The Radiocommunications Agency Synopsis of Plans for E-Business

1. Introduction

This document provides a resume of Agency commitments over the next 3 years, namely:

a programme of work for transactional electronic service delivery including e-licensing, interference complaints, and site-clearance;

further development of web-based information services to help the Agency evolve as the primary resource for radio spectrum information.These developments will see substantial benefits and go well beyond government targets. This document should be considered as a Version 0, an early snapshot of the strategy. The Agency intends to be an exemplar in electronic government and is in the process of developing a long-term e-business strategy.. This process will be rooted in substantial consultation with the Agency's customers.

2. Relation to Business Strategy

E-government is central to the Agency's business strategy, and in turn to the Agency's contribution to DTI objectives. This is demonstrated by the following discussion of e-government contributions to Agency objectives.

Improve quality of service and business efficiency. E-licensing and the spectrum information service are each critical success factors for this objective; in addition e-business will trigger customer-focussed business process improvements (the first priority for improving service quality).

Promote enterprise, innovation, competition, prosperity and quality of life. E-business will support the key priorities of:

- competition and diversity in radio use by promoting timely access to spectrum for the widest possible range of commercial and non-commercial wireless services and operators;
- innovative and flexible approaches to spectrum management that make full and balanced use of all available tools to meet changing demand and promote spectrum efficiency.

Strengthen and exploit the full UK radio engineering and technology. Web-based consultation and dissemination services will support this objective.

Fair and effective regulation that promotes innovation, competition and spectrum efficiency and balances the interests of all users and consumers. The e-business proposals will support this objective by providing better information, by empowering customers and through the key priorities of:

- developing the radio regulatory framework to encourage enterprise and avoid unnecessary burdens on businesses (e-business will improve access and reduce administrative burden);

- introducing spectrum trading, subject to changes to EU and UK law (the proposals will prepare the ground for electronic access to the information that traders will need).

3. Service Improvements

The Radiocommunications Agency is responsible for managing the UK civil radio spectrum. It achieves this by defining the UK spectrum strategy, by international negotiation regarding the regulation of spectrum, by authorising spectrum use, by maintaining clear spectrum, and providing spectrum information. The e-business strategy will improve and develop all of these services:

to meet the growing needs and expectations of customers in one of the fastest developing sectors of the UK economy (which is itself closely linked to providing modern communication services through wireless networks);

to meet growing international expectations: and

to enable the Agency to concentrate more on providing added value service.

3.1 Transactional Services

Most dealings with customers concern authorising their use of the spectrum (i.e. assignments, licensing, or facilitation of access to public services). The Agency has a dynamic e-licensing programme that aims to provide on-line services to all customers by 2004, some of which will be interactive. This programme includes a final phase to introduce e-licensing for customers whose dealings are processed by delegated licensing organisations. The e-licensing programme has two threads.

The first will implement quickly simple and straightforward transactions with all directly managed customers. All customers will soon benefit from intelligent web-based application forms and e-payment where appropriate. The second, parallel thread will implement, in order of diminishing benefit, more complex Agency to Business services. Private Business Radio and Fixed Links licensees will be provided - where possible - with self-assignment facilities. Fixed Links customers will additionally be given access to the information they need to improve their network planning.

The programme captures other transactional dealings including improved services for streamlining site clearance (a significant hurdle at the moment), handling radio-interference complaints, and processing requests for temporary satellite earth stations authority.

3.2 Information Services

Radio spectrum is a finite and valuable resource and maximising its effective use is vital to development of a successful UK knowledge economy. Effective use of the spectrum depends upon the involvement of stakeholders in policy-making and upon customers being well informed. The Agency is to grow its role as the UK spectrum knowledge manager and to become the customers' preferred source of, and channel to, spectrum information. It will improve its information sharing and its consultation processes.

As a first stage towards this vision, the Agency re-launched its website in 2001. The website was restructured to reflect a customer perspective rather than the internal Agency organisation and products. It now provides direct access to a very wide range of third party radio-related information. The site now contains an Online Services topic area where customers can access the Agency's online products and view prototypes of e-services under development.

4. Benefits

Specific business cases for projects in the e-business programme will be based on benefits such as reduced customer cost, improved service quality, improved access to the spectrum, customer commercial benefits (e.g. from faster turn-around), release of Agency experts for spectrum management, and Agency efficiencies. Meanwhile the strategic reasons for the Agency to Business investment are:

dynamically improving the way the spectrum market is managed;

relaxing controls and empowering customers to take a greater share in the development of a more flexible market that will release untapped social and economic potential of the spectrum;

changes in technology and planned changes in legislation (eg on spectrum trading) allow for e-business and an electronic spectrum market, prime initiatives for (2);

it is right for the government to invest a portion of the returns from the spectrum into spectrum management so as to encourage major telecommunications investment and to stimulate the UK knowledge economy;

value for money can be assured by an incremental programme of change that is adapted on the basis of customer response and benefits analysis.

5. Next Steps

The Agency will evolve the strategy in consultation with its customers. The e-licensing programme is being run as a sequence of small projects, each using rapid application development methods in order to maintain tempo and involve customers. The long-term development of Agency information services will involve a major consultation with customers.

With the expected creation of Ofcom in 2003, the Agency is working closely with our future partners to create a co-ordinated range of e-business services to our combined group of customers.