Friday, May 20, 2011

French regulator unveils draft rules for 4G auction

French regulator ARCEP has published its draft decisions on the procedures for assigning frequencies in the 800 MHz and 2.6 GHz bands. 

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Wednesday, May 18, 2011

NTIA needs to improve, congressional watchdog says

The US National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) is not doing a good job of overseeing federal spectrum, according to a report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) made public on 12 May.

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Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Spectrum crisis claims are strategic gamesmanship, NAB says

A report from the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) casts doubt on some of the projections of mobile data growth that have been used to fuel claims of a "spectrum crisis" - just as the UMTS Forum predicts that voice and data traffic on mobile networks will grow more than 30-fold during the decade ahead.

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Monday, May 16, 2011

Belgian cable operators set for 3G spectrum

A partnership formed by two cable operators is the sole applicant for Belgium's fourth 3G licence, according to the Belgian Institute for Post and Telecommunications (BIPT).

The regulator has revealed that the applicant is Tecteo Telenet Bidco (TTB), a partnership between cable operator Telenet and the Tecteo Group. Telenet offers cable services throughout Belgium, primarily in Flanders and Brussels, while Tecteo owns Walloon-based cable operator VOO. BIPT says the application is admissible, meaning that the licence could be granted before the start of the summer.

Telenet currently offers MVNO services using the network of Belgium's second largest mobile operator Mobistar. It had 211,000 subscribers at the end of March 2011, an increase of 39 per cent compared to March 2010. The chief executive of Mobistar, Benoit Scheen, recently said the company was planning to strengthen its partnership with Telenet is the coming years.

BIPT first called for 2.1 GHz spectrum bids on 15 March, and the deadline for submission was 29 April. BIPT's original 3G auction plan required bidders to put down a deposit of €1 million for the 2 x 14.8 MHz of spectrum, with the minimum bid price set at €20,833 per MHz per month. The licence will be valid for 20 years.

3G licences were originally auctioned in Belgium in 2001. Although four were offered, only three were acquired, by telecoms operators Belgacom (owner of the country's largest mobile operator, Proximus), Mobistar and KPN (owner of the third largest, Base). The 2.1 GHz spectrum on offer now corresponds to the licence that was not granted in 2001. The successful applicant will also gain the right to acquire spectrum in the 900 and 1800 MHz bands.

The regulator plans to auction 4G licences in the autumn. A call for applications is due to be issued in June.•

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Friday, May 13, 2011

Commission rejects French 3G licence complaint

The process for awarding France's fourth 3G mobile licence in 2009 did not involve any state aid, the European Commission has ruled. 

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Thursday, May 12, 2011

European Parliament approves RSPP

Plans for a five-year EU radio spectrum policy roadmap cleared the European Parliament on 11 May with lawmakers overwhelmingly backing amendments aimed at putting Europe in the lead in new broadband services.

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Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Webb leaves Ofcom with modern spectrum management framework

Until returning to the private sector in February this year, William Webb was research director at UK telecoms regulator Ofcom, where he spent seven highly productive and generally happy years. We look back on what he regards as his main achievements.

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