Orange, which already has a UMTS 900 service in commercial operation in France, will be trialling HSPA in its 1800 MHz spectrum. Ericsson will provide the base stations for the trial and Qualcomm the chipsets for devices. Both base stations and devices will support 2G at 900 and 1800 MHz and 3G/HSPA at 900 and 1800 MHz and 2.1 GHz. Deploying HSPA in the 1800 MHz band is the fastest and most cost effective way for an operator to increase network capacity due to the small impact on both network infrastructure and devices, said Alain Maloberti, Orange Groups vice-president for network architecture and design. UMTS1800 is the natural choice to boost 3G capacity.
implications
If Maloberti is right, then there are interesting implications for the competition assessment UK regulator Ofcom has been told to carry out prior to setting rules, including possible spectrum caps, before launching an auction of 800 MHz and 2.6 GHz spectrum. Part of the assessment will have to consider refarming and possible reallocation of 900 MHz and 1800 MHz
spectrum in the UK. Vodafone and O2 have all of the 900 MHz spectrum, with very small holdings at 1800 MHz, while the merged Orange/T-Mobile entity, Everything Everywhere, has the bulk of the 1800 MHz spectrum. To understand the difference between using 900 and 1800 GHz for HSPA and at a later date LTE a look at how French operators use their spectrum holdings for GPRS is instructive. GPRS 1800 is found in the main cities and along the main highways, whereas 900 MHz coverage is nationwide. HSPA at 2.1 GHz has initially been restricted to main population areas, but the introduction of UMTS 900 has enabled expansion of the service into rural areas. This, explains a telecoms consultant close to a major operator, is because the propagation characteristics of the 900 MHz bands allow longer-range coverage than the 1800 MHz or higher frequencies currently used for 3G technologies. This makes it more appropriate for providing a service to large, less densely populated and rural areas. Looking at this from the UK viewpoint, it would probably not mean a huge market advantage for the holders of 900 MHz spectrum if they were allowed to launch UMTS 900 in the near future as they are demanding. Until recently, the conventional wisdom has been that it would provide a big advantage. Provided the French trials lead to the quick development by vendors of a network and device ecosystem including UMTS 1800, so allowing the refarming of the 1800 MHz band, then the market advantage may actually be with Everything Everywhere (EE) rather than Vodafone and O2, the consultant says. This is because the main problem for 3G networks now is overloading in high-population areas thanks to the huge growth in data traffic associated with wireless USB dongles for laptops and the explosion in smartphone sales.
Using 1800 MHz spectrum to take the strain off the 2.1 GHz spectrum will be a lot more effective than trying to use 900 MHz for that, he says. Similarly it will also be better suited to the lucrative urban market when LTE is introduced.
good things come to those who wait
Graham Friend, a director at Coleago Consulting, has a different viewpoint. In terms of capacity the congestion issues tend to be found in urban areas and the virtues of sub-1 GHz spectrum in terms of in-building penetration make it preferable to 1800, he says. EE will expect to pick up either 900 or 800 in the auction when it finally takes place. I also expect EE believes it can win customers by claiming to have the largest network - resulting from the joint venture - and this marketing message is probably more effective and more easily understood by the customer base than launching UMTS at 1800, says Friend. Given the general levels of uncertainty associated with spectrum allocations in the UK, I suspect that they would rather wait until the issues have been resolved before considering such an option. He says it is likely at a group level that UMTS will be deployed first at 900 MHz in most markets to benefit from economies of scale. A standardised approach across the group is likely to be preferable. This would probably preclude UMTS at 1800 in the first instance. In conclusion, he says that deploying 1800 MHz UMTS to gain a first-mover advantage is unlikely to be a strategy in the short term for EE. But in the longer term, operators will probably seek to deploy UMTS in bands both above and below 1 GHz to gain from the respective benefits in terms of capacity and coverage.commercial sector, he said. It is simply a question of who holds the licence, he said.
PolicyTracker
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MOBILE
Auction results bring real competition to Mexican market

Following a period of uncertainty after Mexicos recent PCS and AWS spectrum auction, regulator Cofetel has confirmed the results despite vigorous opposition from incumbents and various politicians seeking to have the auction overturned.
by Michael Newlands They argued the auction structure, with tight spectrum caps enforced in each of the countrys nine regions, was wrong as it resulted in newcomer Nextel/ Televisa obtaining a national licence to offer 3G services in the AWS 1.7/2.1 GHz band for the base price of just 180.3 million pesos ($14.2 million). Nextel/ Televisa was the only qualified bidder in the auction for the two national 2 x 15 MHz licences on offer in the AWS band, one of which was not sold. However as several commentators, including independent telecoms consultant Martyn Roetter, pointed out the auction price is misleading as it represents only a part of the fees which will be paid out over the 20-year life of the licence and amount to more than 18 billion pesos ($1.4 bn). He also points out Nextel can hardly be blamed for bidding the base price. The fees are based on the amounts of bandwidth and the regions so the difference between the costs of the national license and the other regional licenses acquired by the other three operators on a per MHz/pop basis is much smaller than is being claimed, says Roetter. Operator Telcel Telefonica Iusacell Nextel Average per operator
Source: Cofetel
And as research firm Pyramid pointed out in an analysis of the auction results, the cost of spectrum for Nextel/Televisa is a small portion of its launch costs. Mobile penetration in Mexico is already at 85%, so the new entrant will have to lure customers from existing operators, before which it will have to roll out a new network. Telcel and Movistars main infrastructure costs came years ago when market penetration was low, and they are now well-established brandnames. What the auction results have done is to introduce stiff, and unprecedented, competition in the 3G market to mobile market leader America Movil (Telcel)
The auction has introduced unprecedented competition into Mexicos 3G market

which has more than 70 per cent of the countrys subscribers and is controlled by the worlds richest man, Carlos Slim. Telcels service is in the 850 MHz band refarmed for 3G from 2G. Telcel also took part in the auction and ended up buying 21 2 x 5 MHz blocks of AWS spectrum in nine licensing regions. America Movil chief executive Daniel Hajj later told a financial results press conference Telcel might use the new spectrum to keep a step ahead of the new competition by rolling out a 4G After PCS auction (MHz) 50.6 54.7 53.8 19.3 44.6 After AWS and PCS auctions 73.9 61.3 53.8 52.6 60.4
mexican operators 3g spectrum holdings pre and post auctions
Pre-auction Bandwidth (MHz) 50.6 39.1 43.8 18.2 37.9
network. We have a lot of competition in Mexico. If there is going to be a new entrant in the market, well, we need to provide a better service, better quality, more coverage and a lot of data capacity, Hajj said. Mexicos second-largest operator, Spains Telefonica, operating under the Movistar brandname, was able to use the auction to plug gaps in its national coverage, and specifically go get a license for region nine which is home to capital Mexico City, around a quarter of the population and a larger share than that of GDP. Telefonicas 3G service will be in the PCS band at 1900 MHz, some of it bought at auction and some refarmed from 2G use. After the auction, Telefonica put itself in a stronger competitive position by signing an agreement with Megacable Holdings, one of Mexicos biggest cable tv companies. Megacable, with 1.7 million subscribers in 200 towns and cities, is one of the countrys top triple play bundled phone, broadband and pay TV providers. It will now add a fourth string to its bow by marketing Telefonicas 2G and 3G wireless services. Nextel/Televisa is a partnership between an international mobile operator and a major Mexican media company with TV interests and it too will be able to add 3G to Televisas existing triple-play offerings. Carlos Slim controls substantial media interests as well as the dominant mobile and fixed-line operations in Mexico, so Telcel will still be very much in the mix. This leaves Iusacell with no media partner or interests -- as the only operator not able to provide national 3G coverage in a single band, and as such the most vocal opposition voice to the auction results which it says are outrageous.
PolicyTracker
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BROADCASTING
TV & radio concerned about ancillary services

Greater certainty on spectrum that can be used for electronic newsgathering, outside broadcasting and production is needed to spur the confidence of regulators and manufacturers producing equipment, European broadcasters say.
up to 100 mhz needed
by Scott Billquist, Geneva correspondent National spectrum management could benefit from globally harmonised band planning for equipment that is increasingly portable and used across borders, says a preparatory resolution for the 2012 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-12). In a recent survey, European broadcasters said they were open to the idea of using cognitive technologies for electronic newsgathering and outside broadcasting (ENG/OB) applications. ENG/OB is the collection of video and sound material with gear using radio links to the newsroom, rather than film or recording, said Elena Puigrefagut, a senior engineer with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). She was referring to a WRC-12 agenda item on harmonisation of spectrum for ENG/OB. She was speaking at a recent workshop on European WRC-12 objectives. Outside broadcasting is the temporary provision of some programmes at the events location, she said. Generally, they are quite large events, Puigrefagut said. A definition of ENG/ OB also includes services ancillary to broadcasting and production. Radio services for devices such as radiomicrophones, in-ear devices, portable audio links and cordless video equipment are secondary in the Radio Regulations using existing allocations to broadcasting, fixed or mobile services, she said.
Broadcasters are concerned about future access to spectrum for these applications, Puigrefagut said. Spectrum needs for profitable, large events can be very high, she said, referring also to the need for high quality links. Spectrum needs for video in large events with three helicopters, an aeroplane and motorcycles are more than 100 MHz, she said. Spectrum needs for big audio-only events are much smaller, she said. In preparatory talks for the WRC-12 agenda item, broadcasters realised they needed up-to-date information on spectrum access and needs, Puigrefagut said. The EBU also surveyed its membership, she said. Knowing how much spectrum is needed for each of the bands used was very difficult to answer, she said, referring to the large variance between large and small events and an apparent correlation between the size of a country and its spectrum needs. Broadcasters in the survey said their audio applications use lower frequencies, Puigrefagut said, referring to two major peaks, one near UHF band III, used in Europe for digital audio broadcasting, and the other near the 470-862 MHz TV broadcasting band. Some countries using the TV band exclusively for audio applications will have to find alternative solutions, she said, because the band will no longer be available. Peak use for video applications was between 2 GHz and 3 GHz, Puigrefagut said. Alternative solutions are being sought for broadcasters who have to vacate frequencies near 2.5 GHz, which will be used for broadband wireless access, she said. Broadcasters indicated a lack of frequencies to satisfy all requirements and difficulties in finding frequencies within the equipments tuning ranges, Puigrefagut said, because some of the bands will longer be available. They also mentioned that there are more opera-
tors with spectrum-hungry equipment, she said, and interference problems are rising.
more regulation, please
Broadcasters want more national regulation for these kinds of applications, Puigrefagut said, and more enforcement. Some operators arent acting within the rules, she said. They said they wanted dedicated channels assigned to each operator for exclusive use and additional channels allocated on a shared basis, she said. Better equipment specifications and certification would also be a plus, Puigrefagut said, and would work in wider frequency bands. The broadcasters also said type approval for equipment might spur solutions, she said. They also said use of white spaces by cognitive devices below Bands IV/V should only be under licensed conditions. Broadcasters are open to the idea of using cognitive technologies for ENG/OB applications, she said. Harmonisation of spectrum is valuable for spurring economies of scale. It also facilitates worldwide events, but it is difficult to achieve globally, Puigrefagut said. The EBU supports the CEPT preference for one of the draft approaches to satisfy the WRC-12 agenda item, Puigrefagut said. The method suggests developing ITU-R recommendations or reports listing the preferred tuning ranges or frequency bands for countries, regions or globally without changing the Radio Regulations. It also opens the door to the possibility of developing a universal access procedure for operators to coordinate frequency access. The approach may or may not spur efficient spectrum use and it may not go far enough in boosting the confidence of manufacturers and regulators, a PolicyTracker source said. Implementation would be heavily dependent on
PolicyTracker
12
BROADCASTING
Portugal and Italy move towards switch-off

Portuguese regulator Anacom has approved the Portuguese governments proposed schedule for analogue switchoff (ASO) in the country. In Italy, the president of the regulator thinks ASO could be achieved by next year.
by Jonathan Watson The only modifications made by Anacom to the draft ASO timetable submitted for consultation in April this year changed the switch-off dates for the first phase of the process so that they coincided with a working day. ASO in Portugal is due to take place in three phases, each of which will last for seven days. The first phase will concentrate on coastal areas, where switch-off will begin on 12 January 2012. Some of the transmitters in these areas will be excluded from this part
of the process, as they cover areas and feed relays in other parts of the country. Although coastal areas account for only 39 per cent of Portugals territory, they are inhabited by 70 per cent of Portugals population. The second phase of ASO will take place In the autonomous regions of the Azores and Madeira, affecting just five per cent of the population. Here, the process will start on 22 March. The third and final phase deals with the rest of the country, covering about 25 per cent of the population. Analogue transmitters and relays in this part of Portugal will be switched off from 26 April 2012 onwards.
pilot areas
Anacom plans to test its ASO procedures in pilot areas from January 2011. These ASO in Portugal Phase 1: green shading Phase 2: Azores and Madeira Phase 3: blue shading
areas have not been decided yet, but Anacom has said they will be areas where ASO is easy to carry out in operational terms. They will also have been receiving digital broadcasting for more than a year and contain fewer than 150,000 people. Anacom also hopes that the pilots will raise awareness among the entire population as to the naturalness and irreversibility of the complete closure of analogue terrestrial television. Portuguese viewers have been able to receive the countrys main terrestrial channels - RTP 1, RTP 2, SIC and TVI - using DTT since 2009. Currently, 85 per cent of the population are covered by Portugals DTT network. This will increase to 100 per cent by the end of 2010.
italian regulators upbeat
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individual administrations, but the process would be more agile than involving a radio conference, the source said. Technical characteristics mean frequencies above 3 GHz arent suitable for mobile video links, she said. Also, frequencies above 9.8 GHz arent suitable for outside mobile video links, but they are suitable for indoor production. Regulators, manufacturers and broadcasters should work together to find solutions to the growing tendency of decreasing frequencies available for ENG/OB applications and the rising need for additional frequencies, Puigrefagut said. New and innovative technical solutions should be studied for such applications, she said, referring to cognitive and other technologies.
Portugal - analogue switch-off
In Italy, the regulator Agcom has suggested in its annual report that the transition to digital broadcasting in the country could be completed by 2011. The report says that there are already six all digital regions in Italy and that the digitisation of Northern Italy should be completed this year. In 2011, switch-off will take place in the Adriatic coastal region. This is due to be followed in 2012 by Tuscany, Umbria, Sicily and Calabria, but Agcom president Corrado Calabro wrote that with an effort, the digitalisation could be completed by 2011, as requested in a recent European recommendation. Agcom recently approved a draft digital frequency plan confirming that five new digital multiplexes will be awarded for national TV via a beauty contest. And now the European Commission has cleared the way for satellite TV operator Sky Italia to participate in the DTT market, guidelines for that contest should soon be drawn up.
PolicyTracker
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M2M COMMuNICATIONS: SpECIAL REpORT
Smart metering and smart grids dominate M2M space

In the first of a three part special report on machine to machine (M2M) communications we examine how the agenda is being driven by environmental and energy conservation issues.
by Michael Newlands In the two years since PolicyTracker took an in depth look at the spectrum and technology implications of M2M there have been a number of new initiatives and the future of M2M deployments is looking quite different in terms both of the type of deployment and the spectrum being used. The European Commission as well as national governments in Europe, the US and other parts of the world have latched on to smart grids, including smart metering, as a way to conserve energy, reduce carbon footprints, create jobs in a new green industry and even benefit consumers. The mobile network operators GPRS networks dominate in the vehicle tracking and fleet management sectors, which have accounted for the largest part of the M2M market until recently. However the EU harmonisation of a 20 MHz slot at the top end of the 5GHz band for use by Intelligent transport systems (ITS) could see that change over the coming years, although SIMs in vehicles will become increasingly ubiquitous. There are a variety of other vertical M2M sectors where embedded SIMs in either static or mobile devices using GPRS or 3G networks look set to continue to dominate. Dutch operator KPN, which also has subsidiaries in Germany and Belgium, claims to have the only truly global SIM card. It has gone into partnership with ex-M2M MVNO and platform developer Jasper Wireless and bought an equity stake in the US-based company.
Kim Bybjert, the head of the groups dedicated M2M team, which was set up in May 2010, says KPN regards M2M as the only real new business opportunity in the market, but it is looking for new vertical niches rather than trying to compete head-on with larger multinationals in sectors such as automotive. It sees consumer electronics as a major growth area and its goal is to be Europes leading provider of SIMs embedded into off-the-shelf consumer electronic devices such as e-readers and digital picture frames, and is looking to tie up with manufacturers wanting to roll out big volumes for pan-European or even global distribution.
moving beyond sims
They face stiff competition from other technologies in a market where a SIM card in every meter is neither a cost effective nor a particularly efficient solution
It has recently signed deals with Garmin, the worlds top producer of navigation systems, which sees a KPN SIM in the new nvi 1690 portable device in all international markets, and with Konica Minolta to remotely connect multi-function business machines in Europe with a remote diagnostic and provisioning system. Although ARPU is low for most M2M SIMs, with low traffic volumes across a large number of lines, KPN is looking to leverage on one-time purchases of information or products where the consumer pays a substantial fee say 10% of the cost of an e-book ordered via a KPN SIM embedded in an e-reader.
While this strictly SIM only approach was common to most operators in the early days of M2M, many are beginning to realise it is not a sustainable business model going forwards. Having to deal with powerful utility companies, national energy and gas market regulators, and in some countries national infrastructure operators, is new to the MNOs. To get a share of what will be a huge new business opportunity, smart grids incorporating smart meters, they face stiff competition from other technologies and players in a market where a SIM card in every meter, lucrative as that may be for the MNOs, is neither a cost effective nor a particularly efficient solution. Any smart grid solution with a cellular component needs to take account of unit costs, which means having large clusters of metres connected to a concentrator device with a single SIM card sending data back to the cellular network. This works best with a lowpowered mesh networking technology like ZigBee. In France, M2M service provider Atos Origin ran a trial involving 500,000 smart meters for French power company ERDF prior to a full run out of 35 million meters which is now underway. Atos is MNO neutral in that it piggybacks over the GPRS and 3G networks of all three French operators, paying for the data transmitted. For last-mile linkage of a large number of meters to a series of concentrators with SIM cards (each SIM linked to an average of about 60 meters in the trial), Atos has used power lines communications (PLC) technology. This sends information over the electrical wiring which has meant no huge infrastructure costs. The mobile operators
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networks feed the data from the SIMs into Atos Worldline M2M platform for processing. The most smart grid/smart metering commercial deployments to date have been in the US, where the business model is very different to Europe and around 3,000 utility companies serve small regional markets (although there has been some consolidation in some areas, particularly large cities). To date the preference of the utilities has been to build out and own their own smart grid networks, working with one of several companies specialising in smart grid deployments. Mobile operators are involved in some rollouts but generally just in providing backhaul or wide area networking. Nearly all US deployments to date have either utilised mesh technology for the last mile, usually ZigBee in the 2.4 GHz unlicensed Wi-Fi band, or Tower-Based Wireless using dedicated spectrum.
Does M2M need its own spectrum?
In the second part of our special report on machine to machine (M2M) communications we examine whether the sector can continue to thrive in the unlicensed bands and a mish-mash of other allocations or whether it needs its own dedicated spectrum.
by Michael Newlands Some in the industry think use of already crowded 2.4 GHz band is a bad choice in the medium to long term in both the US and Europe. Nick Hunn, ex-vice chairman of the Mobile Data
Vodafone was even less convinced, saying the company did not see any need for special bands devoted to M2M traffic
Slovenians and Austrians consider network sharing Slovenian regulator APEK has begun negotiations with the Austrian regulator on infrastructure sharing. They aim to mitigate interference from Slovenian and Austrian LTE operators in the digital dividend band, which would cover a large part of both countries. They propose to create a border zone in both countries where operators will share networks across the border. Half the border zone network would be provided by masts in Austria but used in Slovenia as a virtual network, while the other half will be provided by masts in Slovenia, allowing Austrian operators to provide connectivity in their own country by virtual means.
Association in the US and author of the Creative Connectivity blog makes the case for dedicated M2M spectrum -particularly for smart grids. He points out there is no one standard in the smart grid world to link smart meters with each other and with devices around the home. Of the several competitors, the main ones all operate in the 2.4 GHz band. Ten years ago that portion of spectrum, known as an Industrial Scientific and Medical band (ISM) was virtually empty. Microwave ovens used it, but only for a few minutes each day. Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and ZigBee were all still dreams. It was like a freeway built before cars arrived. Today it is already congested and each new evolution of Bluetooth and Wi-Fi eat up even more of
it. In another ten years, which is before the Smart Meter rollouts will even have been completed, it is likely to be at a standstill, he says. He maintains if smart metering is going to provide benefits to hundreds of millions of consumers in the US and Europe it needs its own wireless spectrum and standard. Its not too late for regulators to set aside spectrum and for standards bodies to get together to produce an optimal standard. If they dont, we risk wasting trillions of dollars/euros and failing to achieve any reduction in energy consumption, he says. He says there are also performance issues at 2.4 GHz and for this type of application the trade off between power, range and antenna size means a sweet spot of between 300 MHz and 600 MHz would be optimal. As we turn off our analogue TV channels, regulators could easily dedicate some of this spectrum for smart energy. It means they wont be able to sell it off for broadcasting more sport or porn, but the world probably needs that rather less than it does reduced energy usage, he says. In New Zealand the government has already announced it will make spectrum available for both smart metering and other M2M applications such as RFID and is consulting on using parts of the 806 to 960 MHz band for this.
no consensus
Not everybody sees any urgent need for dedicated smart energy spectrum. A spokesperson for UK regulator Ofcom said: We are keeping a broad eye on the issue; but at the moment there is no need for direct Ofcom involvement. Ultimately, its up to energy compa-
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nies to decide on the communication mechanisms that they consider most appropriate. This might be wired or wireless communications over existing broadcast white spaces spectrum. Often solutions will combine both types of spectrum.
utilities want their own networks
Battle to provide communications network for UK smart grid
All you ever hear about is the amount of bandwidth that smartphones are using but the bandwidth requirement for M2M is progressing at the same rate of knots
or brand new networks. If wireless, there will be a need for spectrum. And this will need to be sourced through the open market. The official Vodafone spokesperson was even less convinced saying the company did not see any need for special bands devoted to M2M traffic. M2M does not represent a significant challenge from a spectrum perspective. The need for additional spectrum is driven by the exponential increase in data, which is a result of increased penetration of smartphones/laptops and increased usage of data-hungry applications on these devices, he said. This viewpoint was hotly disputed by Joe Hamilla, COO at US-based Spectrum Bridge which operates the words first commercial database of spectrum available for purchase or lease on the secondary market. All you ever hear about is the amount of bandwidth that smartphones are using but the bandwidth requirement for M2M is progressing at the same rate of knots, he maintains. But he does not think spectrum scarcity is the problem so much as allocation inefficiency. Spectrum Bridge has gone into several partnerships this year to provide smart metering and other M2M services over both licensed spectrum from its database and the unlicensed
Working with GE Energy it is offering a smart grid solution in the underutilized 218 to 219 MHz band, also known as the Interactive Video & Data Services (IVDS) band which was initially auctioned off in 1994. While it only has licenses covering 20% of the countrys population available for sale or lease on its SpecEx spectrum exchange in this band, it also has near nationwide coverage with other bands in the 217 to 222 MHz range. A lot of utilities are attracted by the prospect of having a one MHz bandwidth over their service area allowing them to do a range of things they could not do before, says Hamilla. Many of them operate over just a few counties or a state and can buy or lease licences at around 220 Mhz just for where their footprint is. As well as providing spectrum, Spectrum Bridge and GE between then
Which spectrum bands and technologies are to be used to provide communications for the UKs proposed smart grid are yet to be decided, but energy regulator Ofgem has released a detailed prospectus and consultation designed to provide some answers. Our special report on M2M communications concludes with a case study of policy development in the UK.
by Michael Newlands The grid, due for completion by 2020, will provide two-way communication -- initially with 28 million electricity meters and then to nearly as many gas meters. Water regulator OfWat is also hoping to get millions more water meters included in the rollout plans so a total of more than 60 million meters might be involved. Energy and Gas regulator Ofgem has already conducted extensive research and consultations and the results were published in a 66-page prospectus and consultation document released on August 4 and which is now being carefully analyzed by stakeholders in both the utilities and communications sectors. At the heart of the prospectus are plans to create a new central data and communications entity DataCommsCo or DCC which will provide countrywide two-way communications of data from a central hub to and from smart meters. This will provide benefits of efficiency and interoperability. DCC will also provide a basis to simplify and improve industry processes, including change of supplier, and to enable the development of smart grids, according to the prospectus. Initially Ofgem is proposing DCCs activities be limited to p17
Most utilities prefer to have their own networks as they provide a mission critical service and are reluctant to place that reliability on a mobile operator or vendor,
provide a GE radio solution tailored for the band, software for the radios, and network management. Information flows both ways along the network allowing a variety of cost saving measures. Most utilities prefer to have their own networks as they provide a mission critical service and are reluctant to place that reliability on a mobile operator or vendor, he says.
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those functions which are essential to the effective transfer of smart metering data, such as secure communications and access control and scheduled data retrieval. We also believe that DCC will need to take on board meter registration in order to realise the full benefits of smart metering. We welcome views on the practicalities and timing of the inclusion of this activity. We will continue to investigate whether any additional functions should subsequently be brought within the scope of DCCs activities and the mechanisms available for facilitating this, the prospectus reads. Whoever gets the proposed DCC job will have up to 60 million new customers albeit machine customers and the prospect of the role expanding from meter reading to smart grid management which means there is likely to be stiff competition for the position, which Ofgem envisages going to a newly-established private company set What the DCC will do
up just for this purpose.

contenders
The US market leader in the wireless mesh smart grid space is Silver Spring Networks which describes itself as a smart grid networking platform communications advisor. The company will open a UK office this month as it is hoping to become one of the service providers involved in the UK grid rollout. James Pace, Senior Director for Business Development, said in its home market and in Australia Silver Spring is using the unlicensed portion of the 900 MHz band at 902 to 928 MHz. He points out that is quite a lot of MHz which allows operations at 100 KBps in a very robust fashion while proactively avoiding interference. He says all nodes are IPv6 and it should be a requirement for all smart grids going forward to conform to this standard. Silver Spring also employs ZigBee mesh networking, enabling all the nodes on the network to talk to each
other, using the also unlicensed 2.4 GHz band. He said ZigBee is by far the most popular solution in both the US and Australia where its use for smart metering is mandated by law in the state of Victoria. He says the advantage of mesh networking over cellular or radio mast solutions is that there are many different paths a meter can use to route data to an access point and it can also use different access points which makes it much easier to go around obstacles and reach inside premises. A mast must see every device on a network and we think that is an important differentiator with mesh technology, Pace says. But there are some advantages enjoyed by cellular networks and we are in discussion with mobile operators to partner our technology with theirs and provide a peer-to-peer mesh overlay on their star topology networks, he says. This will provide cost benefits in terms of the capital infrastructure needed to address the last 10% to 15%
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Source: Ofgem consultation document P28
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of the coverage, and huge operating expenditure benefits by concentrating large numbers of meters to one GRPS or 3G node for backhaul.
new bands
However, Silver Spring is also looking for similar spectrum access in the UK as it has in the US to enable it to go it alone if necessary and provide an endto-end service. It has filed a request in the form of a consultation response for use of 872 - 876 MHz in a paired band with 917 - 921 MHz. Pace says the idea is for this spectrum to be set aside on a non-commercial basis for use by the utilities industry in a vendor-neutral fashion, and specifically for the central communications company providing the communications to the national smart grid. He hopes IP will be mandated as the convergence layer for the central communications provider so multiple technologies are accepted. Then there can be IP-enabled mesh, IP-enabled GPRS and IP-enabled 3G and the meter-reading applications can interrogate any device that has an IP address using standard protocols. It also means you can virtually future-proof the system, he says.
interest from established uk players
in-building coverage. Unlicensed spectrum could theoretically be used to supplement core M2M services if required and if the technology is sufficiently robust. Vodafone is considering complimentary short range or last mile technologies alongside GSM, UMTS, LTE and Paknet in the UK for M2M applications. He said ZigBee in particular is being studied. This at least should open the door for negotiation between Vodafone and like minded operators and non-cellular service providers like Silver Spring.
Perhaps the leading contender is a consortium comprising Arqiva, British Telecom and network security specialist Detica
using the 400mhz band
The mobile operators will also be hoping to get a slice of, or all of, the action and some have been looking at last mile technologies such as ZigBee. Vodafone and Orange have led the way with Vodafone providing a million smart meter connections to British Gas in a trial. Orange is conducting a similar trial with the National Grid. The Vodafone spokesperson told PolicyTracker: From a spectrum perspective the industry would expect to use existing bands the focus is likely to be GSM at 900/1800 (and UMTS900 where available) as these give the best
But perhaps the leading contender to roll out the communications component of a national smart grid is a consortium comprising infrastructure provider Arqiva, fixed-line incumbent British Telecom and network security specialist Detica. Using the FlexNet long-range radio system for utilities, which has already been deployed to 8 million end points in the US by its developer, Sensus, the partners have set up a proof-of-concept smart grid for npower customers in and around Reading. Alastair Davidson, Director of Strategy and Business Development at Arqiva, told PolicyTracker a national grid deployment would be run out using spectrum Arqiva already owns usage rights to, and which is ideally suited to the requirements of smart grids and smart meters. This is the paired bands at 412 to 414 and 422 to 424 MHz which Arqiva won at auction for 1.5 million in 1986 on an indefinite licence with no
further fees for 15 years and on a service and technology neutral basis. He said there is plenty of bandwidth to accommodate all the smart meters which would eventually be plugged into the grid, and also to provide the different features required including twoway communications and multicasting of instruction in a broadcast mode. Through its UK infrastructure business Arqiva has more than 8,000 active sites with radio mast transmitters around the country, and Davidson estimates the smart grid would require between 2, 000 and 2,500 sites, the majority of which it could use from it current site portfolio. Using the sweet spot 400 MHz band with Arqivas mast network and the FlexNet radio technology, Davidson believes the solution is the best available to provide truly nationwide coverage and dependable reception indoors neither of which can be provided by the MNOs. We would be able to give quality of service assurances and provide service level agreements to prioritise important traffic across the network, he said, which I do not think our competitors are in a position to do. BT has experience of dealing with the management of millions of nodes around the country and Detica can provide a security overlay to protect the network infrastructure from hackers and cyber-criminals. As the spectrum and the mast infrastructure is already in place and the technology proven in both the US deployments and the Reading test, the consortium is ready to move quickly ahead if given the green light. Although both the Government and on a wider front the EU, have 2020 as the target date for a full roll out of a smart grid to be complete, Arqiva is confident the consortium can achieve this far more quickly, by 2016 at the latest according to Davidson.
PolicyTracker
18
SpECTRuM pOLICY
Countries debate radiocommunication and policy matters before ITU conference

An October ITU treaty conference may update the intergovernmental organisations basic mandate on use of frequencies above 3000 GHz, cybersecurity, radiocommunication services and elected leadership.
secretary-generals behalf. No change to ITUs treaty instruments would be required with the proposal, they argue. They say the bureau heads should continue to be elected independently. The US wants to maintain the status quo, with five elected officials maintaining the director titles.
frequencies above 3000 ghz
by Scott Billquist, Geneva correspondent A proposal by an Arab group of 16 countries suggests the three elected bureau chiefs should be referred to as assistant secretary-generals as a way of clarifying their responsibilities. A group of 14 Asia-Pacific countries added that the directors titles cause confusion at some UN meetings. They say the directors are sometimes treated as appointed staff rather than elected officials who should be on an equal footing with heads of other UN specialised agencies. They say problems arise when they are not given an opportunity to speak in a timely manner. The countries have examined the possibility of changing the bureaux directors titles to director-general, deputy secretary-general, under secretarygeneral, assistant secretary-general and chairman. One US executive with knowledge of the intergovernmental organisations treaty instruments emphasised the importance of the existing independent but united nature of the bureaux. The ITUs federal structure, which has been in place for generations, is a strength because it allows independent communities of interest to function under a common umbrella, the US executive said. The Asia-Pacific countries think the bureaux heads should retain their current titles but suggest the directors be introduced in outside organisations as representing and acting on the
The Arab proposal also suggests changing the definition of radiocommunication in the ITU constitution to include frequencies above 3000 GHz. Some countries believe it is necessary to discard an existing 3000 GHz limit in the constitution because several radio technologies can be used above the limit in space, the proposal said. World Radiocommunication Conferences (WRCs) would then be able to add specific provisions to the Radio Regulations as needed, the countries said. The US and a group of 14 Asia-Pacific countries said existing provisions are sufficient. The US said if a WRC acts first, then changes to ITUs basic instruments could be considered.
eliminating definitions
seem to have much real purpose, the US executive said. It is not possible to ensure anything, much less cybersecurity, he said. The term cybersecurity has such fuzzy boundaries that a recent closed UN group of governmental experts from 15 major powers ditched it completely for its final report in favour of ICT security, he said. Several countries in an ITU-R working party addressing software defined and cognitive systems for the next WRC have raised concerns that the new technologies will be internet-connected. They say computer and network security will be directly interconnected with certain aspects of spectrum management. Italy thought software defined radio devices could be hacked to intentionally disrupt services.
ict in itus basic mandate
A group of 12 Asia-Pacific countries think any proposal to delete definitions of broadcasting and mobile services from the ITUs constitution and convention should be opposed. The aim of a 2006 proposal was to give the WRC the chance to update the definitions when technical developments prompt the need for revisions. Definition changes may be discussed at WRC-12. Countries could further revisit the issue after the WRC takes action, the Asia-Pacific group said.
cybersecurity
The Arab proposal also suggest expanding the ITUs basic mandate to ensuring cybersecurity. The changes dont
The Arab group proposed incorporating information and communications technology (ICT) into the ITUs general telecom mandate. The term is increasingly synonymous with telecoms both inside and outside the ITU, the US executive said. The proposed new telecom and ICT mandate would be defined as covering the transmission, emission, reception or processing of signs, signals, writing, images and sounds or intelligence of any nature by wire, radio, optical, computer or other electromagnetic systems. The proposed changes add processing of signs and computer to the definition. A group of 20 Asia-Pacific countries said the telecom mandate is sufficiently broad to include all network-related aspects of ICT. The communities and organisations dealing with ICT are widespread, the US executive said, and the ITU is a relatively minor venue. However, ICT seems like it will inevitably replace telecom for most people, the US executive said.
PolicyTracker
19
Active Consultations
Body Ofcom Last years decision to align the UK with the emerging 25 August European position on clearing channels 61 to 69, the 2010 800 MHz band, meant adding channels 61, 62 and 69 to the UK regulators existing digital switchover plans. As a result, regions where the switchover has already occurred will need to be revisited and extra work carried out to clear the three additional channels. Ofcom wants to make revisions to the 2007 Code of Practice on changes to existing transmission and reception arrangements to reflect this, and is giving stakeholders the opportunity to comment on the proposals. 4 August The British energy and gas regulator is 2010 consulting stakeholders in both the utilities and telecommunications sectors on its proposals for countrywide smart metering and the introduction of a smart grid. An important component of the consultation is proposals for the appointment of a new entity to co-ordinate communications between smart meters in consumers homes and authorised smart meter data users. Ofgem is looking for feedback on how the new central function known as DataCommsCo (DCC) can be set up, and what roles it should fulfill. 22 July 2010 The UK regulator has issued a consultation paper in which it seeks comment from all telecoms and broadcast stakeholders on how to proceed with gathering information for a new three-yearly mandatory report to the government on the UK's communications infrastructure. The first report is due to be submitted in August 2011. While Ofcom already has access to a great deal of information, it will also need substantial input from the private sector. It is seeking comment on how best to cooperate with industry in information gathering and to get input from companies on any data they have that could help with the first report. French regulator ARCEP is consulting on the principles 28 July 2010 that should guide the refarming of the 900 MHz band in Frances overseas territories. As part of the conusltation, it is asking for feedback from operators on the future spectrum needs of these territories. They include Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana and Reunion. 30 Sep 2010 28 Oct 2010 TBC 6 Oct 2010 TBC Topic Open Close Report Link http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/consultations/code-of-practice/
20
Ofcom TBC ARCEP 30 Sep 2010 TBC
Area
Title
UK
Digital Switchover and 800 MHz clearance Management of transitional coverage issues
UK
Smart Metering Ofgem Implementation Programme -- Prospectus
http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/Pages/MoreInformation.aspx?docid=40&refer=eserve/sm/Documentation
UK
The UK Communications Infrastructure Report
http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/consultations/uk-comms-infrastructure/
France
Re-use of 900 MHz band for 3G mobile networks and future frequency requirements in overseas territories
http://www.arcep.fr/uploads/tx_gspublication/consult-umts-900-dom-juil10.pdf
See webSite for eaSier acceSS to hyperlinkS

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Operators watch and wait as Ofcom juggles hot potato

martin@policytracker.com +44 (0)7946 485420 (m)

Managing editor Martin Sims

Geneva correspondent Scott Billquist

Brussels correspondent Nathalie Vandystadt Contributing Editors:

Got something to say about a PolicyTracker article?

Hard copy and searchable web archive: 1050

Tim Jerram www.timjerram.co.uk

Operators have high hopes for new mobile television standard

new pilot to launch in uk

Ofcom tests Olympic spectrum requirements

More spectrum not necessarily the answer for mobile operators

PMSE industry protests over compensation package

Brazil plans LTE rollout in time for 2014 World Cup

US lawmakers introduce proposal for spectrum incentive auctions

See www.policytracker.com for more details

French UMTS 1800 pilot has implications for UK operators

Auction results bring real competition to Mexican market

The auction has introduced unprecedented competition into Mexicos 3G market

mexican operators 3g spectrum holdings pre and post auctions

Pre-auction Bandwidth (MHz) 50.6 39.1 43.8 18.2 37.9

TV & radio concerned about ancillary services

up to 100 mhz needed

Portugal and Italy move towards switch-off

Portugal - analogue switch-off

M2M COMMuNICATIONS: SpECIAL REpORT

Smart metering and smart grids dominate M2M space

moving beyond sims

Does M2M need its own spectrum?

M2M COMMuNICATIONS: SpECIAL REpORT

Battle to provide communications network for UK smart grid

up just for this purpose.

Source: Ofgem consultation document P28

Countries debate radiocommunication and policy matters before ITU conference

Smart Metering Ofgem Implementation Programme -- Prospectus

The UK Communications Infrastructure Report

See webSite for eaSier acceSS to hyperlinkS

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