French Digital Dividend Commission issues recommendations

The French government should allocate the 790-862 MHz band to "electronic communications", according to the final report of the country's Digital Dividend Commission.

This is the best way of ensuring the whole country has access to advanced broadband Internet services in the future, the report says.

Read the full details at: https://www.policytracker.com/headlines/french-digital-dividend-commission-issues-recommendations

September 2008 printed issue available for download

Our top story this month is the implications for spectrum managers of the growth in machine-to-machine communications

Over the coming decades 50 billion machines are expected to use the airwaves to communicate with each other, a development anticipated by this month's EC decision to harmonise a band for intelligent transport systems.

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http://www.policytracker.com/alerts.php?tact=799

Frustration in South Africa at delay in liberalised regulations

Much of the South African telecoms industry is getting impatient with the slow progress towards implementing legislation which will, among other things, introduce technology and service neutral licensing.

Operators and service providers have been positioning themselves for the day they can offer what services they want, using what technologies they want, but there is no indications of when changes to telecoms regulations outlined in the Electronic Communications Act of 2005 will come into effect.

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http://www.policytracker.com/alerts.php?tact=797

Consultation: Increasing the power levels below which devices will be exempt from licensing

Ofcom has published a consultation on increasing the power levels below which devices will be exempt from licensing in the frequency bands above 10GHz. The regulator argues that the current power limits on UWB below 10GHz could be extrapolated proportionately into the higher bands without causing harmful interference.

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http://www.policytracker.com/alerts.php?tact=796

A moral obligation to provide more spectrum for public protection?

European public safety services are pressing for a share of the digital dividend pie. Top on their wish list is harmonised spectrum in the UHF range for data and broadband communications.

Partly funded by the European Commission, Public Safety Communication Europe Forum (PSC Europe) offers the public safety and security services a venue in which to discuss communications needs, said Motorola Belgium Director Jeppe Jepsen, who chairs the organisation's Spectrum Harmonisation Initiative. Public safety spectrum users still lack a strong voice in Europe despite the 1996 establishment of the pan-European Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA) network that linked all emergency services on the same frequency, he said.

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http://www.policytracker.com/alerts.php?tact=795

First pan-European selection procedure gets underway

The European Commission has invited applications to operate mobile satellite services across the whole EU, the first time a spectrum assignment decision has been made on a pan-European basis.

The selection procedure is based on a European Commission decision proposed in August 2007 which came into force in July this year following agreement from the European Parliament and Council.

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http://www.policytracker.com/alerts.php?tact=794

UK 2.6GHz auction further delayed

Regulator Ofcom has announced that they will not be inviting applications for the 2.6 GHz auction until November at the earliest. The delay is due to continuing legal action.

The auction of what was once known as the 3G expansion band but is also a target band for WiMAX is the subject of legal action by T-Mobile and 02.

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http://www.policytracker.com/alerts.php?tact=793