Sixth Meeting Of The Broadband Fixed Wireless Access Consultative Group Held At Buckingham Palace Road On 9 June 2000

Those present:

Dave Toman Chairman RA
Charanjit Ransi Acting Secretary RA

List of all those present at Annex A (9 Officials and 31 members)

Apologies were received from David Palmer (Oftel), Ian Sutton, Steve Simpson (Giganet UK), Christopher Holmes (DTI/CII), Adrienne Smith (The Newspaper Society), Dr Ahmad Atefi (ITC), Graham McDonald (Nortel Networks), David Crawford (Crown Castle), John Wood (P-Comm), Andy Monk (OPAL Telecom), Scott Marin (Spectra Point), Clive Twinn (Lucent Technologies), Simon Downs (Energis), and Mike Snalam (ITV).

I Agenda BFWACG(00)29

The Agenda was agreed.

II Minutes of the fifth meeting on 2 May 2000 - BFWACG(00)24

The minutes were agreed with one amendment to Item 12: "A BFWACG member asked why the possible additional 56MHz could not be used for smaller companies rather than wasted as a guard band." A BFWACG member had not referred to smaller companies, but for companies with business plans based on using narrower bandwidths. The revised minutes have been posted on the Agency's web-site.

III Matters arising

Summary of the responses to the Agency`s consultation on the licensing proposals for the 28 GHz band - BFWACG(00)27.

4. Mr Mason thanked those who responded to the consultation paper, there was a wide range of answers on the proposals being put forward. A BFWACG member was in favour of smaller spectrum packages than the proposed 2 x 112 MHz which, they argued, would promote inefficient use of the spectrum as operators might only use around 25% of the assigned bandwidth. In Switzerland & Norway smaller packages of 28 & 56 MHz blocks were successfully assigned. A BFWACG member said 28 MHz packages would be ideal to encourage smaller companies. Mr Lewis, in response, said that larger packages would allow operators to deliver a range of services including broadband applications. Also, other spectrum is available for services requiring lesser bandwidth. A BFWACG member said that incumbents should be excluded from taking part in the auction as they already provide broadband services by other means. Mr Toman said that it was notably difficult to define an incumbent without contravening the EC licensing directive. A BFWACG member asked how the Agency would treat existing licence holders at 3.5 GHz & 10 GHz. A BFWACG member asked how the Agency would take back spectrum from operators who clearly did not comply with the licence conditions. Mr Mason said that the UIOLI clause would be clearly defined in the information memorandum under the licence conditions and operators who failed to meet these criteria would have broken the licence conditions. However at 10 GHz, similar such terms did not take effect until later in the licence period and it would prove difficult to take earlier enforcement action. A BFWACG member asked whether operators would have to define emission masks and the type of technology they would like to deploy before the auction. Mr Lewis replied that the equipment would align with European standards and there was no need to inform the Agency of the technology being used, subject only to sharing and compatibility considerations. Three BFWACG members suggested that the duration of the licence should be 20 years and not 15 years due to the high start up costs. Mr Sonke said KPMG`s analysis had concluded that 15 years would be a reasonable period for a return in investment and would also be the likely lifetime of the technology. The Agency will propose to Ministers the licence term of 15 years. A BFWACG Member said relatively short licence periods might stop some technology being developed as companies would be inclined to concentrate more on recouping their investment. Mr Toman said that he would take on board member's comments on the licence duration. A BFWACG member said unsold licences, could leave the Agency open to judicial review under the EC licensing Directive if an operator was prepared to bid less than the reserve price for a licence, it would therefore make sense if the reserve price was equal to administrative costs and not administrative pricing. Mr Sonke said the reserve price would at the very least be comparable with administrative pricing because of competition issues. A BFWACG member asked about the Telecom Code powers. Mr Sonke said that the information would be published in the Information Memorandum. A BFWACG member asked as part of the pre-qualification procedure, whether the Agency would seek guarantees from potential bidders that they were committed to providing BFWA services, and for a more definitive term for BFWA before the auction. Mr Toman said operators would be bidding on the terms that spectrum will only be used for BFWA, which will be enforced through the UIOLI clause and the auction process. A BFWACG member asked if the views from industry on licensing proposals could be published on the web. Mr Sonke said that the Agency would look into the matter noting that some replies had implied or been marked confidential. Action: Agency

Timetable for licensing 28 GHz

5. Mr Sonke presented slides outlining the process for licensing 28 GHz spectrum :

	Mid June - Announcement of final proposals Publication of draft auction Regulations and Notice setting out auction rules
	July - Indications of potential interest Publish Information Memorandum Lay Regulations in Parliament
	August - Invite applications Pre-qualification checks
	September -Run mock auctions Run auction

Mr Sonke asked members to indicate to the Agency in advance, if they would be taking part in the auction. Information disclosed would be held in strict confidence and would not be a binding commitment. The level of interest shown would help the Agency to allocate appropriate resources Action: All Members

Design of regions - KPMG

6. KPMG gave a presentation on the two options for regions. Option 2a was based on the previous option 2 with 12 regions, except that the West Midlands region, (which was an awkward shape) was dissolved into the bordering regions, by adding counties to adjacent regions. Option 3 was made up of 16 regions with the West Midlands on its own, and Merseyside and Greater Manchester separated to make more regions. Mr Sonke said that the two options would be presented to Ministers for them to decide, with a recommendation for Option 2a. A BFWACG member asked if the regions could be broken down further in order to increase competition. Barry Lewis replied that an increased number of smaller regions would increase co-ordination difficulties.

Auction Design and procedures- BFWACG (00) 26
7. Prof.Binmore presented the above paper, which set out the main features for the auction of the 28 GHz spectrum. The paper would be posted on the Agency`s website and comments were welcomed by 14 June. A BFWACG member asked why the Agency had not considered industry views and opted for a beauty contest as in some, other European countries. Mr Sonke said that all views were considered and there was still no persuasive evidence that a beauty contest rather than an auction was the best approach to licensing the 28 GHz spectrum. A BFWACG member suggested that the Agency should use a sealed bid auction approach, which would allow everyone to pay the same price. A BFWACG member said 10 rounds a day would place too much pressure on bidders. Prof Binmore said bidders should indicate to the Agency the number of rounds they would feel comfortable with. A BFWACG member asked if deposits could be smaller than 20% considering bidders would have to be active in 10 rounds a day, and therefore expected to increase their deposits accordingly. Prof Binmore said bidders should determine, at the start of each day, the amount of deposit they would need to cover bids likely to be made that day. It was essential that deposits were high enough to discourage bidders from defaulting. Bidder`s who were unsuccessful, would have their deposits returned with interest. Feedback from industry would be welcomed by the end of next week. Action: All members

Existing services and further opportunities in FWA bands BFWACG(00)28
8. Mr Mason went through his paper which addressed FWA opportunities between 2 and 10 GHz. The paper would be available on the Agency website, any enquiries should be addressed to Robert Emson in the Agency`s Public Telecom Networks Section. Mr Jones stated that a consultation on 5GHz spectrum, which began last year, received a number of responses suggesting that the spectrum might support low power FWA systems. WRC-2000 has agreed to an agenda item for WRC-2002/3 to consider the allocation of 5GHz spectrum, but there are no firm conclusions about any long term possibilities for FWA in the band. A BFWACG member clarified that although, as stated, there is a core allocation of 2 X 36 MHz in the 3.6 - 4.2 GHz band, there is provision to use also extension spectrum where co-ordinating with other services.

Update on the 40 GHz Market
9. KPMG presented slides on their assessment of the 40 GHz market. The slides will be made available on the Agency's website. There were 14 responses received to the KPMG questionnaire, the initial conclusions were that there was an interest in the market which appeared to be broader than 28GHz with both business and residential segments, telecom and broadcast services. There was also some uncertainty regarding timing, equipment costs and overall services from the respondents of the KPMG questionnaire. A BFWACG member asked if KPMG were going to develop the assumptions on models. KPMG said this would be their next step.

Oral update on the consultation with local delivery operators
10. The responses from Local Delivery Operator's (LDO`s) access to spectrum at 40 GHz would be reviewed over the next 4-6 weeks as proposals are developed for awarding BFWA licences. The current priority is the 28 GHz process, however it is recognised that clear statements on the issues at 40 GHz will be necessary in the 28 GHz Information Memorandum.

Report of Technical Sub-Group
11. Mr Lewis reported that adjacent region co-ordination issues had been discussed. A co-ordination flow chart was presented which described the processes. The objective was to examine the possibility of a co-ordination trigger value based on PFD level, this could be equated to equivalent co-ordination distance given a transmitter EIRP. The final value of the trigger levels are subject to further work identified at the BFWAtg. Mr Lewis added that other issues discussed were concerned with co-existence simulations, between point-to-multipoint, mesh networks and the use of point-to-point links in the band for BFWA infrastructure. Mr Lewis remarked that future work for the group was to consider the impact of the outcome of WRC 2000 and to agree the RTTE Directive interface requirements document.

Date of Next Meeting
The date of the next meeting is 14 July 2000 at Wyndham Hse at 10:30

Annex A

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