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Ofcom DDR Statement of 13th December 2007.

After more than 2 years of consultations, debates and protests, Ofcom, at last, published their Statement for their Digital Dividend Review.  In it, they state quite clearly that PMSE Users are being singled out for special treatment (well, we were here first, anyway!) and that a large area of the Interleave Spectrum will still be available for our use.  Also Channel 69 will remain licensed for Professional Users as at present - a major victory!  And we will NOT have to enter the Auction process to retain it which is really good news since we had no chance if we did.  Read all this at:

So it looks as though we have won our case - or have we?  Ofcom have opted for Option 3 on their list, a 'Beauty Contest with AIP'.  What exactly does this mean?  Basically, a suitable (beautiful?)  commercial Band Manager will be appointed to coordinate and license the frequencies for PMSE Use, a similar function to the current JFMG Ltd.  But the difference will be that this new Manager must be a self-financing and profit-making, unlike JFMG Ltd. who are currently subsidised by Ofcom to do the job. Also Ofcom will apply their  Administered Incentive Pricing (AIP) as a sort of Annual Rental to the Band Manager who will, in turn, pass this on to the users.  Currently, there is no information on what Ofcom expect in the way of financial return but it will be negotiable.  It is vital that License Fees do not rise significantly since this will result in even more users not bothering to License, applying the laws of diminishing returns, a point already recognised by JFMG Ltd.  Thus the AIP will have to be nominal and it has been suggested by some that a £1 per annum fee would fulfil the contractual requirements!  But I wonder if Mr. Brown and Mr. Darling will agree?  It would also be sensible to continue with JFMG Ltd. in this role, since they have done a great job for us over their tenure and fully understand our Industry.  At one earlier meeting, Ofcom hinted that they might change the contract (Vodafone was suggested but maybe not seriously - I think!) but I hope common sense will prevail.  Don't re-invent the wheel.

Although we have been granted access to a large area of the Interleave Spectrum, it would appear this will be less than currently available and some clarification is needed.  But Channel 69 - our old favourite - will remain as it is.  Safe to buy your next new radiomics on these frequencies - or is it?  Already, rumours are starting that the Computer Consortium are not too happy about us retaining this band and even Ofcom, rather flippantly at an earlier meeting, suggested that the Consortium may, in the future, try to buy us out - they want a clear nation-wide band, too.  But that is a bridge to cross in the future.  We hang in there!

One of the other nightmare scenarios from the same Consortium Camp is their planned use of Cognitive Radio Systems, as they call them, basically smart radios that will be frequency agile, 'sniffing' the frequencies first then deciding whether it is clear to transmit their high-power data streams.  What is terrifying about this is that they seem to want to defy the Laws of Physics!  Obviously, these systems can only 'see' signals strong enough to reach their receivers and most 'successful' tests talk about avoiding Television Transmissions, i.e. Kilowatt transmitters, on the same frequencies.  There is NO WAY these devices would clock a 50 mw radiomic transmission more than 100 metres away but there is EVERY WAY a subsequent burst of high-powered data will interfere with our radiomics!  There is an admission in European Union document I have read admitting that this is a potential problem so someone there has studied the Inverse Square Law!  But I could be wrong....Ofcom are saying they will not allow use of these systems until they prove that they do not interfere with other services, including ourselves, so there is hope.

I think the next stage is to get a Band Manager in place for the sake of continuity.  There are several meetings scheduled for early next year and I will keep all informed as usual.

And to quote a colleague at BEIRG, it is not all over until the Fat Lady gets up and sings into her handheld Radiomic!

Sandy MacRae AMPS

Email: sandymacrae@amps.net

Late Information:

JFMG Ltd. have made their response to, and very useful analysis of, the Ofcom Statement

Check it out HERE:

http://www.jfmg.co.uk/jfmgecom/Docs/EasyGuidetoDDRstatement07.pdf

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