UK to Offer New Wireless Spectrum

May 25, 2006 - source: BWCS

UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom, yesterday published proposals to expand the market for broadband fixed wireless services, by opening up the 71-76GHz and 81-86GHz bands for licensed use. To date, these spectrum bands have been held back from commercial use, however, the regulator said it realized that new technology could enable companies to start offering services using these high frequency bands.

Ofcom envisages that the frequencies could be used for very high capacity, point-to-point wireless networks, which, it says, could be used by licensed operators as an alternative to fibre-optic cables. Speeds of data delivery using these frequencies have been estimated at between 1Gb per second and 10Gb per second and Ofcom believes that wireless base stations in this frequency would have a range of between 1km and 2km. These speeds certainly compare favourably to the maximum speed of data delivery over the old copper loop of between 1Mbps and 24Mbps.

The regulator is proposing that the band should be licensed on a first come, first served basis, rather than auctioned off. The main reason for this approach seems to be that the bandwidth can accommodate a large number of users without any interference. Ofcom therefore believes that demand for the spectrum is unlikely to outstrip supply. The consultation runs until 2 August 2006.