Home > Media and Analysts > Media and Analysts FAQs > Radiocomms FAQs > FAQs – Business Radio Reform

FAQs – Statutory Updates for Business Radio Reform

1. What is the Statutory Notice published today (9 June 2008) in relation to Business Radio reform?

This is the means by which Ofcom is required to notify stakeholders when it plans to make new Statutory Instruments (Regulations). The Notice invites interested parties to comment upon three new Regulations which are needed to provide the legal basis for Ofcom’s previously announced Business Radio reform programme. The closing date for responses to the Notice is 10 July 2008.

2. What are the reforms?

The detailed proposals for reform are outlined in Ofcom statements published in January 2007 which can be found here on the Ofcom website (www.ofcom.org.uk/consult/condocs/brtrading and www.ofcom.org.uk/consult/condocs ). In summary the proposals continue a progressive extension of Ofcom’s liberalisation approach and involve plans to:

introduce significant additional liberalisation to the sector through the adoption of more flexible licences and spectrum management techniques;
extend the ability to trade spectrum to a considerably increased range of licence classes and licensees;
simplify and rationalise our licensing arrangements to make them more flexible, adopting more deregulatory approaches to authorisation where appropriate;
update our approach to setting fees to reflect a liberalised Business Radio environment.

3. Why is Ofcom making these reforms?

Ofcom has set out its approach to spectrum management in the Spectrum Framework Review (SFR).The central theme of the SFR is that the management of the radio spectrum can be carried out most effectively if market forces are harnessed to a significantly greater degree than in the past. Two of the key mechanisms for achieving this are spectrum trading and spectrum liberalisation. Our plans for Business Radio extend these prinicples within the sector and we have also taken this opportunity to simplify and rationalise existing licensing arrangements. The plans, therefore, include modified pricing arrangements which are necessary to reflect the new licensing structure and to better incentivise efficient use of the spectrum.

4. Who is affected by the reforms?

The table below illustrates which licensees will be affected by the changes:

Current Licence Class	New Licence Class
Business Radio (Public Wide Area Paging)	BR Area Defined
Business Radio (Public Mobile Data, Non-Voice)
Business Radio (National and Regional)
Business Radio (Tetra Digital PAMR)
Business Radio (CDMA Asset Tracker)
Business Radio (Remote Meter Reading Operator) - Exclusive channel
Business Radio (Analogue PAMR)	BR Technically Assigned
Business Radio (Common Base Stations)
Business Radio (Remote Meter Reading Operator) - Shared channels
Business Radio (Wide Area Speech and Data Systems)
Business Radio (Wide Area One-Way Paging and Speech Systems)
Business Radio (Wide Area Distress Alarms)
Business Radio (Band 1 and Band III CBS)
Business Radio (IR2008 Data)
Business Radio (On-Site Speech and Data Systems)
Business Radio (On Site Hospital Paging and Emergencies Speech Systems
	Light Licensing comprising
Business Radio (UK General)	BR Simple UK
Business Radio (On-Site Local Communications)	BR Simple Site
Business Radio (On-Site One-Way Paging and Speech)
Business Radio (Self-Select)
Business Radio (Suppliers)	BR Suppliers

5. Have the proposals changed since 2007?

The proposals are largely unchanged except in relation to:

Light Licences - which Ofcom now intend to make tradable. In 2007 it was recognised that the economic benefit of introducing trading here would be limited since there is currently no limit on the number of licences available and hence no spectrum scarcity to drive trades. However, ownership of these licences does frequently change and the trading process provides for an efficient and transparent mechanism for dealing with this event. We therefore intend to make these licences tradable on the basis that this does not place any additional regulatory burden upon licensees rather it facilitates a more streamlined administrative process to deal with the surrender of an old licence and the issue of a new one in the new owner’s name.
Implementation – the timing of and plans for which have been modified.

6. How will Ofcom implement the reforms?

The first step towards implementing the proposed reforms is to make changes to existing rules on licence fees, spectrum trading and the spectrum register which are already set down in Regulations. The new Regulations make the amendments to existing legislation that are necessary to give legal effect to the changes. This establishes the regulatory basis for us to issue licences under the new arrangements.

Subject to dealing with responses to the Notice we expect to bring the Regulations into force in August 2008, however, we do not plan to implement the new arrangements at that time therefore there will be no change to existing licensing arrangements when the Regulations come into force.

There are three further key steps to take towards implementing the reforms; these are to:

complete development of a new spectrum management and licensing computer system (the capabilities of this tool are a pre-requisite to support the new liberalisation measures);
to vary existing licences to the new licence structure; and
to make the new licence classes available for new applicants.

7. What are the current timescales for implementation?

The new computer system must be in place before we can implement the reforms and our current expectation is that this will be available by the end of the year. At that time we plan to vary all licences onto the new licensing structure and to make the new licence classes available to new applicants. This may be subject to revision but we will keep stakeholders up to date on progress in the meantime.

8. How will my licence(s) be varied?

The variation of existing licences is a strictly prescribed legal process. We will issue a general statement of our intentions and also write individually to each licensee to advise that their existing licence will automatically be replaced with a new licence (using the same assignments). Licensees will get a short period (at least a month) to raise any problems arising from this notice letter before the new licence is finalised and issued to them. The old licence will then become redundant.

9. What should I do next?

If you wish to comment on the draft Regulations published in the Statutory Notice please do so in accordance with the instructions set out in Annex 1 of the Notice. If you have any further questions concerning the Business Radio Reform Programme please contact:

Paul Jarvis at Ofcom on:
Tel: 0207 981 3115

Or:

Mostafa Relmy at Ofcom on:
Tel: 0207 981 3128