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Annual Report & Accounts 1998 - 1999 |
Achievement, innovation and leadership in support of Government policies. A century after Marconi’s pioneering experiments, radio is once again emerging as a dynamic cutting-edge technology.
These are interesting times for the Radiocommunications Agency. Looking back over my first year as Chief Executive, I am pleased to be able to reflect on the Agency’s achievements, innovation and leadership and excited by the challenges and prospects that lie ahead.
Radio spectrum is an essential raw material for building the knowledge driven economy. Its effective management is key to Government policies for the Information Age. Users no longer wish to be shackled by physical connections but want to be able to receive and transmit voice and data messages on the move. Radio is the only communications medium that can provide the mobility they demand. A century after Marconi’s pioneering experiments, radio is once again emerging as a dynamic cutting-edge technology. This success poses a new set of challenges to satisfy rapidly rising demand for radio spectrum, which is a finite resource.
The importance of radio to the economy, amply demonstrated by independent studies, has been a theme of Agency publications in recent years. It has also become recognised more widely. Four publications from the year under review show how the Agency’s work promotes enterprise, innovation and competitiveness and supports a number of key Government policies and DTI objectives.
The Government’s publication Our Information Age referred to the role of the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1998 in achieving maximum value and efficiency from use of radio spectrum and realising the Government’s vision.
I welcome this appreciation and endorsement of the Agency’s role in support of Government policies and of the importance of retaining core spectrum management responsibilities within Government. This provides a stable platform from which to build on the success the Agency has already achieved.
There have also been signs of increasing awareness internationally, which the Agency has done much to foster, of the economic importance of radio spectrum and its management. In December 1998, the European Commission published a Green Paper on spectrum policy. This placed particular weight on the wider strategic importance of radio spectrum within Europe. The Agency, on behalf of the UK Government, has submitted a full and substantial response to this important initiative.
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Left: The Management Board, left to right: Barry Maxwell, Director of Customer Services; Hazel Canter, Director of Spectrum Services; Chris de Grouchy, Director of Corporate Services & Facilities; Mike Goddard, Director of Spectrum Policy. Seated: David Hendon, Chief Executive. |
During the year under review, the Agency has succeeded in a number of important achievements. One which gave all of us considerable personal satisfaction was our success in achieving Investor in People (IiP) accreditation at the first attempt. This involved a considerable amount of hard work and reflects great credit on colleagues at all levels in the Agency. I believe the benefits it will bring of having a more fully involved, informed, developed and motivated workforce will become apparent to our customers in terms of the quality of service we offer.
IiP accreditation is a step in a continuous quest to push standards even higher, not an end in itself. The IiP process involves continual reassessment after initial accreditation and we are already working towards our first reassessment to improve those areas requiring further development.
Demand for frequencies continues to be strong. The challenge we face is to meet that demand by the effective planning and management of the finite spectrum resource.
The Agency has a well-deserved reputation for innovative approaches to spectrum management. As mentioned in last year’s report, the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1998, the first major spectrum management legislation for nearly half a century, came into effect in June 1998. This milestone legislation totally reformed the basis of charging for spectrum licences. It broke the link with the Agency’s costs and enabled pricing to be used as a tool of spectrum management. The effect will be fairer fees and more effective spectrum management. Users will have added incentives to improve spectrum efficiency and make spectrum more readily available for innovation and growth.
As described later in this report, we have been making excellent progress in applying the new spectrum pricing tools provided by the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1998. The first fees regulations under the new regime came into effect in July 1998. The Agency’s proposals gained wide support and are currently being converted into regulations to come into effect in July 1999, for progressively applying spectrum pricing principles to other mobile radio and point-to-point fixed links. There will be consultation later this year on the application of spectrum pricing to other licence classes.
Meanwhile, planning for the first spectrum auction of licences for the Third Generation of mobile telephones, which will offer sophisticated mobile services such as high-speed Internet access and video-conferencing, has continued in consultation with the industry. Telecoms Minister, Michael Wills MP, recently announced plans to offer five licences, including one reserved for a new entrant, to offer the prospect of increased competition and innovation.
Looking beyond spectrum pricing, in October we published a consultative document, Managing Spectrum through the Market, on the introduction of spectrum trading. This would allow businesses to buy and sell spectrum between themselves instead of being able to acquire licences only from the Agency. The responses showed broad support for spectrum trading and we are now in the process of developing detailed proposals, which will include a framework of regulation to safeguard access to spectrum by small and medium businesses and essential public services. Spectrum trading cannot be introduced overnight because it would require changes to EU and UK legislation but it could offer considerable benefits of greater flexibility and speed of spectrum access.
On the theme of innovation, as I mentioned in last year’s report, the Agency entered into a trail-blazing public-private partnership with CMG plc, a leading European IT services company. This partnership, Radio Spectrum International, has the unique feature that it not only provides the Agency with the advanced IT services and systems needed to face the spectrum management challenges of the 21st century but also exploits on commercial terms the Agency’s unique reputation and intellectual capital by providing consultancy services to overseas spectrum management administrations.
LeadershipThe developments I have described above shows how the Agency is meeting the challenges of managing the radio spectrum at a time of unprecedented speed of change and uncertainty and leading the way on a number of fronts, including our use of innovative spectrum management techniques. We are in the vanguard of preparing for the new digital services on which the knowledge driven economy will depend. Notable achievements during the year included preparations for the successful introduction of digital television, which built on our groundwork on international frequency clearance at a conference we hosted at Chester in 1997. We will shortly be publishing a consultative document on multimedia broadband radio services that will open a host of exciting possibilities. These developments enhance our ability to play a leading role in international discussions on spectrum management and facilitate our efforts to promote UK interests in international discussions. Our achievements in this respect are outlined in the report. Spectrum allocations and technical standards are increasingly harmonised and the outcome of international negotiations is of considerable importance to UK radio users, service providers and equipment manufacturers. Despite having been in existence for just a year, Radio Spectrum International has already secured its first consultancy contracts from other administrations. The work of RSI with other administrations will help strengthen the Agency’s international influence and leadership. I look forward to building on the Agency’s international reputation to make it the foremost spectrum manager in the world. |
David Hendon |
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