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Radiocommunications
Agency
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Radiocommunications
Agency
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Mission
The Radiocommunications Agency's Mission is to facilitate access to radio spectrum, of the
appropriate quality, for the widest range of services and so to promote the creation of
wealth, competition, quality and choice.
We will achieve this through:
* Providing access to the spectrum in accordance with a clear and widely publicised strategic plan
* Seeking improvement in global and regional spectrum coordination, to the benefit of UK customers
* Ensuring compliance with spectrum management conditions to the benefit of all users in order to keep the spectrum clean
* Developing the skills of our staff and the supporting systems and thereby continuously improving our efficiency and effectiveness;
and hence enhance competitiveness in the UK.
Customer Service
In carrying out our Mission we aim to serve the customer. A customer is anyone who uses
the radio spectrum, or who would like to do so, for any of the wide and expanding range of
radio-based services, this may be for business, safety-of-life purposes or one of the many
leisure or cultural uses.
Vision
Our Vision is for the Radiocommunications Agency to be a catalyst for growth in the UK
economy, through the innovative and widespread use of the radio spectrum. Through our
management of the civil radio spectrum, we aim to facilitate the continued development and
competitiveness of a wide range of radio-based services.
We plan to achieve our Vision in the following ways:
Strategic Planning
We will publish, and update annually, a strategic plan for the use and development of the
radio spectrum. This will take a long-term view of spectrum needs and balance those with
short-term requirements. It will also balance commercial and non-commercial spectrum
demands. In formulating this plan, we shall consult widely with all interested parties -
users, service providers, operators and manufacturers. We shall seek out information on a
global basis about new market needs and technological developments. We shall communicate
our strategic plan to market participants and so highlight new opportunities that
entrepreneurs can assess and develop.
Promoting Leadership
We will actively facilitate new developments and encourage industry to take up these
opportunities. In our supporting role we shall champion:
* Competition, by harnessing market forces to technical innovation and by enforcing the law so that there is fairness for all
* Quality, through promoting innovation and continuous improvement in service provision
* Choice, by providing spectrum to support a range of radio-based services from which users can choose
* International harmonisation of spectrum allocations and regulatory practices wherever appropriate.
Communication
As spectrum managers, we have a special role to play in stimulating growth through
improving communication about the services available in the radiocommunications market,
and how these can meet user needs. In this way, working through industry, we shall help
users to make informed decisions about the services that most closely match their needs.
We are also committed to improving communications with our customers by providing more
information about the services we offer and our charges; by publishing more information
about spectrum usage; and by close consultation with customers about future plans.
Investing for the Future
We aim to deliver our services to our customers efficiently and effectively in a way which
is responsive to their changing needs. We are carrying out a programme of fundamental
change which will simplify the products we offer, streamline their administration, provide
us with the information we need to run our business effectively, and improve our
accountability for the resources we use.
Our effectiveness depends crucially on recognising and investing in the development of the
key skills of our staff through competency programmes, targeted training and in the
provision of appropriate tools and systems.
Progress in achieving our Mission and Vision
Strategic Planning
The second edition of the spectrum strategic plan was published in May 1996 and we shall
continue to update the plan each year through a consultation programme on current
developments and changes, including new types of market demand, developments in
technology, and innovative service or product proposals. We will also reflect the latest
positions reached in Europe and globally.
The Agency welcomes all comments, including constructive criticism, on the form and
content of this document.
Promoting Leadership
The Agency continues to work towards achieving its goal as a facilitator for all radio
users. As reported more fully elsewhere in this Report, all sectors of the radio industry
are growing. Through its spectrum management policies, the Agency continues to promote new
radio services and to encourage industry to take up the new opportunities that become
available. Finding spectrum allocations for new services and developing technical
specifications are key aspects of this work. Communication with radio users and industry
is also important.
Communication
We are continuously seeking to improve the ways in which we communicate with customers
through consultative committees and regular newsletters. In addition, the Agency Seminar
has now become an annual event at which we are able to report the latest developments in
radio communications, both policy and technology, to our customers. This is augmented by
an annual round of regional meetings throughout the country where the Chief Executive,
directors and senior managers - as well as the local officers - can meet our customers for
informal presentations and discussions of local interest and relevance.
We are continuing our annual programme of customer surveys to find out what our customers
think of the services we provide. The results of the 1995/96 survey are provided in this
Report.
Investing for the Future
We have increased the investment in developing information systems and new processes this
year. To improve our accountability and effectiveness, we have purchased a sophisticated
but well proven accounting and ledger packaged system from McKeown Software. This has been
tailored to manage our new general ledger and purchasing functions in the first phase,
with other functions (costing, time management and sales) evolving over the next year. In
conjunction with this information package system, we have been rationalising and evolving
our business, sector and coding structures and our financial management processes.
Our unified licensing project (RULES) remains our biggest investment. The information
systems are being designed by CMG UK Ltd to bring together the best of packaged systems,
commercial know-how and our own technical systems and skills. We are endeavouring to
develop new databases which will provide better dynamic information about use of the
spectrum and information about how we are helping our customers. We are also defining
functionality to better manage licence documentation and fees.
We are devoting major efforts to develop a new rationalised but flexible set of licence
classes and products, to be less confusing to customers than the current list of over 50
classes. Our aim is for them to be sufficiently robust to support the new technological
applications we are evolving. We are also aiming to consolidate and streamline all our
licensing processes and procedures to increase customer service and to improve
effectiveness.
In support of those licensing services which are contracted out, RULES will be able to
provide us with summary information from the contractors' own systems. It will closely
support our plans to support devolving more Private Business and Maritime radio licensing
to our Regional Licensing Centres. In close linkage to RULES, new frequency assignment
systems and processes are being evolved for fixed services (the first phase for Fixed
Links was successfully delivered in October 1995), and we intend shortly to commence new
frequency assignment systems for mobile radio. It is planned to deliver these later
systems in the period 1998-1999.
Our IT infrastructure is being substantially improved to support all these system
developments and new office services. In addition to networks and servers linking all RA
offices, a new internal electronic mail system has recently been installed.
No consideration of future investment can ignore the contribution made by the Agency's
staff. They are a vital resource and the Agency is participating in, and fully committed
to, the Investors in People scheme aimed at maximising the contribution each member of
staff can make towards achieving the Agency's goals.
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