Minutes of the Second Meeting of the 450-470 MHz Band Realignment Project Industry Working Group held on Thursday March 9th 2000

Item 1

Minutes of Last meeting:

There were several amendments requested for the minutes of the previous meeting. The secretary agreed to action these changes and circulate the amended minutes to the members for approval.

Action: Mike Purdom

Item 2

Industry Working Group Membership:

Steve Limb announced the names of the four new members of the group to the members present. They are:

Tim Cull (Motorola)
Ian Marwood (Simoco)
John McPherson (Ericsson)
Mike Thilo (Radio Systems)

The members present welcomed the addition of manufacturers representatives onto the working group.

Item 3

Draft Formal Notice:

The group discussed a draft formal notification document (see appendix A) that is scheduled to be sent to all licensees before the end of April. The members all agreed to take away a copy of the document and submit any amendments that they might have to the secretary by the 24^th March.

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Item 4

Discussion of Band Plan:

The members of the group discussed the current band plan and its implications for industry, in particular the needs of small businesses.

Gerald David expressed the view that small businesses who wanted to retain analogue radio systems within the band would not be catered for the larger service providers who would take the opportunity of the realignment to switch to the production of only digital equipment.

Other members of the group were of the opinion that there were enough small companies in the market place to cater for all needs both digital and analogue.

It was agreed by the group that they would not be able to significantly improve the band plan but that there would be minor changes needed before it could be accepted as complete.

Item 5

AOB

David Tripp agreed to supply the secretary with a list of manufacturers and suppliers of radio equipment.

Action: David Tripp

Item 6

Next Meeting

The next meeting of the Industry Working Group will be at the London Television Centre at 2:00 pm on Wednesday May 24^th.

APPENDIX A

SECOND PUBLICITY NOTICE 450-470 MHz BAND REALIGNMENT PROJECT.

The Radiocommunications Agency announces the commencement of the 450-470 MHz band realignment project.

This is a major project being co-ordinated by the Radiocommunications Agency in order to give the users of this part of the spectrum the benefit of harmonisation.

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From the beginning of 2005 the 450-470 MHz band will be realigned to configure with that of our European neighbours.

This process of realignment will begin in January 2005 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and is scheduled to take place in a rolling programme lasting several years. The Radiocommunications Agency will develop a realigned band plan within the next twelve months that will be fully accessible to the public by the spring of 2001.

The realignment in Scotland will begin two years later, in 2007.

The realignment of frequencies will require the majority of licensees to adjust or replace their existing equipment.

There is no intention to remove users from the band but to simply change their operational frequency or frequencies. All licensees who so wish will be reallocated frequencies within the 450-470 MHz band.

The Radiocommunications Agency is publishing this notice now so that all licensees can consider the use of their current equipment and their future use of radio technology. In this way, licensees are being given a reasonable amount of time to gain the anticipated useful working life from their existing equipment and to be able to plan ahead for the radio usage that they require in the future.

The Radiocommunications Agency will notify all licensees individually of their new frequency or frequencies and the date upon which this change will be implemented. The intention will be to give six months notice of the date when the change has to be implemented.

Each licensee is responsible for the arranging the replacement or re-tuning of their own equipment. The licensee's current service provider should be able to provide the expertise necessary for this task.

Formal notice for the revocation of existing licences (where that is needed) will be given at the appropriate time. Licensees will be issued with new licences for their newly assigned frequencies immediately after their existing licences are revoked.

The Agency will be releasing more information as the date approaches.

The Band Realignment Project Team will be happy to answer any queries you may have about this formal notification.

Tel: 020 7211 0312

Fax: 020 7211 0163

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More information about the realignment project is available on the Agency website at: www.radio.gov.uk

MIKE PURDOM

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