Independent
review of spectrum management
The report
of the independent review of spectrum management by Professor Martin Cave
was published on 6 March. The report is available on the Radiocommunication
Agency's (RA) website www.radio.gov.uk
and a hard copy may be obtained from the RA's library and information
service tel. 020 7211 0502/5.
The report endorses the reforms that have taken place since the Wireless
Telegraphy Act 1998 introduced spectrum pricing and strongly supports
the introduction of spectrum trading. It generally favours market-based
solutions that minimise regulatory constraints on the use that may be
made of spectrum.
The review makes a series of 47 wide-ranging recommendations on various
aspects of spectrum management. Some are general while others are specific
to particular services. For example, in relation to PMR the report includes
some new ideas for managing PMR spectrum on which views are invited.
The Government has welcomed publication of the report and is considering
its response, which it plans to publish in the summer. Meanwhile, it has
invited comments to be submitted by 10 May so that it can take them into
account. They should be e-mailed to spectrum.review@ra.gsi.gov.uk or sent by post to:
Laurence Green
Radiocommunications Agency
11B/20C, Wyndham House
189 Marsh Wall
London E14 9SX
The usual conditions about publication, copyright and specifying any confidential
material apply and are given in full on the RA website.
The report is likely to have a major influence on the future of spectrum
management. It is given added significance by the current prospect of
legislation to reform communications regulation and transfer spectrum
management functions to Ofcom, the regulatory body that will replace the
five existing bodies, including RA. This legislation is planned to be
published in draft in the spring.
We welcome your views on the report and look forward to receiving them,
either directly or through your trade association.
Could
your frequency and assignment details be disclosed?
RA is seeking views on whether details of radio frequency and assignments should
be made public in the future.
At
present, licence details are treated as confidential, but a move towards electronic
licensing, online assignments and eventually spectrum trading is creating a
need for more information on the use of the radio spectrum to be placed in the
public domain. A consultation document, issued by RA, proposes the publication
of frequency assignments and the location of base stations and mast sites. However,
the document suggests identifying licence holders by general labels rather than
revealing personal information on individual licensees.
These
plans will apply to a wide range of licence holders, from high street taxis
to broadcasters, multi-national equipment manufacturers and telecommunications
operators.
RA
thinks that it will be possible to disclose frequency and assignment details
without naming the licensee directly by allocating each licensee a "licensee
identifying code" on an electronic database, which will be a unique identifier
of the subject of each record. If another operator would like to correspond
with another operator on a particular assignment then they would quote the "licensee
identifying code" to the RA who would forward on the enquiry. This would
ensure transparency in both directions.
Launching
the consultation, e-commerce Minister, Douglas Alexander, said: "Radio
spectrum is an invaluable national asset and it is vital that it is managed
in an open and transparent way, and as efficiently as possible. Access to information
about licences and frequencies is key to bringing the licensing process into
the electronic age, as well as developing a marketplace for spectrum trading".
Freer
access to licence details should help to resolve some interference problems
and encourage industry to share mast sites.
The
consultation document on disclosure of frequency and assignment data can be
found on the RA website at www.radio.gov.uk,
or from the RA library on 020 7211 0502/5. The closing date for replies to the
consultation is 12 April 2002.
Public
services in licence-exempt bands?
RA
has recently concluded its consultation exercise on the use of licence-exempt
spectrum for the provision of telecommunication services.
The
next phase of work is to distil the information gathered from the replies to
the consultation and from the recommendations of the independent study that
RA commissioned on this topic.
Other
areas of work linked with this consultation are the 5GHz Advisory Group consultation:
"Short range, high data rate, nomadic equipment operating in the frequency
range 5.15 to 5.875 GHz", and the cordless class licence consultation
by DTI Communication Information Industries unit (CII).
A final
decision on whether to allow public services in licence-exempt bands will be
made later in the year.
The
consultation paper: "The use of licence-exempt spectrum for public telecommunication
services consultation" and supporting documents can be found on the
RA website at www.radio.gov.uk
Mobile
Assignment Technical System (MASTS) update
The
MASTS project is currently under way within RA. It will provide a major improvement
in the way frequency assignment of PBR products is carried out. The current
system is rather rudimentary and does not take into account terrain, buildings
or how radio waves travel. Although the current method does provide adequate
protection to the customer, it is not the most efficient use of managing the
spectrum.
MASTS
will also play a role in the RA's e-licensing programme, allowing automatic
frequency assignment on-line and thus providing, in the majority of cases, an
assignment within minutes.
The
project feasibility stage has recently been completed and the development stage
will start soon. The aim is to phase in the system internally by the end of
2002 and to provide on-line access to the customer during 2004.
If
you have any further questions please contact the Business Project Manager,
Nigel Gunn at nigel.gunn@ra.gsi.gov.uk
Which
antenna to choose and use?
If
your radio system has a base station, its effective communication range is largely
governed by the antenna height and type. In order to make assignments which
are spectrally efficient whilst still meeting the needs of the user, RA will
specify on the radio licence the type of antenna that must be used with the
radio system.
An omni-directional
antenna is the most commonly used type for wide area systems where all-round
coverage is required. However, some radio systems may require more specific
coverage areas which are not uniform. In these cases the use of directional
antennas is the norm, and these antennas, tailor the coverage of the system
to meet the users' requirements. The use of directional antennas could become
a mandatory requirement in areas such as the southern and western coastlines
of the UK, in order to prevent radio systems interfering with systems in France
and Southern Ireland.
For
on-site systems, the requirement is to cover a much smaller area, and the use
of omni-directional antennas is not always appropriate. For some sites e.g.
a single building, it is far more efficient to use a type of antenna known as
a "downfire" antenna. Usually placed on the roof of the building,
this antenna directs the signal from the base station downward into the building,
thereby ensuring better coverage. Another advantage of this type of antenna
is that it reduces the potential of causing or receiving interference to other
systems on the same radio channel. For these reasons, it is often the case that
when allocating a channel for on-site use RA will state that a downfire antenna
must be used.
Commonwealth
Games Manchester 2002 – Bisely
IMPORTANT
NOTICE FOR ALL UK GENERAL LICENSEES
In issue 16 of
PBR news you may recall an 'Important Notice' to all UK General licensees, in
which we asked you to notify us of intended use in the Manchester area during
the period of the Commonwealth Games from 25 July to 4 August 2002. We are grateful
to all those who have responded so far to Steve Culling at the Haydock regional
office.
We
are now asking all UK General licensees to notify us of intended use in the
Bisley (Surrey) area. This is where the shooting event for the Commonwealth
Games will take place. As with Manchester we will need to be informed about
this due to the potential extra demand on the spectrum and the possibility of
interference between services. This will enable the event organisers and RA
to co-ordinate the use of radio and so minimise the potential for interference.
For
use in Bisley, please contact:
Ian Hubball
Bristol Regional Office
PO Box 2500
Bristol
BS99 7LJ
Tel: 0117 959 7200
Fax: 0117 959 7230
UK
General Licence – update
Holders
of the current PMR UK General (Standard) Licence, as well as regular readers
of PBR News, will be aware that RA intends to re-launch this licence product,
subject to parliamentary approval, in July this year. A new licence will be
introduced, the PBR UK General Licence, which will give customers access to
15 different frequencies at a cost of £60 renewable every three years.
Of the
3000 existing UK General customers, approximately 80% will simply be invited
to apply for the new licence when their current licence expires. This is because
these users are licensed to operate on frequencies that will be included in
the new licence and as a result, no changes are required to their existing equipment.
Obviously some customers may wish to take advantage of the increase in available
channels and have these installed in their radios.
The
remaining 20% of existing customers use frequencies that are not on the list
of frequencies available under the new licence. In these cases, changes to their
equipment will be required, so a period of up to five years is being allowed
for these customers to change over to the new licence or to an alternative licence
product. In the meantime the existing licence will stay in force and will be
subject to the current fee. As the new licence should represent a significant
reduction in licence fee, customers remaining on the old licence should
re-examine their radio needs to determine whether or not the new licence could
meet their requirements and, if so, move to the new licence sooner rather than
later.
PBS
Manual
The
Private Business Radio Policy and Procedures Manual is used by RA licensing
staff to ensure that the issuing of radio licences is carried out in a consistent
manner. In keeping with the Government's policy on openness, the PBS Manual
is available to the public either by making an appointment to visit the DTI
library or by visiting the RA website at www.radio.gov.uk
The
version currently available was last updated in January 2001. The past year
has seen some minor amendments to the policy for private business systems and
as a consequence the manual is currently being updated to reflect these changes.
The new version is expected to be available from April 2002.
The RA pushes to
talk and makes a group call!
Ever
wished your private mobile radio system could do better things to help run your
business? Are you tired of having your calls suffering from interference or
are you happy with your current system? Well, this is your chance to tell us
how much you value your PMR system.
RA
has commissioned a survey of private mobile radio users. The purpose of the
survey is to find out which of the many characteristics of your existing PMR
system are most important to you and how much are you willing to pay for those
characteristics. The survey is also interested in how user requirements might
change in the future, for example, do you wish you could send pictures from
your handsets or even access the company intranet?
The
results of the survey will help RA to make the right spectrum management decisions
and ultimately provide you with the functionality you require from your radio
system to help run your business.
The
survey is in the form of face to face interviews conducted by MVA. MVA may ring
you to make an appointment for an interview to take place at a time convenient
for you. Interviews take about 20 minutes; the programme commenced at the end
of March and will be completed in April. Although not all PMR users will be
contacted, MVA will interview a representative sample of the PMR community.
So if you receive a call, make it an immediate two-way connection!
Fixed term licences
In the
last issue of PBR News we announced that RA has introduced a "fixed term
licence" facility which will enable PBR licences to be issued for periods
of less than one year. The licence is subject to a minimum one-month period
with the licence fee based on a 1/12th proportion of the annual fee. However,
it should be pointed out that, if applicable, the licence fee will be rounded
up to the nearest pound.
Online services
As previously covered
in PBR News, RA, like all government departments and Agencies, is committed
to achieving the target of making 100% of its services available electronically
by 2005.
The
first stage of RA's e-licensing and administration programme delivered online
versions of RA5 "On-Site
PBR Paging and Speech or Self-Select PBR Paging System Licence" and
RA30 "Wide Area
Private Business Radio One-way Paging and Speech Systems Licence" application
forms.
The
next stage is to deliver common "dialogues" for customers to do business
with RA electronically. Dialogues will replace separate forms; customers will
be asked the relevant questions for the type of licence product they require
through a single online service.
The
two main dialogues planned to be delivered this year are:
1)
Notification Dialogue
A common
dialogue for notifications, initially to replace the RA368
form for the notification of radio equipment whose use is not harmonised throughout
the European Community (R&TTE Notification).
2)
Licence Product Dialogue
A common
dialogue for applying for a radio licence. This will initially cover most Private
Mobile Radio products for new applications, replacing the RA1,
RA5, RA30,
and RA209 forms.
It will also include the new IR2008 licence product.
It
is important in the development of these dialogues to ensure that the look,
feel and usability meet our customers' requirements. In order to do this we
are inviting customers to evaluate prototypes on the RA website. Just follow
the links from the e-business topic page.
The
first prototype takes the form of a slideshow that introduces customers to the
new look and feel and some of the features that the Agency intends to introduce.
Future prototypes will allow customers to try out the features and evaluate
their usability.
We
need customer feedback to help us develop the right type of online services
that you want and will use. If you have any comments, please e-mail them to
e-prototype@ra.gsi.gov.uk
The
Automotive Directive 95/54 and the 
mark.
The following is a brief update to the article published in PBR News last summer.
To
recap, the Automotive Directive (EC/95/54) was brought into UK law in January
1996. It is an EMC (electro-magnetic compatibility) directive primarily
concerned with the safety of four-wheeled road vehicles. When it came into
law it included a changeover period in which it was acceptable for equipment
such as taxi radios to be marked with either an 
mark or a 
mark when fitted to the vehicle. This changeover period expires in October
2002. After that it will be necessary for any radio equipment fitted to
a vehicle after sale, to carry an
mark. The
mark on its own will no longer be acceptable. |
 |
Some
customers have expressed concern that -marked
equipment might not be available in time, but we now understand that most manufacturers
have, or will have, radio equipment available by October this year.
The
DTLR (Department of Transport, Local Government and the Regions) advises that
it intends to amend the "Construction and Use Regulations", which
will mean that non -marked
equipment already in circulation can continue to be used and fitted to
vehicles after October 2002. Because any vehicle bought after October 2002 will
conform to the Directive, and any radio equipment you buy after October 2002
will carry an -mark, many
initial concerns regarding the Directive seem to have been addressed.
 |
In addition,
a European Commission working group is updating the annexes of the Directive.
Most of the members of this group are from the automotive industry, but the
radio industry is also represented, via an ETSI (European Telecommunications
Standards Institute) task group. RA is active within this group. We hope that
by amending the Directive, the whole issue will become less contentious and
level the playing field throughout Europe. This means that when you drive on
the continent, whatever problems you have, they should not be radio-related!
Customers
requiring further information can contact Steve Hoye tel: 020 7211 0516 or by
e-mail steve.hoye@ra.gsi.gov.uk
|
Inspection
statistics
The IT system used
to record activity carried out by the RA's regional staff, which includes the
number of inspection, is being replaced by a new system which is due to start
on April 1 2002. As a result of the preparation required for this change we
are unable to bring you the inspection statistics for the last quarter. The
next issue of PBR News should see a return to normal.
Correction
to inspection statistics from issue 16
Due
to a production error the wrong key table was printed in the last issue of PBR
News. The tables below are the ones shown in issue 16 and include the right
key table.
| NEW INSTALLATIONS |
EXISTING INSTALLATIONS |
|
 |
 |
Key to Licensing
Centres:
|
1
|
=
|
NE
England
|
|
2
|
=
|
Scotland
|
|
3
|
=
|
Northern
Ireland
|
|
4
|
=
|
NW
England
|
|
5
|
=
|
Wales
|
|
6
|
=
|
SW
England
|
|
7
|
=
|
Midlands
& East Anglia
|
|
8
|
=
|
London
& SE
|
|
|
New
|
Existing
|
| Total
number of inspections |
973
|
234
|
| Total
number of discrepancies |
177
|
71
|
|
Useful
contact numbers
| RA
Enquiry Point |
Tel:
020 7211 0211 |
Fax:
020 7211 0507 |
| Paging |
Tel:
020 7211 0200 |
Fax:
020 7211 0118 |
| PMR446/Short
Range Business Radio |
Tel:
020 7211 0201/0199 |
Fax: 020 7211 0118 |
| Customer
Accounts Queries |
Tel:
020 7211 0206 |
Fax:
020 7211 0419 |
| PBR
Newsletter |
Tel:
020 7211 0187 |
Fax:
020 7211 0118 |
| RA
Library |
Tel:
020 7211 0505 / 0502 |
|
| Private
Business Radio |
Tel:
Regional Offices |
|
| PBR
Suppliers Licence |
Tel:
Regional Offices |
|
All
the information sheets mentioned in this newsletter, including RA206
which provides details of our regional offices, are available from our library
by e-mail; library@ra.gsi.gov.uk
or alternatively they can be found on the RA website at www.radio.gov.uk
Private
Business Radio News
Radiocommunications Agency
11G/10F Wyndham House, 189 Marsh Wall,
London E14 9SX
Editors: Steven Gleeson and Linda
Ramsey
Any comments about PBR News are always
welcome, please e-mail us at "pbrnews@ra.gsi.gov.uk"
