INTRODUCTION TO THE RA

RA - THE FUTURE

The Agency is to become part of a new independent regulator, The Office of Communications (Ofcom), chaired by Lord Currie. Ofcom is expected to be operating late 2003 after the enactment of the Communications Bill. Ofcom is being designed to be a world class regulator for the UK's converging communications sector. The new Office of Communications will merge the functions of five existing regulatory bodies the Radiocommunications Agency (RA), the Independent Television Commission (ITC), the Broadcasting Standards Commission (BSC), the Office of Telecommunications (OFTEL) and the Radio Authority (RAu). Further details about RA and Ofcom are available from the Agency website www.radio.gov.uk on the page http://www.radio.gov.uk/topics/ofcom/ofcom-index.htm

WHAT WILL OFCOM DO?

Ofcom's remit comes from the Office of Communications Act 2002 which gives the organisation the statutory function of preparing for the new regulatory arrangements. These are set out in the Communications Bill currently before Parliament, which sets out the following general duties:

• To further the interests of consumers in relevant markets
• To secure the optimal use of the radio spectrum
• To ensure that a wide range of television and radio services are available in the UK
• To protect the public from any offensive or potentially harmful effects of broadcast media, and to safeguard people from being unfairly treated in television and radio programmes

• ensure effective delivery of customers' and consumers' needs
• offer an integrated approach to communications regulation
• provide consistency of approach
• deliver clarity of policy
• have the ability to respond flexibly
• strive to maintain diversity and quality within the communications sector
• take forward the expertise of existing regulators
• aim to deliver faster complaints resolution, licence issuing and policy decisions

• be a vibrant and effective organisation
• provide joined up regulation
• be flexible and be responsive to the changing realities of the communications sector
• be an integrated regulator
• ensure quality, diversity and choice of content
• deliver decisions which will be clear and with transparent reasons

• favour light handed regulation but intervene when necessary
• create the conditions in which dynamic, vibrant industries can develop
• protect public service broadcasting
• use competition rather than regulation wherever possible to deliver what customers want
• help create a more efficient market
• ensure a wide range and diversity of services
• make decisions based on strong evidence and powerful analysis

A BRIEF HISTORY OF RADIO REGULATION

The Radiocommunications Agency (RA) has been an Executive Agency of the Department of Trade and Industry since 2 April 1990.

The history of frequency management stretches back to 1918 when the Wireless Telegraphy Board was set up to co-ordinate interference problems in the English Channel. The origins of today's Radiocommunications Agency are in the General Post Office Engineering Department, set up in 1949 to bring together all radio regulatory work. This unit moved from the Post Office to the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications in 1969, then in 1974 to the Home Office as the Radio Regulatory Department. RRD then moved to the Department of Trade and Industry in 1983. The name changed again to the Radiocommunications Division in 1986, before becoming a Next Steps Agency in 1990.

WHY IS RADIO IMPORTANT?

The knowledge-driven economy relies on efficient communications, and radio is a uniquely versatile communications medium. The radio spectrum supports an enormous range of services and applications and is in increasing demand. However, the spectrum is a finite resource and its effective management by the Agency is crucial to UK success in the Information Age.

Radio makes a considerable, and fast-growing, contribution to the economy. Radio-based businesses employ hundreds of thousands of people and are one of the fastest-growing, successful and dynamic sectors of the economy. Radio, in its many diverse forms, is of vital importance to businesses, from high street taxis and freight transport to broadcasting and international telecommunications. For example, telephone traffic is often carried by radio over links between cities and on international links via satellites; and mobile telephones would be quite impossible without radio.

But the radio spectrum is not just used for business. Radio entertains and informs us, allows us to communicate for business and for pleasure, assists safe travel by land, air and sea, provides the effective communications on which the emergency services and armed forces depend and aids scientific research.

The radio spectrum supports an enormous range of services and applications

THE ROLE OF THE AGENCY

RA is responsible for managing most non-military radio spectrum in the UK and for representing the UK in international meetings on radio. Radio waves are used by millions of people across the world and do not conveniently stop at political or administrative boundaries. Without adequate planning and management, radio signals from different users and services would interfere with each other and radio could become useless as a means of communication.

It is the role of RA to manage the radio spectrum to make sure that it is used in the most efficient and effective way to the overall benefit of the UK. We plan and manage spectrum use to ensure as far as possible that the right kind of spectrum is available for those who need it, when they need it, and that it is used efficiently and with as little interference as possible. In reaching decisions on the allocation and assignment of frequencies RA has to take into account the (often competing) requirements of radio users. RA does this by:

1. Frequency planning.

Allocating different parts of the spectrum to particular services so that the services do not interfere with each other.

2. Assignment and licensing.

Planning the assignments made to individual users so that spectrum is used efficiently without interference between users.

3. Keeping the spectrum clean.

Taking action to deal with harmful interference.

RA Resources

At present RA is part of DTI and its staff are civil servants, but when RA merges to become Ofcom in December 2003, it will be a public sector organisation and will lose its Civil Service status. RA is managed as far as possible along business lines. Planning and managing the spectrum requires specialist expertise and nearly half the total number of RA staff are radio engineering and technical specialists. Others have administrative and managerial roles. Many of the staff are located in the Agency's headquarters in Docklands, London, some at the Radio Technology Compatibility Group at Whyteleafe in Surrey which carries out research, development and testing of radio equipment, and others at the Baldock Radio Monitoring Station in Hertfordshire which has fixed and mobile facilities for monitoring the radio spectrum. Approximately 200 of the Agency's staff work in a network of local offices taking spectrum management services directly to our customers.

THE STRUCTURE OF THE AGENCY

RA's Chief Executive is Rolande Anderson, and the Agency is arranged in four executives, each headed by a Director. Details of each Executive are contained in the table on the next page.

The Radiocommunications Agency currently has a network of eight local offices throughout the UK which provide local customer services. The Agency's local staff are the principal point of contact for many of our customers. They:

As well as providing local customer services, they are the enforcement arm of the Agency and aim to ensure that authorised users are able to enjoy the full benefits of their licences. A map of local offices appears at the end of this document.