Hewitt Proposes Improved Telecommunications Services in Yorkshire

DTI Press Notice - 15 October 1999


Yorkshire consumers will benefit from proposed telecommunications licences announced today by Patricia Hewitt, Minister for Trade and Industry.

The licenses will extend the licensing of Radio Fixed Access Services at 2.4 GHz to the Yorkshire region. Licences will be made available to Atlantic Telecommunications Ltd (ATL) for the West Yorkshire area  and to Kingston Communications Ltd for the East Riding of Yorkshire,  subject to the completion of technical trials in each region.

Welcoming the licences, Ms Hewitt said:

"This is excellent news for customers. The liberalisation of the  radio fixed access market will enable improved access, choice and networks of telecommunication services for individuals and  businesses."

Radio Fixed Access services provide telecommunications services to  homes and businesses via radio fixed links rather than fixed copper  wire or cable. Links to homes and businesses in the UK have  traditionally been provided by fixed copper wire. Radio offers the prospect of continuing this downward pressure on costs and prices for telecommunications services, since it removes the need to 'fly' wire across country or dig up roads to provide fixed telecommunication  links.

Today's announcement follows last years consultation exercise by the  DTI's Radiocommunications Agency (RA) on the future licensing of radio based telecommunication services in the 2.4 GHz band.

Detailed examination of the business plans from Kingston Communications and Atlantic Telecommunications Ltd revealed that their interests lay in different parts of the region originally offered for licensing. As a consequence, the Government has decided that the best interest of consumers would be served if the Yorkshire area was split into smaller areas reflecting the differing geographical focus of the two applicants.

Licences will be made available to Atlantic Telecommunications Ltd (ATL) for the West Yorkshire area and to Kingston Communications Ltd for the East Riding of Yorkshire, subject to the completion of technical trials in each region. These proposals will ensure that the radio spectrum resource is effectively utilised and result in RFA services being made available to a wider proportion of consumers in the Yorkshire area than would otherwise be the case.

NOTES FOR EDITORS

1. The DTI's public consultation document "Future Licensing of Radio Based Public Telecommunications Services in the 2.4 GHz Band" in August 1998. Comments and expression of interest in the available regional licences were invited from interested parties by the 1st October 1998. The DTI's press release of the 24 February 1999 outlines the result of the consultation and details proposals to extend licensing of radio fixed access services at 2.4 GHz

2. In February, following the conclusion of the consultation, the Government announced applications had been received for six of the regions offered for licensing in the consultation exercise. In five out of the six regions the sole bidder for radio fixed access telecommunications services (RFA) in the 2.4GHz band had been ATL. A Wireless Telegraphy licence for the North West of England has been issued to ATL and licences for the remaining four uncontested regions will be awarded to them on a region-by-region basis.

3. In a sixth region, covering the Yorkshire area, two applications were received. The applicants were Atlantic Telecommunications Ltd and Kingston Communications (Hull) Plc (KCH) on behalf of Kingston Communications Limited (KCL). The Government stated a competition would be held between the two applicants, based on a consideration of detailed business plans, to establish which proposal was likely to constitute the most efficient use of the radio spectrum.

4. The 2.4 GHz frequency band is designated as an Industrial, Scientific and Medical (ISM) band. ISM applications include industrial processes such as rubber vulcanisation, specialist scientific and medical equipment, as well as high density use as domestic appliances such as instance microwave ovens. It is estimated that there may be 10 million domestic microwave ovens in use across the UK.

5. RFA offers one way of introducing competition into the domestic telephony market by offering an alternative to more traditional wire and cable based solutions for connecting to the public telephone system. RFA is also commonly referred to as Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) or radio in the local loop (RLL).

6. Use of the 2.4 GHz band for RFA has been pioneered in the UK by Atlantic Telecommunications Ltd. They successfully launched a service in the Strathclyde region of Scotland in 1996. This has since been extended to other regions of Scotland.

7. The Radiocommunications Agency is an executive agency of the DTI, responsible for licensing civil use of the radio spectrum in the UK.

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