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Fourth Meeting of the Broadband Fixed Wireless Access Consultative Group at Wyndham House on 3 April 2000 |
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Fourth Meeting of the Broadband Fixed Wireless Access Consultative Group at Wyndham House on 3 April 2000 |
Those Present:
Dave Toman Chairman RA
Jacqui O’Mahoney Secretary RA
List of all those present at Annex A (12 Officials and
34 members)
Apologies were received from Paul Thompson (Teledesic), Graham Macdonald (Nortel) Adrienne Smith (The Newspaper Group), John Wood (P-Comm), Ahmad Atefi (I.T.C) David Bartlet (WorldPipe), Philippe Lambilliotte (Winstar), Christopher Holmes (DTI/CII), Scott Marin (Spectra Point), Dr. Demosthenes J. Kostas (Adaptive Broadband), Karl Gasson (Astra), Mike Snalam (ITV), Clive Twinn (Lucent Technologies) and Damian Dalgliesh (Netro-Corp).
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I Agenda BFWACG(00)15 |
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| 1. |
The Agenda was agreed |
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| II Minutes of the third meeting on 10 March – BFWACG(00)14 | ||
| 1. | The minutes were agreed without amendment. | |
| III Matters arising | ||
| Local Delivery Operators at 40GHz | ||
| 2. | Mr Toman said that a submission would be put forward to Ministers later this week and if agreed, letters would go out to LDOs next week. | |
| Award Process – Auction or Beauty Contest – (BFWACG(00)12) | ||
| 3. | This issue would be covered under item 5 of the Agenda. | |
| IV KPMG Presentation on the results of their market financial and economics analysis - BFWACG(00)17 | ||
| 4. | KPMG gave a presentation on the results of their market, financial and economic analyses. Copies of the slides would be available on the Agency website. The market for providing broadband to SMEs was growing although there were a number of competing technologies. It was estimated that, technically, BFWA could reach around 90% of businesses. However, when radio planning and commercial considerations were taken into account the overall coverage would be much less. | |
| 5. | Experience in Europe indicated that the auction route was quicker then a beauty contest. The time spent evaluating applications for a beauty contest was what prolonged the process. A BFWACG Member thought that the slide on "International Experience" was misleading as both Denmark and Belgium had decided to award licences via a beauty contest and not an auction. KPMG agreed to look into the matter. However, in Denmark which is awarding licences via a Public Tender, there may yet be some question of legal challenge. Action: KPMG | |
| 6. | A BFWACG Member expressed his concern about the "window of opportunity" which he thought indicated that BFWA services would decline over the years. KPMG explained that the "window of opportunity" was to demonstrate how BFWA services needs to secure a market position before other services fully roll out, potentially dominating the market. | |
| V Implications for licensing 28GHz – number and size of licences and coverage | ||
| 7. | Mr Sonke gave a presentation on proposals for licensing 28GHz which would be put to Ministers. There would be three licences in each area, contiguous across the UK, at present the Agency was predisposed to awarding equal spectrum packages of 2x112MHz. There could be up to 20 regions including Scotland, Wales & Ireland, with only one licence per region to any bidder but no limit on the number of regions a company could bid for. No company would be excluded which was consistent with the EC Licensing Directive. The spectrum will be used to deliver BFWA services. Although, the Agency is currently considering whether to allow the use of the band for backhaul and would welcome members’ comments. The licence would include a ‘Use or lose it’ condition. The Agency wants to ensure the roll out of BFWA service as soon as possible and will develop a condition that encourages operators to do so, and to discourage speculative or anti-competitive spectrum hoarding. The Agency intended to recommend that the licences would be awarded by auction although Ministers would be informed of members comments. Action: Members | |
| 8. | Mr Sonke added that the Agency’s objectives were to create an opportunity for business and to make it as attractive as possible whilst generating enough competition in the market place. The Agency decided to recommend against national licences to ensure a reasonable degree of competition and to maximise the potential for new entrants but operators will be able to aggregate regions. The Agency was hoping to firm up by the end of April. He added that if members wished to comment on the licensing proposals presented they should send their comments to the RA within the week. Action: Members | |
| 9. | On the number of areas, A BFWACG Member thought that a large number of regions added complexity to both the bidding process and co-ordination. Mr Sonke said that KPMG would look for a balance between "viable" regions to sustain 3 licences and maximum competition. A BFWACG Member said that he had also made his own analysis of the market place and he had arrived at between 10-20 regions but no more then twenty. A BFWACG Member asked what criteria had been set for the regions. KPMG said that it would be the gathering of contiguous counties forming a regional size business. Boundaries would also be sensitively drawn i.e. avoiding conurbations and looking for natural breaks. A BFWACG member asked if the Agency had looked at the feasibility of guardbands. Mr Lewis said that the technical group was currently reviewing how large or small the guardband should be but making assignments of three equal blocks would encourage operators to work together. Guidelines on co-ordination between operators would be provided. A BFWACG member asked whether the work on guardbands would delay the licensing process. Mr Lewis said it would not. A BFWACG member asked whether the Agency would act as referee/mediator in disputes between licensees on guardband issues. Mr Lewis said ultimately yes, but the co-ordination guidelines and details in the information memorandum should set the framework. A BFWACG Member asked whether the Telecoms Act code powers and/or interconnect powers/obligations would be applicable to these services. Mr Sonke said that these details would need to be clarified. | |
| Competition Issues | ||
| 10. | A BFWAtg Member asked for a definition of a ‘new entrant’. Mr Toman recognised the potential definition problem if this became a licensing issue and referred to the extent of access to the local loop via cooper or cable technologies. A BFWACG member felt that the number of licences gave incumbents a lever on prices especially if they were providing ADSL. Mr Toman explained that under the EC licensing Directive a company could only be excluded from taking part in the licensing process if there was an objective justification that the Government would be able to defend. There were competition issues to be addressed even if all parties were allowed to bid e.g. by differential sized licences and/or reserving a licence for new entrants, however they could be defined. A BFWACG Member thought that the Agency needed an effective "use it or lose it" policy. Mr Toman invited members comments on these issues. Action: Members | |
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Restriction of use in the band |
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| 11. | A BFWACG Member asked the Agency to rethink its decision on the 28GHz band being used only for BFWA services. Mr Sonke said that he was concerned that if the Agency placed no restrictions on the use of the band it would not be used for BFWA. A BFWACG Member asked if a BFWA operator received a request for a connection to a site would they need to ensure that it would be used for BFWA? A BFWACG Member said that there needed to be a distinction between point to point and point to multipoint as they could not operate together in the same band. A BFWACG Member thought that if there were no restrictions, incumbents would use the band for infrastructure only. | |
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Auctions |
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| 12. | Mr Toman said that the Agency would be recommending to Ministers an auction. On the basis of the intrinsic merits of an auction approval, its relevance in the other circumstances prevailing at 28GHz and also because it was likely to lead to earlier issue of licences. He said that the consensus within the Government was to let the market decide both who gets licences and at the prices that are most economically efficient. A BFWACG Member asked if the Agency had considered the possibility of companies consolidating before the award of licences. Mr Toman said that we would be led by the 3G procedures. A BFWACG Member pointed out that to enable companies to produce business cases they needed to know what the value of the licences would be – the reserve price. Mr Sonke said that the Agency would be addressing this issue in designing the auction. A BFWACG Member also asked what the payment arrangements might be. Mr Toman said that this issue would be addressed by Ministers in due course. It was likely that "upfront" payments will be adopted though the possibility of instalments will need to be addressed. The Government did not favour to a great extent delayed payments or, worse, a royalty, but Ministers will need to decide, in the light of, for example, measures to promote small firms/new entrants. Mr Sonke pointed out that not having at least a sizeable percentage of the money up front might encourage companies to overbid. | |
| 13. | A BFWACG Member asked if there would be a restriction on the technology used. Mr Lewis said that the equipment should be approved to the current standards for the band. | |
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Next Steps |
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| 14. | Mr Sonke said that the Minister would make an announcement on the Government’s licensing proposals for the 28GHz band in April, followed by a consultation period of four weeks (April/May) for members to consider the proposals and rationale for them. Preparations for an auction would be made in May - July. A BFWACG Member said that it would be useful to produce regions early on in the timetable to assist with business cases. Mr Sonke said that this information should be available by the end of April. | |
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VI Report of Technical Sub-Group |
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| 15. | Mr Lewis reported that there were two key issues discussed at the meeting. Co-ordination across adjacent blocks and co-ordination service area boundaries. The group was also reviewing activities in CEPT on these issues. The group looked at imposing power limits (PFD) to assist with the co-ordination across boundaries. The zone along boundaries was 28km although this was not set in stone. There was a CEPT meeting next week where these issues would be discussed. The group was also addressing the interface requirements under the RTTE Directive for equipment standards. A BFWACG Member said that he was very pleased with the work of the group. He asked if the group could also address the issue of point to point links within the band. Action: BFWACG | |
| VII Any other business | ||
| 16. | A BFWACG Member asked what the position was on 40GHz. Mr Toman said that it was the Agency’s intention to firm up on the proposals for the 28GHz band before starting work on 40GHz. However, some of the groundwork would have already been done e.g. the number of regions. There was no slippage in the 40GHz timetable. Mr Lewis added that there were activities going on in wider circles in Europe clearing the band for BFWA. A BFWACG Member said that he would like something on the 40GHz band as soon as possible as this could affect the 28GHz market and requested that it be an Agenda item at the next meeting. KPMG thought that they may be in a position to give a status report at the next meeting. | |
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VIII Date of the next meeting |
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| 17. | The next meeting (fifth) would be held on 2 May at 14.00 at Wyndham House. | |
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Organisation |
Contact |
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Albera Networks |
S .Unger |
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Alcatel |
Oliver Perot Barry Dalton |
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B.T |
Chris Cheesman |
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Broadnet |
Charles De Benson |
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Cable & Wireless |
Tom King |
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Crown Castle |
Bob Tyler Nick Pollard |
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Denton Hall |
Rosemary Jackson Charles De Bunsen |
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Eircom |
Stephen Czudej |
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Energis PLC |
Simon Downs |
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Erisson Ltd |
John McPherson |
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Eurobell |
Stephen Lowe |
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Federation Of Electronics Industry |
Simon Wilson |
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First Mark Comm |
Roy Titchmarsh |
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Fujitsu |
David Palmer Mr.Ian Flood (via RA) |
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Hugaes Network Systems |
Arthur Christain |
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Highwayone corp |
David Pearson |
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Kingston Comm |
Mike Crowther |
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Media Channel |
Neil Harris |
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MLL Telecom |
Godfrey Wilson |
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Newbridge Networks |
Ms Diament |
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Newtel Solutions |
David Axford |
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Nokia |
James Page |
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Norweb Telecom |
David Mckone |
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OPAL Telecommunications |
Andy Monk |
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Orange |
Jane Cooper |
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Radiant Networks |
Philip Whitehead |
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Skylink |
David Evans |
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Tele2 UK |
Adrian Wheeler |
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Teligent |
Jon Evans Tony Lunn |
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Telia UK Ltd |
Alan Penney |
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TTP Comm |
Dr.John Haine |
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Thus |
Richard Sweet |
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KPMG |
Martin Heath Lorraine Falvel Shakil Marzban Errol Babbington George Houpis Celine Marchal |
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R.A. |
Dave Toman Joe Sonke Barry Lewis Cliff Mason Lawrence Green Margeret Aitchison Jackie O`Mahoney Charanjt Ransi Nichola Watts |
Top
| BFWACG(00)18 2 May, 2000 |
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