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Participants

1. Opening of Meeting

Mr Short welcomed all present to the 5GHz Licensing Regime Syndicate Group. He explained that the purpose of the group was to address the key issues surrounding the appropriate regulatory regime for 5GHz Hiperlan equipment. It was intended that a representative of the group would give a brief presentation to the main conference on the issues discussed in the course of the afternoon’s session.

2. Key Regulatory Issues

Mr Short asked the group to identify key regulatory issues and outstanding regulatory questions for the 5 GHz Band. The group developed a list of issues and questions which included the following:

It was recognised by the group that some of the issues related specifically to 5GHz and some related to regulation in the UK in general. It was agreed to focus on issues germane to 5GHz. The key issues from a regulatory perspective for this band were the development of a framework for public and private applications, and about deregulation.

The groups agreed that there was a need to achieve the sort of regulatory regime from Government that industry would like to see. It was likely that this would be achieved as a hybrid of modifications to the existing regime and the generation of new regulatory ideas.

3. Types of Application

Mr Short suggested that before examining the necessary regulatory framework it might be useful to clarify what types of application it would need to cover. The group agreed. Mr MacPherson (Ericsson Ltd)identified three types of possible use of the 5GHz spectrum. These were:

As regards the definition of the Service Provider application, Mr Short reported that he had discussed the issue with OFTEL , DTI, BT and other organisations. This bracket of application included Internet Service Provider type services. They involved situations where people who were not necessarily running communication networks but wished to communicate between two things, which they could do entirely legitimately with a cable at the moment, but could not do with radio because there was not a class licence that would allows it. It was acknowledged by the group that the differentiation between Public and Service Provider applications might be a little grey – however it was thought that there were quality of service issues that would benefit from further examination.

The group also considered a fourth type of use ‘terminal’ – this related to situations where 5GHz equipment was imbedded in, for example, a cellular handset.

 4. Licensing Regime.

The group then examined these various types of applications and attempted to identify if they were ‘public’ or ‘private’ in nature and what the licensing requirement should be. Table 1 below displays the results of the group’s deliberations.

Table 1: Type of application and proposed licensing regime.


The provision of a public service for Service Provider applications was identified as an area which the current regulatory regime did not cover. The group believed that it would be advantageous to develop a regime that catered for both public and private types of this application.

In relation to the Public Access application, it was questioned why this needed to be licensed and how this application was differentiated from the public Service Provider application. Mr MacPherson suggested that a licence for Public Access meant that the regulator guaranteed ‘clean’ spectrum. A public Service Provider application was provided on a ‘best efforts’ basis and would have to suffer interference from other legitimate users of the band.

The group also highlighted that, while these proposals dealt solely with the WT Act regulatory arrangements, there would also be a need to bring the T Act regulatory arrangements into line with these proposals. It was thought that there we currently possible divergences between the WT Act licence and T Act Licence requirements.

5. Use of available spectrum.

The group discussed what spectrum should be available to the four identified applications of HiperLAN technology. Table 2 displays the results of the group’s deliberations.

 Table 2: Type of Application and Available Frequency Bands.

In relation to the 5250 MHz band, some members of the group questioned why public access applications were not permitted. It was highlighted that these were allowed in the USA. Further discussion highlighted that the proposal for this band was not to forbid ‘public’ applications. Public applications should be allowed in this band but the regulator would not offer protection, and services would therefore be offered on a ‘best efforts ‘ basis and would potentially have to suffer interference from other legitimate users of the band.

Ms Cooper (Orange) identified a need to look at 5GHz as part of the wider picture, in context with developments with ADSL and, for example at 28 GHz. The Government’s approach should not be piecemeal.

6. Other Important Issues.

Due to the time limitations on the afternoon’s syndicate session it was not possible to discuss all regulatory issues of importance to the group. However, the group thought it essential that the importance its members attached to these other issues was not lost. It was therefore agreed that this sentiment would be reflected in the written record of the group’s activities. In order to identify priorities for these outstanding issues Mr Short asked that the group to indicate which of those issues identified at the beginning of the afternoon’s session were of particular importance to the group. This would be used as an indication of the key issues when future discussions on this issue were arranged. The list below displays these key issues in (an approximate) order of importance to the group.

Public or private use - is there a distinction or not?

Should there be unlicensed or licences section?

Timing (to market);

Balance between WT Act and T Act;

Should they be some service restriction on the 5 GHz section?

Cost - New entrants licence costs, technology cost or other costs;

Interoperability versus co-existence;

Technology neutrality - Should any licences be determining technology or stay technology neutral ?

Priorities and purpose of regulation;

7. Way Forward

The group then addressed the question of how to take these issues forward. It was recognised that many of these would also depend on the feed back from the other groups, and would need to be taken forward in conjunction with the subject areas discussed in the other syndicate groups.

Mr Short reported that the RA had agreed to establish a 5 GHz Advisory Group. It was hoped that this group would help shape the Government’s policy on the 5GHz band. It was also likely that once firm proposal had been developed the Government would again publicly consult on these.

8. Close of meeting

Mr Short thanked all present for their active participation in a very useful and interesting discussion. Mr MacPherson received special thanks for agreeing to present a summary of the group’s discussion to the afternoon’s plenary session.