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and Ofcom to see something like alevel playing field, with no operatoror operators getting a clear advantageover its rivals due to superior spectrumholdings.

The two first movers, Vodafone andO2, have all of the available 900 MHzspectrum between them with limitedholdings at 1800 MHz. Orange andT-Mobile have no 900 MHz spectrum but share the bulk of the spectrum at1800 MHz. All four operators plus 3 have2.1 GHz holdings for their 3G services.The problems surfaced several yearsago when the holders of the 900 MHzspectrum wanted to refarm it for 3G use.

“Ofcom’s attitude was; if we just letyou refarm, you will have this massivecost advantage, and in effect you willdominate the market because the otherswill not be able to compete, and that is

bad, so what in effect we must do is takesome spectrum from you and repackageit and auction it so everybody gets a faircrack,” said the source.

Vodafone and O2 did not agree withthis analysis and said so in no uncertainterms. The result was a very polarisedposition. But finally the so-calledindependent spectrum broker, Kip Meek,pretty much brokered a deal in the five-player market. A spectrum cap allowedVodafone and O2 to keep their 900 MHz

spectrum, T-Mobile and Orange wouldhave to release some 1800 MHz and theywould also be able to buy some 800 MHzspectrum.

“There was redistribution of spectrumwith some sweeteners thrown in like anextended 3G licence. Pragmatically itlooked like a reasonable deal and had

C o n t e n t s MOBILE

Operators watch andwait as Ofcom juggleshot potato

The UK coaitio govermet’s first attempt

to address the thory issue of spectrum

reform appears to have goe dow better

with stakehoders tha the previous gover-met’s proposas, athough there are sti a ot

of uaswered questios.

by Michael Newlands

The answers will have to come fromtelecoms regulator Ofcom, which willonce again be in the driving seat if legisla-tion now before parliament is passed asexpected in the autumn.

Ofcom will be directed to prepare thegroundwork for the long-delayed 2.6 GHz

auction, to be held alongside the digitaldividend 800 MHz auction, possiblytowards the end of 2011. The regulatorhad originally planned to hold the 2.6GHz auction as early as 2007, but pressurefrom mobile operators and then politicalinterference saw spectrum refarming andpossible reallocation of existing spectrumgetting lumped together with the issue of new spectrum.

Bo

Agreement was close by the thirdquarter of 2009, according to a sourceclose to the operators. Although therewere various agendas at play during allthe delays and prevarication, at the heartof the matter were the disparate spectrumholdings of the five mobile operators anda desire on the part of the government

S e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 0

p2

4OperatOrs have high hOpes fOr

new mOBile televisiOn standard

5OfcOm tests Olympic spectrum

6mOre spectrum nOt necessarily

the answer fOr mOBile OperatOrs

7pmse industry prOtests Over

cOmpensatiOn package

8Brazil plans lte rOllOut in time

fOr 2014 wOrld cup

9us lawmakers intrOduce

prOpOsal fOr spectrum

incentive auctiOns

10french umts 1800 pilOt has

implicatiOns fOr uk OperatOrs

11 auctiOn results Bring real

cOmpetitiOn tO mexican market 12

BrOadcasters want mOre

certainty fOr eng

13pOrtugal and italy mOve

tOwards switch-Off

S p e c i a l r e p o r t :

M 2 M c o m m u n i c a t i o n s

14smart metering and smart grids

dOminate m2m space

15dOes m2m need its Own spectrum?

16Battle tO prOvide

netwOrk fOr uk smart grid

19cOuntries deBate

pOlicy BefOre itu cOnference

20 active cOnsultatiOns

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the merger between T-Mobile and Orangenot been announced after agreement had been reached, it would probably havegone through,” the source said.

A special instrument (SI) was laid beforeParliament and the then government washopeful of getting it through before thegeneral election in May 2010.

At this stage, however, fixed-lineincumbent BT chose to intervene,threatening legal action. A spokespersontold PolicyTracker at the time: “BT isdisappointed by the conclusions thegovernment has reached on its DigitalBritain spectrum proposals. The decisionsrepresent a large gift of very valuablespectrum rights to mobile operatorsand do nothing to promote competition,

innovation or consumer choice. We arereviewing the details of the decision toconsider how we respond.”

po

The merger announcement betweenOrange and T-Mobile cast anotherspanner in the works, with their combinedspectrum holdings dwarfing thoseof the other operators. The EuropeanCommission reviewed the mergerproposals in parallel with the discussions

which were going on in the UK. The EC

decision when it was announced took the market by surprise. As expected, themerged entity was ordered to divest itself of some of its 1800 MHz spectrum, but itwas ordered to sell it in a single block toa single buyer.

Either Vodafone or O2 could buythe spectrum. They claimed this meantone operator would be left at a severedisadvantage, having nowhere to turnfor the extra spectrum it would needto compete in the future world of next-generation LTE networks.

“That’s where it turned, whereVodafone and O2 went from being broadly happy with the spectrum capworld to being very much against thespectrum cap world. They started a

vigorous lobbying campaign directed both at the government and the variousparliamentary committees the SI had togo through,” he said.

The lobbying was successful, withthe Tories refusing to support the SIand deciding to take a fresh look at thesituation if they won the election, whichthey did. The new government listenedto the operators and formed their ownopinion of what must be done. Nowthe original SI has been slimmed down

and the rest sent back to Ofcom which is

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working constructively with Ofcom toensure that network operators have afair opportunity to buy the spectrumrequired to compete effectively in theUK market. A timely resolution is in theinterests of developing and supportingthe economy and delivering advancedmobile services to customers.”

Anything which makes Vodafone andO2 happy is likely to have the oppositeeffect on Everything Everywhere, butfor the time being the merged entityis keeping its powder dry with aspokesperson saying executives arestudying the SI and drafting a response.

3 was quicker off the mark. Chief

executive Kevin Russell said: “It iscritical for UK consumers that in settingout the auction process Ofcom addressesthe distortions now created by allowingthe incumbent operators to retain fullaccess to 2G spectrum. Competition

puts mobile broadband into the handsof millions - without it, service qualityand price will be jeopardised.”

a o oo o

Colin Long, an independent legaland regulatory consultant who is Of Counsel to law firm Olswang, sees somedangers for Ofcom if any operatorsobject strongly enough to the findings of its competition assessment to take legalaction. He argues the original SI aimedto protect Ofcom from legal action

surrounding the auction conditions, being in the form of an explicit directionfrom the Government to the regulator.The new slimmed down SI, which hedescribes at a hot potato lobbed at theregulator by the government, offers nosuch protection, he says.

“There is no real hard deadline for

the auction provided in the Directions,even though the government haveindicated elsewhere that this shouldtake place before the end of next year.Ofcom is simply required to makethe auction regulations as soon asreasonably practicable after concludingits competition assessment, but this of course does not dictate the timing of theauction itself,” says Long.

“Other parts of the Directions, notablythe variations to existing 3G licences toimpose service coverage requirements,extend their duration and imposeannual charges after 2021, are expresslysubject to the licensees consenting,which of course is no different to theposition that would have applied even

without the Directions.“So all in all, I am really left

questioning the utility of the Directionsand whether very much, if anything,of significance remains of theirpredecessor’s main legal purpose,namely to provide Ofcom with a suitof armour against legal challenges.A suit of chocolate armour might bemore apt, as certainly this whole arearemains something of a confection,” heconcludes.

Market watchers detect a distinct lack of urgency on the part of the operatorsto get the auction under way any timesoon, and wonder if threats of legalaction dating back to 2007 have as muchto do with this as anything else.

This attitude was summed up by Stefan Zehle, the chief executiveof Coleago Consulting. “It is in theinterests of incumbents to have theauction as late as possible so they cancontinue to profit from 3G spectrum before rolling out LTE networks,” he

says.“New spectrum means potentially

new competition, so a delay suits theindustry. It does not suit the consumeror policy objectives about universalaccess to broadband. But is does helpthe industry. Kicking it into the longgrass keeps shareholders happy.”•

Market watchers

detect a distinct lack of urgency on the part of the operators to get theauction under way anytime soon

charged with undertaking a competitionassessment of likely future competitionin mobile markets once additionalspectrum is available. Only once this has been completed can Ofcom design andhold an auction of 800 MHz and 2.6 GHzspectrum.

“We still have a substantialdisagreement about facts, and about quitehow advantageous using 900 MHz for 3Gis. Vodafone and O2 are on one side of theargument and Everything Everywhere(the new name of the merged entity) and3 on the other side saying it gives the firsttwo an unrivalled advantage. Ofcom isprobably the best place to sort out the facts– I don’t think the government is equippedto do that, whereas the regulator can form

an informed view to shape the rules forthe auction,” the source concluded.

m o

What should come as somethingof a relief to Ofcom is that BT appearsto have backed away from its earlierconfrontational position. In a tersestatement to PolicyTracker , a spokespersonsaid: “We’re reviewing the detail of thegovernment’s announcement on spectrumstrategy and will be making our views

known to the government.”In an interview with the InternationalHerald Tribune, BT chief executive IanLivingston said that while BT may bid forspectrum in the forthcoming auction, it is“low down on the list of likely things todo”. He noted that BT has a mobile virtualnetwork operation with Vodafone.

O2 is generally happy with the newdevelopment, although as an insurancepolicy it is continuing with its appealto the Competition Tribunal aimed atgetting Ofcom directed to immediately

allow refarming in line with a recent ECdirective to this effect.

Vodafone issued an upbeat statement:“This is a smart move from the newgovernment, which has taken the timeto consider the complex and far reachingimplications of spectrum allocationin the UK. We are looking forward to

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MOBILE

Operators have high hopesfor new mobile televisionstandard

Advaces i techoogy have made the

Europea Commissio back away from

its previous fu-o support for the DVB-H mobie TV stadard - to the extet it is ow

“highy iterested” i the resuts a tria of

ew soutio, IMB.

by Michael Newlands

This is a long way from the positionadopted by then Information SocietyCommissioner Viviane Reding who,in March 2007, threatened to mandateDVB-H as the EU standard for mobileTV if member states did not fall in line

and support it.In an interview with PolicyTracker in

July that year, Reding backed awayfrom the threat, saying it was notnecessary to mandate the standard as“it will be possible for governments togo ahead, for industry to go ahead, atany rate there is a general agreementto implement DVB-H and I think weare just helping this implementation tocome more quickly.”

Reding’s vision was for DVB-H to

become another European success storylike GSM. However, she failed to winsupport either from the industry orfrom governments at a time when mostcountries were moving towards serviceand technology neutrality in spectrumpolicy. In the end DVB-H was simplyincluded in the Commission’s list of standards in 2008. Since then, therehave been several implementationsof both DVB-H and other standardsaround Europe, but take-up has beenpatchy.

The Commission spokesman forits “digital agenda” told PolicyTracker that Brussels “encourages existing andplanned implementation of standardsfrom this list. However, there are nolegal obstacles to the use of standardsother than DVB-H in the EuropeanUnion for mobile services”.

data traffic in mobile networks isincreasing and operators are lookingagain at mobile broadcast networks,with a view to moving heavy datatraffic resulting from the transmission of audiovisual multimedia content awayfrom mobile communication networks.This includes both live broadcast andon-demand services,” the Commissionspokesman said.

“The IMB system supports both live broadcast TV services and on-demand broadcast services such as video clips,software updates, data broadcastand music. It can be implemented ina spectrum band which is currentlyowned, but unused, by manyoperators as a part of their 3G mobile

communications licences.“Trials like the one planned with the

IMB system in the UK can be extremelyuseful in exploring the potential of newtechnologies in a considerable level of detail and the Commission would behighly interested in its results.”

Gavin Franks, head of new businessdevelopment at O2, says he believes“the road is clear” for IMB now that ithas been endorsed by the GSMA andgained support from the wider mobile

ecosystem. “Based on the results of thepilot, we anticipate being able to offerour consumers through our networksa range of innovative new broadcastservices such as mobile TV andintelligent broadcasting that will lead toan enhanced user experience,” he says.

“Our experience shows consumerswill take advantage of linear broadcastservices if the network experienceis consistently good,” said Orangeexecutive vice-president ThierryBonhomme.

“Network capability is key for mobileTV roll-out and IMB will enable moreoperators to maximise the benefits theyget from 3G investments with high-quality TV service deployments onan efficient, pragmatic and scalablesolution that works from country tocountry.”•

n o o uk

Now three of Europe’s largestoperators, Telefónica O2, Orangeand Vodafone are jointly to launch apilot run of new 3GPP standardisedmobile TV solution Integrated MobileBroadcast (IMB).

Working with vendors Ericsson,IPWireless and Streamezzo, theoperators will conduct a three-monthtrial in central London and the nearbytown of Slough starting in October thisyear.

The trial will be used to assess howmobile services can be deployed usingshared mobile network infrastructurewith the GSMA-authorised technology,which claims to link seamlessly with

traditional unicast or on-demandservices delivered over 3G.

What makes it particularly interestingto operators is the fact it runs onunpaired TDD 2.1 GHz spectrum. Mostof them acquired this in the 3G auctionsof up to a decade ago, alongside thepaired FDD spectrum they have usedup to now to provide 3G services.

More than 150 operators in 60countries, many of them in Europe,have access to 3G TDD spectrum, which

has mainly remained unused untilnow because of the lack of appropriatetechnology. In the UK, for example, O2and H3G each have 5 MHz blocks whilethe new merged entity EverythingEverywhere (Orange / T-Mobile) has10 MHz.

r o b

As bandwidth is placed underincreasing pressure by the explosionof data traffic, operators are likely to be very interested in a solution which

packs another potentially bandwidth-hungry service off by itself into anunused spectrum sub-band.

The European Commission, inits continuing quest for spectrumharmonisation across Europe, can alsosee the advantages.

“With the success of smartphones,

8/3/2019 PT_Sept_2010


5


if problems arose, said the regulator’sOlympic Delivery Director Richard Sin-clair. The teams also managed spectrumissues for a recent Grand Prix athleticsevent held at London’s Crystal Palace,he said.

The point of the exercise was to ensurethat the regulator is capable of manag-ing spectrum for multiple events takingplace at the same time in different envi-ronments, said Costford. It is especiallyimportant that Ofcom is able to controlspectrum usage on land and sea simul-taneously, he said.

lo

The Weymouth monitoring exercise boosted Ofcom’s relationship with

licence holders such as the UK’s coastguard agency and yachting clubs, Sin-clair said. Participants now have a betterunderstanding of the regulator’s work-

ing practices, he said.Similarly, Ofcom has learned more

about how spectrum will probably beused in Weymouth, Costford said. Themarine band is the most likely to beused, and the test gave the regulator’sengineers a better idea about where broadcasters and equipment will belocated in it, he said.

Other lessons to be learned for 2012

included how to contact teams if thereare problems, the fastest way to resolvethose issues, and how to test equipmentfor any high-priority uses, he said. Theinformation gained will also help Ofcomadvise overseas visitors such as coachesof UK spectrum requirements, said Sin-clair.

The tests also eased coast guardconcerns that diffraction of direction-finding radio signals between the seaand land could interfere with its abilityto distinguish true distress calls fromhoaxes, explained Costford. Tacklingcoast guard worries was an importantpart of Ofcom’s effort to allow holi-daymakers, rescue services, Weymouthport industries and other users to sharespectrum in a very congested area,Costford said.

As the 2012 Games draw nearer,Ofcom hopes to assist in monitoringmore events, Sinclair added.

2.6 gh b o b

Demand for spectrum for wireless

cameras for the Games is expected to be “exceptionally high,” Ofcom said inan August 23 proposal to reserve someof the 2.6 GHz band for such applica-tions. The consultation on the proposallasts until 17 September. Experienceat the 2010 Winter Olympics, held inVancouver in Canada, more growth inthe use of wireless cameras in sportscoverage, plans for airborne televisioncoverage and the emergence of three-dimensional television “makes it likely

that spectrum demand may be greaterthan we had predicted,” the consulta-tion paper said.

Ofcom’s 2009 plan for the Olympicsdid not include the 2.6 GHz band – eventhough it is highly suited to wirelesscameras and is currently used for suchapplications - because the idea at thetime was to make the band availablefor commercial use within the time scaleof the Games, the regulator said. Butwith government plans for awardingthe spectrum pushed back to the end of

2011 - and an upgrade programme toradars at 2.7 GHz to permit widespreaddeployment of mobile or broadbandservices at 2.6 GHz not due to be ready before the end of 2012 - there is nowno reason why the band should not beused for the London Olympics, Ofcomsaid.•

The point of theexercise was to ensurethat Ofcom is capableof managing spectrum

for multiple eventstaking place at thesame time in different environments

BROADCASTING

Ofcom tests Olympicspectrum requirements

Fied tests at severa sportig evets show

pas to maage spectrum eeds durig

the 2012 lodo Oympics are o track, the

UK reguator says. Part of the spectrum wi come from the 2.6 GHz bad, which is due to

be auctioed by the ed of 2011.

by Dugie Standeford

The 2012 London Olympics andParalympics, and events surround-ing them, will require a vast amountof spectrum, primarily for broadcast-ing use, Ofcom senior field engineerCraig Costford told PolicyTracker in aninterview. Wireless cameras on boats,

wireless microphones, small radio sta-tions, remote-controlled cameras andteam walkie-talkies are just a few of theservices that will draw on frequenciesranging from 50 MHz - 60 MHz to 50GHz - 60 GHz, he said.

In its Spectrum Plan for the London

2012 Games , published in October 2009,Ofcom said it would source the spec-trum by borrowing on a short-term basis from public sector bodies suchas the Ministry of Defence; encourag-

ing more efficient use of civil spectrum;making use of spectrum freed up bythe digital switchover; and by usinglicence-exempt spectrum. The regulatorplans to establish a monitoring system before the Games to determine who isusing a particular band, Costford said.As the event approaches, the regulatormay have to coordinate some spectrumto ensure interference is kept to a mini-mum, he said.

f

The first test of Ofcom’s spectrummanagement regime took place duringthe “Sail for Gold” World Cup event inmid-August at the Weymouth and Port-land sailing venue that will be used forthe Olympics. Field engineering teamswere on hand to provide support forlicensed radio users and to react quickly

8/3/2019 PT_Sept_2010


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p7

MOBILE

More spectrum notnecessarily the answer formobile operators

Mobie operators shoud be chagig their

busiess modes ad makig use of ew

techoogies to get the most out of their spectrum hodigs, rather tha pressig

for the reease of more spectrum, argue a

teecoms cosutat ad a advocate of

femtoces.

by Michael Newlands

Once Ofcom has completed its competi-tion review and set the conditions forthe auction of 800 MHz and 2.6 GHzspectrum, the focus should shift fromwhere spectrum is coming from to how

it is being managed, says Stefan Zehle,chief executive of Coleago Consulting.

“Clearly networks are starting tosuffer from congestion and there aretwo ways to deal with this,” he says.“Either you get more spectrum or youtry to squeeze more out of your exist-ing network.” And he believes it is inthe best interests of mobile operatorsand their shareholders to do this byabolishing unlimited data plans andreplacing them with usage plans aimed

at maximising revenue.

w “”?

He points out that voice revenueshave been dropping, but despite thehuge increase in data traffic, overallrevenues have remained the same. This,he believes, is because of a flawed wayof looking at demand when it comes tomobile broadband.

“Everybody talks of demand in termsof traffic rather than demand in termsof revenue. That to me is not demand

in the traditional economic sense,” hesays. Demand, in other words, is whatsomebody is prepared to pay for aproduct or service.

“You could say there is huge demandfor Ferraris, because who wouldn’twant one. But actually very few peoplehave the ability to pay for one, which

is why the road is not full of Ferraris. Ican’t understand why everybody talksabout the massive growth in traffic but nobody talks about money,” saysZehle.

“The growth of traffic seems to have been decoupled from the growth of revenue. Operators are bumping uptheir capital expenditure to keep upwith the growth in traffic, but not mak-ing any extra money from it.”

n

He says the problem goes back to between 18 months and two yearsago, when new HSPA networks wererelatively unburdened. “The operatorsdrummed up business by giving awayPCs with a dongle attached for a £15 amonth contract which gave unlimiteddownload rights.” Very soon “band-

width hogs” accounting for perhaps

“I can’t understand whyeverybody talksabout the massive

growth in trafcbut nobody talks

about money”

five per cent of users were responsiblefor most of what was being downloadedover the networks.

These heavy users should be madeeither to pay for what they are con-suming with a price structure reflectingconsumption, or to stop clogging upthe network, Zehle says. Alongside this,ordinary users should be encouragedto sign up for packages of, say, 2GB permonth for a flat fee.

“Mr Colman did not become a richman from the amount of his mustardpeople ate but from how much they lefton the side of their plates. In wireless broadband terms, this means charg-ing people for a lot more bandwidththan most of them are likely to use ina month,” he says. “If you are charg-

ing somebody £15 a month for 2GB,you want people who are actually onlyusing a quarter of that.” Studies showthe average smartphone user is using alot less than 2 GB a month, and perhapsa tenth of what the average dongle usergets through.

fo

As well as using pricing both to con-strain traffic growth and to increaseprofitability, Zehle says operators are

increasingly turning to alterna-

8/3/2019 PT_Sept_2010


7


support the UK’s live events indus-try. Where are they going to find theextra money to continue to do their job?Without them, the large-scale eventssector could collapse like a house of cards.”

“This shows that the new Minister(Ed Vaizey) simply does not understandhow the PMSE sector works,” he says.“An injustice has been done, and it’san injustice that will have severe con-sequences. The winners are the spec-trum-greedy large corporations and thegovernment. The losers will be the littleguys.”

Rees has had feedback from from SOSUK members - unions and associationsrepresenting 2.5 million people - onthe 55 per cent package for Channel 69

users. “There are significant numbersof users wondering where they willfind the additional capital to replacetheir equipment,” he says. The differ-ent groups affected include theatres,freelancers, musicians and church andcommunity users.

“We have argued that if you are notgoing to be given enough money toreplace your equipment with like-for-like alternatives, you are inevitablygoing to be left worse off,” he says. “A

radio microphone is a tool to do a job,and it does not depreciate in value asit gets older, because it is still doingthe same job. If its value does not godown - which is illustrated by the factthat a rental company will rent it outfor the same amount no matter how oldit is - then as long as it is still working,you should be given enough money toreplace it with something that does thesame job just as well. It should be a like-for-like alternative.”

Rees said that another major con-

cern is that the funding has not beenformally approved by Ofcom or theTreasury. “That can’t happen until allapplications are in, which won’t be untilMarch next year. We will keep up thepressure until then, as we don’t wantany goalposts moving, or things gettingworse.”•

p6

tive methods of traffic offload such asWi-Fi and femtocells.

Rupert Baines, marketing chairmanof industry body the Femto Forum,says regulators and operators aroundthe world are now familiar with femto-cells, “with their reactions ranging fromintrigued to very positive”. He says theForum is particularly encouraged by theemphasis placed by new UK communi-cations minister Ed Vaizey on the use of new technology to improve spectrum

management, with femtocells getting aparticular mention.

He says femtocells can give operatorsan inexpensive way both of increasingnetwork capacity and solving problemssuch as poor in-building reception usingcertain spectrum bands. “Indoor cover-age at higher frequencies, say 2 GHz

upwards, can be a problem,” he says.“Femtocells solve that problem very costeffectively.” This also makes it less vitalfor operators to have low-frequencyspectrum to be able to launch wireless broadband services.

Femtocells also make economicsense where there is no business casefor installing a cellular macrocell with backhaul. “Operators in Japan and East-ern Europe are achieving 99.8 per centservice coverage by deploying public-

access femtocells in places like rural vil-lages, small railway stations, nationalparks and ski lodges.

“If you have something that costs afew hundred dollars up on a pole some-where, then you have a business case forextending service to people who couldnot otherwise get it,” he points out.•

BROADCASTING

PMSE industry protests overcompensation package

lobbyists from the programme makig ad

specia evets (PMSE) sector are accusig

the UK govermet of expoitig techi-

caities to avoid payig compesatio tocompaies beig evicted from the chaes

they use.

by Michael Newlands

When the switchover from analogue todigital broadcasting in the UK is com-pleted in 2012, suppliers of equipmentsuch as wireless microphones to a rangeof high-profile events will no longer beable to use channel 69, which is cur-rently designated solely for PMSE use,

or channels 31 to 37 and 61 to 68, whichPMSE shares with other users. Anotherchannel, and possibly the white spaces,will be designated for use by the PMSEsector.

This means new equipment tuned tothe new channels will have to be pur-chased, and existing equipment, whichis in good working order, will have to

be ditched.The coalition government has

announced that there will be a “gener-ous compensation package” for PMSEusers, but only for those in channel 69.Ofcom later added that this generos-ity would extend to 55 per cent of thereplacement cost of the equipment.

Alun Rees, campaign co-ordinatorfor industry lobbying group Save OurSound UK (SOS UK), said equipmentwhich does not tune to Channel 69, andso which is not eligible for compensa-tion, is generally used for high-profile,large-scale live events as well as in WestEnd theatre productions.

The equipment is not provided by theshow producers, but by small specialistsubcontractors who provide both the

service and the equipment. Rees saysthese firms will have to bear the fullcosts of equipment replacement – costswhich may well drive them out of busi-ness.

“To call this package ‘generous’ isan abuse of the English language,” hesays. “The decision will devastate thesmall and medium-sized businesses that

8/3/2019 PT_Sept_2010


8


MOBILE

Brazil plans LTE rollout in

time for 2014 World CupBrazi has become the first major coutry

i the Americas to break step with the US

badpa at 2.6 GHz. I ie with Europe

ad much of the rest of the word, it has

chose ITU Optio 1 istead.

by Michael Newlands

Brazil’s telecoms regulator AgênciaNacional de Telecomunicações (Anatel)has had to adopt a different approachto that of regulators elsewhere because

of the legacy of use in the 2500 to 2690GHz band, which is referred to as the2.5 GHz band in the US and countrieswhich follow its lead in spectrum plan-ning.

In the 1980s, the US regulator des-ignated the band for use by MMDSproviders, a type of wireless cable TVservice which never really caught on inthe US or elsewhere, partly because of the limited number of TV channels itwas able to carry.

Brazil and other countries followedthe US lead, and between 1997 and2000 Anatel issued 70 licences cover-ing 333 Brazilian cities. There was noauction and licences were issued on afirst-come, first-served basis.

But according to Ricardo Tavares,president of telecoms consultancyTechPolis and consultant to the GSMAssociation, only 300,000 subscribershave been recruited to the service in theintervening decade, with most of theoperators only meeting the minimum

level required to keep their licences.“This is consistent with what hap-

pened in the US, Canada and othercountries,” says Tavares. “And now inthe US parts of the band are assignedto universities and other educationalinstitutions and a big chunk of it –

This will be one of the issues deter-mined by a consultation process whendraft auction rules are published inNovember this year. The final rules aredue to be published by September 2011,allowing the auction to take place in2012 with terms of authorisation for theuse of the spectrum published beforeyear-end.

2014 wo c

The regulator, at the urging of the gov-ernment, is working towards this tightdeadline to allow for what Tavares calls

a “targeted deployment” of LTE in timefor the soccer World Cup which will beheld in Brazil in mid-2014.

“Brazilian policy makers want to beabsolutely sure that soccer fans comingfrom around the world with their smart-phones, laptops and other LTE-capabledevices are able to use them. The prior-ity will be to get networks built out inthe 12 Brazilian cities hosting World Cupgames,” he said.

Although communications provision

for the World Cup has been a factor inthe decision to fall in with the majorityof overseas countries, this follows onfrom Brazil’s decision in 2000 to make1800 MHz the PCS band, unlike the USand most of Latin America, which wentwith 1900 MHz. This departure fromcoordination with the US continued in2007, when Brazil auctioned off 3G spec-trum at 1.9/2.1 GHz while the US hasAWS spectrum with the uplink at 1.7rather than 1.9 GHz - though the down-link in both cases is at 2.1 GHz.

Tavares foresees a bright future for4G in Brazil, and for LTE in particu-lar. He points out that there are alreadymore than 15 million subscribers for 3Gservices – more than 35 per cent usingdongles for laptops – and says with anaddressable post-paid base of 35 million

Brazilian policymakers want tobe absolutely surethat soccer fanscoming from aroundthe world withtheir smartphones,

laptops and other LTE-capable devicesare able to use them

120MHz – has been consolidated bySprint/Clearwire which is rolling outa WiMAX network as well as trialling both flavours of LTE.”

p o 2.6 gh

What the Brazilian regulator plans isquite different. A 50 MHz centre gap of TDD spectrum at the centre of the bandplus 2 x10 MHz blocks of paired FDDspectrum at 2500 to 2510 MHz and 2620to 2630 MHz will be made available forthe MMDS licence holders. This will befor a further 15-year period, at a price

that is yet to be determined. They will beable to roll out 4G services themselvesif they want to or sell as much of the

spectrum as they like.The remaining 120 MHz will be sold

off, on a technology neutral basis, eitheras three lots of 2 x 20 MHz of pairedspectrum or two lots of 2 x 20 MHzand two lots of 2 x 10 MHz. In the firstinstance one of the country’s four exist-ing nationwide operators, offering both

2G and 3G services, will lose out andwill have to hope it can purchase spec-trum from the MMDS licence holders.In the second instance the two operatorsgetting twice the bandwidth would beable to offer a better service than theother two.

8/3/2019 PT_Sept_2010


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subscribers there could be more than 30million 3G subscribers within the nextcouple of years. Brazil, the world’s fifthlargest mobile market, had 187 millionsubscribers at the end of July.

WiMAX is also already beingdeployed with some success in Brazil at3.5 GHz, due in part to the lack of fixedlines and DSL services. Tavares feelssome of the MMDS operators wantingto be able to compete against wiredcable companies and provide triple playmay well launch WiMAX in the nearfuture. However, he says the mobile

operators have already announced theirpreference for LTE.•

See www.policytracker.com for more details

In partnership with:

Chile plans 2.6 GHz auction

Chilean regulator Subtel has announcedit plans to hold an auction of 2.6 GHzspectrum to take place before the endof 2010 and licences to be issued bymid-2011. No details were released of the proposed bandplan, the amountof spectrum on offer or the number of

licences available. However, a writtenstatement said the band is now in theprocess of being cleared. •

MOBILE

US lawmakers introduceproposal for spectrumincentive auctions

The “Voutary Icetive Auctios Act of

2010,” itroduced o 27 Juy by US House

of Represetatives Members Rick Boucher,

a Democrat, ad Ciff Stears, a Repubica,

aims to hep the Federa Commuicatios

Commissio (FCC) free up 500 MHz of ew

spectrum over the ext te years.

by Dugie Standeford

The measure allows the FCC to conductvoluntary incentive auctions if it finds itto be in the public interest for a licenseeto give up some or all of its spectrumfor allocation to a new licensee or forunlicensed use. The agency has discre-tion to decide what percentage of theproceeds will be given to the relinquish-ing licensee. However, the legislationprohibits the FCC from directly or indi-rectly taking back any broadcast televi-sion or other licence for the purpose of

auctioning it.Among other strategies, the FCC’snational broadband plan recommends

incentive-based auctions in which broadcasters and other licensees sur-render spectrum in return for a portionof the sale proceeds.

“Our goal is to ensure that any incen-tive auctions the Federal Communica-tions Commission conducts are trulyvoluntary,” Boucher said.

CTIA - The Wireless Association Pres-ident and chief executive Steve Largentsaid he’s pleased the lawmakers “agreewith us that there is a looming spec-trum crisis.”

“We have no quarrel with incentive

auctions that are truly voluntary” andthe bill is a step in the right direction,said a National Association of Broad-casters spokesman. Sound spectrumpolicy must recognize the “enduringvalue of free and local broadcasting,”he said.

The bill is now being reviewed by theHouse Energy and Commerce Com-mittee. It is one of several pieces of spectrum-related legislation currentlymaking their way through Congress.

However, it is not yet clear whetherany of these measures will be passedinto law. •

8/3/2019 PT_Sept_2010


10


spectrum in the UK. Vodafone and O2have all of the 900 MHz spectrum, withvery small holdings at 1800 MHz, whilethe merged Orange/T-Mobile entity,Everything Everywhere, has the bulk of the 1800 MHz spectrum.

To understand the difference betweenusing 900 and 1800 GHz for HSPA – andat a later date LTE – a look at how Frenchoperators use their spectrum holdingsfor GPRS is instructive. GPRS 1800 isfound in the main cities and along themain highways, whereas 900 MHzcoverage is nationwide. HSPA at 2.1GHz has initially been restricted to mainpopulation areas, but the introduction of UMTS 900 has enabled expansion of theservice into rural areas.

This, explains a telecoms consultantclose to a major operator, is because thepropagation characteristics of the 900MHz bands allow longer-range coveragethan the 1800 MHz or higher frequenciescurrently used for 3G technologies. Thismakes it more appropriate for providinga service to large, less densely populatedand rural areas.

Looking at this from the UKviewpoint, it would probably notmean a huge market advantage for the

holders of 900 MHz spectrum if theywere allowed to launch UMTS 900 inthe near future as they are demanding.Until recently, the conventional wisdomhas been that it would provide a bigadvantage.

“Provided the French trials lead tothe quick development by vendorsof a network and device ecosystemincluding UMTS 1800, so allowing therefarming of the 1800 MHz band, thenthe market advantage may actually bewith Everything Everywhere (EE) rather

than Vodafone and O2,” the consultantsays.

This is because the main problemfor 3G networks now is overloadingin high-population areas thanks to thehuge growth in data traffic associatedwith wireless USB dongles for laptopsand the explosion in smartphone sales.

“Using 1800 MHz spectrum to take thestrain off the 2.1 GHz spectrum will bea lot more effective than trying to use900 MHz for that,” he says. “Similarly itwill also be better suited to the lucrativeurban market when LTE is introduced”.

goo o o o o

Graham Friend, a director at ColeagoConsulting, has a different viewpoint.“In terms of capacity the congestionissues tend to be found in urban areasand the virtues of sub-1 GHz spectrumin terms of in-building penetrationmake it preferable to 1800,” he says.“EE will expect to pick up either 900 or800 in the auction when it finally takesplace.”

“I also expect EE believes it can wincustomers by claiming to have thelargest network - resulting from the jointventure - and this marketing message isprobably more effective and more easilyunderstood by the customer base thanlaunching UMTS at 1800,” says Friend.

“Given the general levels of uncertainty associated with spectrumallocations in the UK, I suspect that theywould rather wait until the issues have been resolved before considering such

an option.”He says it is likely at a group levelthat UMTS will be deployed first at 900MHz in most markets to benefit fromeconomies of scale. “A standardisedapproach across the group is likely to be preferable. This would probablypreclude UMTS at 1800 in the firstinstance.”

In conclusion, he says that deploying1800 MHz UMTS to gain a first-moveradvantage is unlikely to be a strategyin the short term for EE. “But in the

longer term, operators will probablyseek to deploy UMTS in bands bothabove and below 1 GHz to gain from therespective benefits in terms of capacityand coverage.”commercial sector, hesaid. It is simply a question of whoholds the licence, he said.•

MOBILE

French UMTS 1800 pilothas implications for UKoperators

A UMTS tria schedued to be coducted

i the 1800 MHz bad i Frace this

november wi be watched with iterest both by operators ad reguators,

particuary i coutries such as the UK,

where operators are icesed at either 900

or 1800 MHz.

by Michael Newlands

While refarming the 900 MHz band for3G use is becoming increasingly wide-spread, particularly following the ECDecision last year instructing memberstates to liberalise the GSM bands, this

trial will be a pilot at 1800 MHz.Mobile operator Orange, which

already has a UMTS 900 service incommercial operation in France, will be trialling HSPA in its 1800 MHzspectrum. Ericsson will provide the basestations for the trial and Qualcomm thechipsets for devices. Both base stationsand devices will support 2G at 900 and1800 MHz and 3G/HSPA at 900 and1800 MHz and 2.1 GHz.

“Deploying HSPA in the 1800 MHz

band is the fastest and most costeffective way for an operator to increasenetwork capacity due to the smallimpact on both network infrastructureand devices,” said Alain Maloberti,Orange Group’s vice-president fornetwork architecture and design.“UMTS1800 is the natural choice to boost 3G capacity.”

io

If Maloberti is right, then there are inter-esting implications for the competition

assessment UK regulator Ofcom has been told to carry out prior to settingrules, including possible spectrum caps, before launching an auction of 800 MHzand 2.6 GHz spectrum.

Part of the assessment will haveto consider refarming and possiblereallocation of 900 MHz and 1800 MHz

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And as research firm Pyramid pointedout in an analysis of the auction results,the cost of spectrum for Nextel/Televisais a small portion of its launch costs.Mobile penetration in Mexico is alreadyat 85%, so the new entrant will haveto lure customers from existing opera-tors, before which it will have to roll outa new network. Telcel and Movistar’smain infrastructure costs came years agowhen market penetration was low, andthey are now well-established brand-names.

What the auction results have done is

to introduce stiff, and unprecedented,competition in the 3G market to mobilemarket leader America Movil (Telcel)

which has more than 70 per cent of thecountry’s subscribers and is controlled

by the world’s richest man, Carlos Slim.Telcel’s service is in the 850 MHz bandrefarmed for 3G from 2G.

Telcel also took part in the auction andended up buying 21 2 x 5 MHz blocks of AWS spectrum in nine licensing regions.America Movil chief executive DanielHajj later told a financial results pressconference Telcel might use the newspectrum to keep a step ahead of thenew competition by rolling out a 4G

The auctionhas introducedunprecedentedcompetition into

Mexico’s 3G market

MOBILE

Auction results bring realcompetition to Mexicanmarket

Foowig a period of ucertaity after

Mexico’s recet PCS ad AWS spectrum

auctio, reguator Cofete has cofirmed the resuts despite vigorous oppositio

from icumbets ad various poiticias

seekig to have the auctio overtured.

by Michael Newlands

They argued the auction structure, withtight spectrum caps enforced in each of the country’s nine regions, was wrongas it resulted in newcomer Nextel/Televisa obtaining a national licenceto offer 3G services in the AWS 1.7/2.1

GHz band for the base price of just 180.3million pesos ($14.2 million). Nextel/Televisa was the only qualified bidderin the auction for the two national 2 x 15MHz licences on offer in the AWS band,one of which was not sold.

However as several commentators,including independent telecoms con-sultant Martyn Roetter, pointed out theauction price is misleading as it repre-sents only a part of the fees which will be paid out over the 20-year life of the

licence and amount to more than 18 billion pesos ($1.4 bn). He also pointsout Nextel can hardly be blamed for bidding the base price.

“The fees are based on the amountsof bandwidth and the regions so the dif-ference between the costs of the nationallicense and the other regional licensesacquired by the other three operators ona per MHz/pop basis is much smallerthan is being claimed,” says Roetter.

network. “We have a lot of competitionin Mexico. If there is going to be a newentrant in the market, well, we need toprovide a better service, better quality,more coverage and a lot of data capac-ity,” Hajj said.

Mexico’s second-largest operator,Spain’s Telefonica, operating underthe Movistar brandname, was ableto use the auction to plug gaps in itsnational coverage, and specifically goget a license for region nine which ishome to capital Mexico City, around aquarter of the population and a larger

share than that of GDP. Telefonica’s 3Gservice will be in the PCS band at 1900MHz, some of it bought at auction andsome refarmed from 2G use.

After the auction, Telefonica put itself in a stronger competitive position bysigning an agreement with MegacableHoldings, one of Mexico’s biggest cabletv companies. Megacable, with 1.7 mil-lion subscribers in 200 towns and cities,is one of the country’s top triple play– bundled phone, broadband and pay

TV – providers. It will now add a fourthstring to its bow by marketing Telefoni-ca’s 2G and 3G wireless services.

Nextel/Televisa is a partnership between an international mobile opera-tor and a major Mexican media com-pany with TV interests and it too will be able to add 3G to Televisa’s existingtriple-play offerings. Carlos Slim con-trols substantial media interests as wellas the dominant mobile and fixed-lineoperations in Mexico, so Telcel will still be very much in the mix.

This leaves Iusacell – with no mediapartner or interests -- as the only oper-ator not able to provide national 3Gcoverage in a single band, and as suchthe most vocal opposition voice to theauction results which it says are “outra-geous”. •

Operator Pre-auction

Bandwidth (MHz)

After PCS

auction (MHz)

After AWS and

PCS auctions

Telcel 50.6 50.6 73.9

Telefonica 39.1 54.7 61.3

Iusacell 43.8 53.8 53.8

Nextel 18.2 19.3 52.6

Average peroperator

37.9 44.6 60.4

Source: Cofetel

m oo 3g o o o

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BROADCASTING

TV & radio concerned aboutancillary services

Greater certaity o spectrum that ca be

used for eectroic ewsgatherig, outside

broadcastig ad productio is eeded

to spur the cofidece of reguators ad

maufacturers producig equipmet,

Europea broadcasters say.

by Scott Billquist, Geneva correspondent

National spectrum management could benefit from globally harmonised bandplanning for equipment that is increas-ingly portable and used across borders,

says a preparatory resolution for the2012 World Radiocommunication Con-ference (WRC-12). In a recent survey,European broadcasters said they wereopen to the idea of using cognitive tech-nologies for electronic newsgatheringand outside broadcasting (ENG/OB)applications.

ENG/OB is the collection of videoand sound material with gear usingradio links to the newsroom, ratherthan film or recording, said Elena Pui-

grefagut, a senior engineer with theEuropean Broadcasting Union (EBU).She was referring to a WRC-12 agendaitem on harmonisation of spectrum forENG/OB. She was speaking at a recentworkshop on European WRC-12 objec-tives. Outside broadcasting is the tem-porary provision of some programmesat the event’s location, she said.

Generally, they are quite large events,Puigrefagut said. A definition of ENG/OB also includes services ancillary to broadcasting and production. Radio

services for devices such as radio-microphones, in-ear devices, portableaudio links and cordless video equip-ment are secondary in the Radio Reg-ulations using existing allocations to broadcasting, fixed or mobile services,she said.

u o 100 mh

Broadcasters are concerned about futureaccess to spectrum for these applica-tions, Puigrefagut said. Spectrum needsfor profitable, large events can be veryhigh, she said, referring also to the needfor high quality links. Spectrum needsfor video in large events with three heli-copters, an aeroplane and motorcyclesare more than 100 MHz, she said. Spec-trum needs for big audio-only events aremuch smaller, she said.

In preparatory talks for the WRC-12agenda item, broadcasters realised theyneeded up-to-date information on spec-trum access and needs, Puigrefagut said.

The EBU also surveyed its membership,she said. Knowing how much spectrumis needed for each of the bands usedwas very difficult to answer, she said,referring to the large variance betweenlarge and small events and an apparentcorrelation between the size of a countryand its spectrum needs.

Broadcasters in the survey said theiraudio applications use lower frequen-cies, Puigrefagut said, referring to twomajor peaks, one near UHF band III,

used in Europe for digital audio broad-casting, and the other near the 470-862MHz TV broadcasting band. Some coun-tries using the TV band exclusively foraudio applications will have to findalternative solutions, she said, becausethe band will no longer be available.

Peak use for video applications was between 2 GHz and 3 GHz, Puigrefa-gut said. Alternative solutions are beingsought for broadcasters who have tovacate frequencies near 2.5 GHz, whichwill be used for broadband wireless

access, she said.Broadcasters indicated a lack of fre-

quencies to satisfy all requirementsand difficulties in finding frequencieswithin the equipment’s tuning ranges,Puigrefagut said, because some of the bands will longer be available. They alsomentioned that there are more opera-

tors with spectrum-hungry equipment,she said, and interference problems arerising.

mo o,

Broadcasters want more national regu-lation for these kinds of applications,Puigrefagut said, and more enforce-ment. Some operators aren’t actingwithin the rules, she said. They saidthey wanted dedicated channelsassigned to each operator for exclusiveuse and additional channels allocatedon a shared basis, she said.

Better equipment specifications and

certification would also be a plus, Pui-grefagut said, and would work in widerfrequency bands. The broadcasters alsosaid type approval for equipment mightspur solutions, she said. They also saiduse of white spaces by cognitive devices below Bands IV/V should only beunder licensed conditions. Broadcastersare open to the idea of using cognitivetechnologies for ENG/OB applications,she said. Harmonisation of spectrumis valuable for spurring economies

of scale. It also facilitates worldwideevents, but it is difficult to achieve glob-ally, Puigrefagut said.

The EBU supports the CEPT prefer-ence for one of the draft approachesto satisfy the WRC-12 agenda item,Puigrefagut said. The method suggestsdeveloping ITU-R recommendationsor reports listing the preferred tuningranges or frequency bands for coun-tries, regions or globally without chang-ing the Radio Regulations. It also opensthe door to the possibility of developing

a universal access procedure for opera-tors to coordinate frequency access.

The approach may or may not spurefficient spectrum use and it may notgo far enough in boosting the confi-dence of manufacturers and regulators,a PolicyTracker source said. Implementa-tion would be heavily dependent on

8/3/2019 PT_Sept_2010


13


of the process, as they cover areas andfeed relays in other parts of the country.Although coastal areas account for only39 per cent of Portugal’s territory, theyare inhabited by 70 per cent of Portugal’spopulation.

The second phase of ASO will takeplace In the autonomous regions of theAzores and Madeira, affecting just fiveper cent of the population. Here, theprocess will start on 22 March. The thirdand final phase deals with the rest of thecountry, covering about 25 per cent of the population. Analogue transmittersand relays in this part of Portugal will be

switched off from 26 April 2012 onwards.

po

Anacom plans to test its ASO proceduresin pilot areas from January 2011. These

BROADCASTING

Portugal and Italy movetowards switch-off

Portuguese reguator Aacom has

approved the Portuguese govermet’s

proposed schedue for aaogue switch-

off (ASO) i the coutry. I Itay, the presi-

det of the reguator thiks ASO coud be

achieved by ext year.

by Jonathan Watson

The only modifications made by Ana-com to the draft ASO timetable submit-ted for consultation in April this yearchanged the switch-off dates for the

first phase of the process so that theycoincided with a working day.

ASO in Portugal is due to take placein three phases, each of which will lastfor seven days. The first phase willconcentrate on coastal areas, whereswitch-off will begin on 12 January2012. Some of the transmitters in theseareas will be excluded from this part

Portugal - analogue switch-off

areas have not been decided yet, butAnacom has said they will be areaswhere ASO is “easy to carry out inoperational terms”. They will alsohave been receiving digital broadcast-ing for more than a year and containfewer than 150,000 people. Anacomalso hopes that the pilots will “raiseawareness among the entire populationas to the naturalness and irreversibilityof the complete closure of analogue ter-restrial television”.

Portuguese viewers have been ableto receive the country’s main terrestrialchannels - RTP 1, RTP 2, SIC and TVI

- using DTT since 2009. Currently, 85per cent of the population are covered by Portugal’s DTT network. This willincrease to 100 per cent by the end of 2010.

i o b

In Italy, the regulator Agcom has sug-gested in its annual report that thetransition to digital broadcasting in thecountry could be completed by 2011.The report says that there are already

six “all digital” regions in Italy andthat the digitisation of Northern Italyshould be completed this year. In 2011,switch-off will take place in the Adriaticcoastal region. This is due to be fol-lowed in 2012 by Tuscany, Umbria, Sic-ily and Calabria, but Agcom presidentCorrado Calabro wrote that “with aneffort, the digitalisation could be com-pleted by 2011, as requested in a recentEuropean recommendation.”

Agcom recently approved a draftdigital frequency plan confirming

that five new digital multiplexeswill be awarded for national TVvia a beauty contest. And now theEuropean Commission has clearedthe way for satellite TV operator SkyItalia to participate in the DTT market,guidelines for that contest should soon be drawn up.•

individual administrations, but theprocess would be more agile thaninvolving a radio conference, thesource said. Technical characteristicsmean frequencies above 3 GHz aren’tsuitable for mobile video links, shesaid. Also, frequencies above 9.8 GHzaren’t suitable for outside mobile videolinks, but they are suitable for indoorproduction.

Regulators, manufacturers and broadcasters should work together tofind solutions to the growing tendency

of decreasing frequencies available forENG/OB applications and the risingneed for additional frequencies, Pui-grefagut said. “New and innovativetechnical solutions should be studiedfor such applications,” she said, refer-ring to cognitive and other technolo-gies.•

p12

ASO in Portugal

Phase 1: green shading

Phase 2: Azores and Madeira

Phase 3: blue shading

8/3/2019 PT_Sept_2010


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p15

Kim Bybjert, the head of the group’sdedicated M2M team, which was set upin May 2010, says KPN regards M2M asthe only real new business opportunityin the market, but it is looking for newvertical niches rather than trying to com-pete head-on with larger multinationalsin sectors such as automotive.

It sees consumer electronics as amajor growth area and its goal is to be Europe’s leading provider of SIMsembedded into off-the-shelf consumerelectronic devices such as e-readers anddigital picture frames, and is looking to

tie up with manufacturers wanting toroll out big volumes for pan-Europeanor even global distribution.

It has recently signed deals withGarmin, the world’s top producer of navigation systems, which sees a KPNSIM in the new nüvi 1690 portabledevice in all international markets, andwith Konica Minolta to remotely con-nect multi-function business machinesin Europe with a remote diagnostic andprovisioning system.

Although ARPU is low for most M2MSIMs, with low traffic volumes across alarge number of lines, KPN is looking toleverage on one-time purchases of infor-mation or products where the consumerpays a substantial fee – say 10% of thecost of an e-book ordered via a KPN SIMembedded in an e-reader.

mo bo sim

While this strictly SIM only approachwas common to most operators in theearly days of M2M, many are beginningto realise it is not a sustainable busi-ness model going forwards. Having todeal with powerful utility companies,national energy and gas market regu-lators, and in some countries nationalinfrastructure operators, is new to theMNOs.

To get a share of what will be a hugenew business opportunity, smart gridsincorporating smart meters, they face

stiff competition from other technolo-gies and players in a market where aSIM card in every meter, lucrative asthat may be for the MNOs, is neither acost effective nor a particularly efficientsolution.

Any smart grid solution with a cel-lular component needs to take accountof unit costs, which means havinglarge clusters of metres connected to aconcentrator device with a single SIMcard sending data back to the cellular

network. This works best with a low-powered mesh networking technologylike ZigBee.

In France, M2M service provider AtosOrigin ran a trial involving 500,000smart meters for French power com-pany ERDF prior to a full run out of 35million meters which is now underway.Atos is MNO neutral in that it piggy- backs over the GPRS and 3G networksof all three French operators, paying forthe data transmitted.

For “last-mile” linkage of a large

number of meters to a series of con-centrators with SIM cards (each SIMlinked to an average of about 60 metersin the trial), Atos has used power linescommunications (PLC) technology. Thissends information over the electricalwiring which has meant no huge infra-structure costs. The mobile operator’s

M2M COMMuNICATIONS: SpECIAL REpORT

Smart metering and smartgrids dominate M2M space

I the first of a three part specia report o

machie to machie (M2M) commuica-

tios we examie how the ageda is beigdrive by evirometa ad eergy co-

servatio issues.

by Michael Newlands

In the two years since PolicyTracker took an in depth look at the spectrum andtechnology implications of M2M therehave been a number of new initiativesand the future of M2M deployments islooking quite different in terms both of the type of deployment and the spec-

trum being used.The European Commission as well

as national governments in Europe, theUS and other parts of the world havelatched on to smart grids, includingsmart metering, as a way to conserveenergy, reduce carbon footprints, create jobs in a new green industry and even benefit consumers.

The mobile network operators GPRSnetworks dominate in the vehicle track-ing and fleet management sectors,

which have accounted for the largestpart of the M2M market until recently.However the EU harmonisation of a 20MHz slot at the top end of the 5GHz band for use by Intelligent transportsystems (ITS) could see that changeover the coming years, although SIMsin vehicles will become increasinglyubiquitous.

There are a variety of other verti-cal M2M sectors where embeddedSIMs in either static or mobile devicesusing GPRS or 3G networks look set to

continue to dominate. Dutch operatorKPN, which also has subsidiaries inGermany and Belgium, claims to havethe only truly global SIM card. It hasgone into partnership with ex-M2MMVNO and platform developer JasperWireless and bought an equity stake inthe US-based company.

They face stiff competition fromother technologies ina market where a SIM card in every meter isneither a cost effective

nor a particularlyefcient solution

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15


Vodafone was evenless convinced, saying the company didnot see any need for special bands devotedto M2M trafc

networks feed the data from the SIMsinto Atos’ Worldline M2M platform forprocessing.

The most smart grid/smart meter-ing commercial deployments to datehave been in the US, where the businessmodel is very different to Europe andaround 3,000 utility companies servesmall regional markets (although therehas been some consolidation in someareas, particularly large cities). To datethe preference of the utilities has beento build out and own their own smartgrid networks, working with one of

several companies specialising in smartgrid deployments. Mobile operators areinvolved in some rollouts but generally just in providing backhaul or wide areanetworking.

Nearly all US deployments to datehave either utilised mesh technologyfor the last mile, usually ZigBee in the2.4 GHz unlicensed Wi-Fi band, orTower-Based Wireless using dedicatedspectrum.•


Does M2M need its ownspectrum?

I the secod part of our specia report o

machie to machie (M2M) commuica-

tios we examie whether the sector ca

cotiue to thrive i the uicesed bads

ad a mish-mash of other aocatios or

whether it eeds its ow dedicated spec-

trum.

by Michael Newlands

Some in the industry think use of

already crowded 2.4 GHz band is a badchoice in the medium to long term in both the US and Europe. Nick Hunn,ex-vice chairman of the Mobile Data

Association in the US and author of theCreative Connectivity blog makes thecase for dedicated M2M spectrum --particularly for smart grids.

He points out there is no one standardin the smart grid world to link smartmeters with each other and withdevices around the home. Of the severalcompetitors, the main ones all operate inthe 2.4 GHz band.

“Ten years ago that portion of spectrum, known as an Industrial

Scientific and Medical band (ISM) wasvirtually empty. Microwave ovens usedit, but only for a few minutes each day.Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and ZigBee were allstill dreams. It was like a freeway built before cars arrived. Today it is alreadycongested and each new evolution of Bluetooth and Wi-Fi eat up even more of

it. In another ten years, which is beforethe Smart Meter rollouts will even have been completed, it is likely to be at astandstill,” he says.

He maintains if smart metering isgoing to provide benefits to hundredsof millions of consumers in the USand Europe it needs its own wirelessspectrum and standard. “It’s not toolate for regulators to set aside spectrumand for standards bodies to get togetherto produce an optimal standard. If they don’t, we risk wasting trillionsof dollars/euros and failing to achieve

any reduction in energy consumption,”he says.

He says there are also performanceissues at 2.4 GHz and for this typeof application the trade off betweenpower, range and antenna size meansa sweet spot of between 300 MHz and600 MHz would be optimal. “As weturn off our analogue TV channels,regulators could easily dedicate someof this spectrum for smart energy. Itmeans they won’t be able to sell it off

for broadcasting more sport or porn, but the world probably needs thatrather less than it does reduced energyusage,” he says.

In New Zealand the governmenthas already announced it will makespectrum available for both smartmetering and other M2M applicationssuch as RFID and is consulting on usingparts of the 806 to 960 MHz band forthis.

no o

Not everybody sees any urgent needfor dedicated smart energy spectrum. Aspokesperson for UK regulator Ofcomsaid: “We are keeping a broad eye onthe issue; but at the moment there isno need for direct Ofcom involvement.Ultimately, it’s up to energy compa-

p14

p16

Slovenians and Austrians considernetwork sharing

Slovenian regulator APEK has begunnegotiations with the Austrian regu-lator on infrastructure sharing. Theyaim to mitigate interference from Slo-venian and Austrian LTE operators inthe digital dividend band, which wouldcover a large part of both countries.They propose to create a border zonein both countries where operators will

share networks across the border. Half the border zone network would be pro-vided by masts in Austria but used inSlovenia as a virtual network, while theother half will be provided by masts inSlovenia, allowing Austrian operatorsto provide connectivity in their owncountry by virtual means.•

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nies to decide on the communicationmechanisms that they consider mostappropriate. This might be wired orwireless communications over existing

or brand new networks. If wireless,

there will be a need for spectrum. Andthis will need to be sourced through theopen market.”

The official Vodafone spokespersonwas even less convinced saying thecompany did not see any need forspecial bands devoted to M2M traffic.“M2M does not represent a significantchallenge from a spectrum perspective.The need for additional spectrum isdriven by the exponential increase indata, which is a result of increased

penetration of smartphones/laptopsand increased usage of data-hungryapplications on these devices,” he said.

This viewpoint was hotly disputed by Joe Hamilla, COO at US-basedSpectrum Bridge which operates theword’s first commercial database of spectrum available for purchase orlease on the secondary market. “Allyou ever hear about is the amount of bandwidth that smartphones are using but the bandwidth requirement forM2M is progressing at the same rate of

knots,” he maintains. But he does notthink spectrum scarcity is the problemso much as allocation inefficiency.

Spectrum Bridge has gone intoseveral partnerships this year toprovide smart metering and other M2Mservices over both licensed spectrumfrom its database and the unlicensed

broadcast white spaces spectrum. Oftensolutions will combine both types of spectrum.

u o o

Working with GE Energy it is offering asmart grid solution in the underutilized218 to 219 MHz band, also known asthe Interactive Video & Data Services(IVDS) band which was initially auc-tioned off in 1994. While it only haslicenses covering 20% of the country’spopulation available for sale or lease onits SpecEx spectrum exchange in this band, it also has near nationwide cover-age with other bands in the 217 to 222MHz range.

“A lot of utilities are attracted bythe prospect of having a one MHz bandwidth over their service areaallowing them to do a range of thingsthey could not do before,” says Hamilla.“Many of them operate over just a fewcounties or a state and can buy or leaselicences at around 220 Mhz just forwhere their footprint is.”

As well as providing spectrum,Spectrum Bridge and GE between then

provide a GE radio solution tailoredfor the band, software for the radios,

and network management. Informationflows both ways along the network allowing a variety of cost savingmeasures. “Most utilities prefer to havetheir own networks as they provide amission critical service and are reluctantto place that reliability on a mobileoperator or vendor,” he says.•


Battle to providecommunications networkfor UK smart grid

Which spectrum bads ad techoogies

are to be used to provide commuicatios

for the UK’s proposed smart grid are yet to

be decided, but eergy reguator Ofgem

has reeased a detaied prospectus ad

cosutatio desiged to provide some

aswers. Our specia report o M2M com-

muicatios cocudes with a case study of

poicy deveopmet i the UK.

by Michael Newlands

The grid, due for completion by 2020,

will provide two-way communication-- initially with 28 million electricitymeters and then to nearly as manygas meters. Water regulator OfWat isalso hoping to get millions more watermeters included in the rollout plans soa total of more than 60 million metersmight be involved.

Energy and Gas regulator Ofgem hasalready conducted extensive researchand consultations and the results werepublished in a 66-page prospectus

and consultation document releasedon August 4 and which is now beingcarefully analyzed by stakeholders in both the utilities and communicationssectors.

At the heart of the prospectus areplans to create a new central dataand communications entity “Data-CommsCo” or DCC which will pro-vide countrywide two-way commu-nications of data from a central hub toand from smart meters.

“This will provide benefits of effi-

ciency and interoperability. DCC willalso provide a basis to simplify andimprove industry processes, includingchange of supplier, and to enable thedevelopment of smart grids,” accord-ing to the prospectus. Initially Ofgem isproposing DCCs activities be limited to

p15

p17

“All you ever hear about is the amount of bandwidth that smartphones are using but the bandwidthrequirement for M2M is progressing at thesame rate of knots”

“Most utilities prefer to have their ownnetworks as they

provide a missioncritical service and arereluctant to place that reliability on a mobileoperator or vendor,”

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17


“those functions which are essential tothe effective transfer of smart meteringdata, such as secure communicationsand access control and scheduled dataretrieval.

“We also believe that DCC will needto take on board meter registrationin order to realise the full benefits of smart metering. We welcome viewson the practicalities and timing of theinclusion of this activity. We will con-tinue to investigate whether any addi-tional functions should subsequently be brought within the scope of DCC’sactivities and the mechanisms avail-able for facilitating this,” the prospectusreads.

Whoever gets the proposed DCC jobwill have up to 60 million new custom-ers – albeit machine customers – andthe prospect of the role expanding frommeter reading to smart grid manage-ment which means there is likely to be stiff competition for the position,which Ofgem envisages going to anewly-established private company set

up just for this purpose.

co

The US market leader in the wirelessmesh smart grid space is Silver SpringNetworks which describes itself as asmart grid networking platform com-munications advisor. The company willopen a UK office this month as it is hop-ing to become one of the service provid-ers involved in the UK grid rollout.

James Pace, Senior Director for Busi-ness Development, said in its homemarket and in Australia Silver Spring isusing the unlicensed portion of the 900MHz band at 902 to 928 MHz. He pointsout that is “quite a lot of MHz” which

allows operations at 100 KBps in a veryrobust fashion while proactively avoid-ing interference. He says all nodes areIPv6 and it should be a requirement forall smart grids going forward to conformto this standard.

Silver Spring also employs ZigBeemesh networking, enabling all thenodes on the network to talk to each

other, using the also unlicensed 2.4 GHz band. He said ZigBee is by far the mostpopular solution in both the US andAustralia where its use for smart meter-ing is mandated by law in the state of Victoria.

He says the advantage of mesh net-working over cellular or radio mastsolutions is that there are many differ-ent paths a meter can use to route datato an access point and it can also usedifferent access points which makes itmuch easier to go around obstacles andreach inside premises. “A mast must seeevery device on a network and we think that is an important differentiator withmesh technology”, Pace says.

“But there are some advantagesenjoyed by cellular networks and weare in discussion with mobile operatorsto partner our technology with theirsand provide a peer-to-peer mesh over-lay on their star topology networks,”he says. “This will provide cost benefitsin terms of the capital infrastructureneeded to address the last 10% to 15%

Source: Ofgem consultation document P28

p18What the DCC will do

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of the coverage, and huge operatingexpenditure benefits by concentratinglarge numbers of meters to one GRPSor 3G node for backhaul.”

n b

However, Silver Spring is also lookingfor similar spectrum access in the UKas it has in the US to enable it to go italone if necessary and provide an end-to-end service. It has filed a request inthe form of a consultation response foruse of 872 - 876 MHz in a paired bandwith 917 - 921 MHz. Pace says the ideais for this spectrum to be set aside ona non-commercial basis for use by the

utilities industry in a vendor-neutralfashion, and specifically for the centralcommunications company providingthe communications to the nationalsmart grid.

He hopes IP will be mandated as theconvergence layer for the central com-munications provider so multiple tech-nologies are accepted. “Then there can be IP-enabled mesh, IP-enabled GPRSand IP-enabled 3G and the meter-read-ing applications can interrogate any

device that has an IP address usingstandard protocols. It also means youcan virtually future-proof the system,”he says.

i o b uk

The mobile operators will also be hop-ing to get a slice of, or all of, the actionand some have been looking at lastmile technologies such as ZigBee. Voda-fone and Orange have led the way withVodafone providing a million smartmeter connections to British Gas in a

trial. Orange is conducting a similartrial with the National Grid.

The Vodafone spokesperson toldPolicyTracker: “From a spectrum per-spective the industry would expect touse existing bands – the focus is likelyto be GSM at 900/1800 (and UMTS900where available) as these give the best

in-building coverage.“Unlicensed spectrum could theoreti-

cally be used to supplement core M2Mservices if required and if the technol-ogy is sufficiently robust. Vodafone isconsidering complimentary short rangeor last mile technologies alongside GSM,UMTS, LTE and Paknet in the UK forM2M applications.” He said ZigBee inparticular is being studied. This at leastshould open the door for negotiation between Vodafone and like mindedoperators and non-cellular service pro-viders like Silver Spring.

u 400mh b

But perhaps the leading contender to rollout the communications component of anational smart grid is a consortium com-

prising infrastructure provider Arqiva,fixed-line incumbent British Telecomand network security specialist Detica.Using the FlexNet long-range radiosystem for utilities, which has already been deployed to 8 million end pointsin the US by its developer, Sensus, thepartners have set up a proof-of-conceptsmart grid for npower customers in andaround Reading.

Alastair Davidson, Director of Strat-egy and Business Development atArqiva, told PolicyTrackera national grid

deployment would be run out usingspectrum Arqiva already owns usagerights to, and which is ideally suitedto the requirements of smart grids andsmart meters. This is the paired bandsat 412 to 414 and 422 to 424 MHz whichArqiva won at auction for £1.5 millionin 1986 on an indefinite licence with no

further fees for 15 years and on a serviceand technology neutral basis.

He said there is plenty of bandwidthto accommodate all the smart meterswhich would eventually be pluggedinto the grid, and also to provide the dif-ferent features required including two-way communications and multicastingof instruction in a broadcast mode.

Through its UK infrastructure business Arqiva has more than 8,000active sites with radio mast transmit-ters around the country, and Davidsonestimates the smart grid would require between 2, 000 and 2,500 sites, themajority of which it could use from it

current site portfolio.Using the “sweet spot” 400 MHz

band with Arqiva’s mast network andthe FlexNet radio technology, Davidson believes the solution is the best availableto provide truly nationwide coverageand dependable reception indoors nei-ther of which can be provided by theMNOs. “We would be able to give qual-ity of service assurances and provideservice level agreements to prioritiseimportant traffic across the network,”

he said, “which I do not think our com-petitors are in a position to do.”BT has experience of dealing with

the management of millions of nodesaround the country and Detica can pro-vide a security overlay to protect thenetwork infrastructure from hackersand cyber-criminals.

As the spectrum and the mast infra-structure is already in place and thetechnology proven in both the USdeployments and the Reading test, theconsortium is ready to move quickly

ahead if given the green light.Although both the Government and

on a wider front the EU, have 2020 asthe target date for a full roll out of asmart grid to be complete, Arqiva isconfident the consortium can achievethis far more quickly, by 2016 at the lat-est according to Davidson.•

Perhaps the leading contender is a consortiumcomprising Arqiva,British Telecom andnetwork securityspecialist Detica

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SpECTRuM pOLICY

Countries debateradiocommunication andpolicy matters before ITU

conference A October ITU treaty coferece may

update the itergovermeta orgaisa-

tio’s basic madate o use of frequecies

above 3000 GHz, cybersecurity, radiocom-

muicatio services ad eected eadership.

by Scott Billquist, Geneva correspondent

A proposal by an Arab group of 16 coun-tries suggests the three elected bureauchiefs should be referred to as assistantsecretary-generals as a way of clarify-

ing their responsibilities. A group of 14Asia-Pacific countries added that thedirectors’ titles cause confusion at someUN meetings. They say the directors aresometimes treated as appointed staff rather than elected officials who should be on an equal footing with heads of other UN specialised agencies. They sayproblems arise when they are not givenan opportunity to speak in a timelymanner. The countries have examinedthe possibility of changing the bureaux

directors’ titles to director-general, dep-uty secretary-general, under secretary-general, assistant secretary-general andchairman.

One US executive with knowledge of the intergovernmental organisation’streaty instruments emphasised theimportance of the existing independent but united nature of the bureaux. TheITU’s federal structure, which has beenin place for generations, is a strength because it allows independent commu-nities of interest to function under a

common umbrella, the US executivesaid.

The Asia-Pacific countries think the bureaux heads should retain their cur-rent titles but suggest the directors beintroduced in outside organisationsas representing and acting on the

secretary-general’s behalf. No changeto ITU’s treaty instruments would berequired with the proposal, they argue.They say the bureau heads should con-tinue to be elected independently. TheUS wants to maintain the status quo,with five elected officials maintainingthe director titles.

fq bo 3000 gh

The Arab proposal also suggests chang-ing the definition of “radiocommunica-tion” in the ITU constitution to includefrequencies above 3000 GHz. Somecountries believe it is necessary to dis-card an existing 3000 GHz limit in the

constitution because several radio tech-nologies can be used above the limit inspace, the proposal said. World Radio-communication Conferences (WRCs)would then be able to add specificprovisions to the Radio Regulations asneeded, the countries said.

The US and a group of 14 Asia-Pacificcountries said existing provisions aresufficient. The US said if a WRC actsfirst, then changes to ITU’s basic instru-ments could be considered.

e o

A group of 12 Asia-Pacific countriesthink any proposal to delete definitionsof broadcasting and mobile servicesfrom the ITU’s constitution and con-vention should be opposed. The aim of a 2006 proposal was to give the WRC thechance to update the definitions whentechnical developments prompt theneed for revisions. Definition changesmay be discussed at WRC-12. Coun-tries could further revisit the issue after

the WRC takes action, the Asia-Pacificgroup said.

cb

The Arab proposal also suggest expand-ing the ITU’s basic mandate to “ensur-ing cybersecurity”. The changes don’t

seem to have much real purpose, theUS executive said. It is not possible toensure anything, much less cyberse-curity, he said. The term cybersecurityhas such fuzzy boundaries that a recentclosed UN group of governmentalexperts from 15 major powers ditched itcompletely for its final report in favourof “ICT security,” he said.

Several countries in an ITU-R work-ing party addressing software definedand cognitive systems for the next WRChave raised concerns that the new tech-nologies will be internet-connected.They say computer and network secu-rity will be directly interconnected with

certain aspects of spectrum manage-ment. Italy thought software definedradio devices could be hacked to inten-tionally disrupt services.

ict itu’ b

The Arab group proposed incorporat-ing “information and communicationstechnology” (ICT) into the ITU’s generaltelecom mandate. The term is increas-ingly synonymous with telecoms bothinside and outside the ITU, the US exec-

utive said. The proposed new telecomand ICT mandate would be defined ascovering the transmission, emission,reception or processing of signs, signals,writing, images and sounds or intelli-gence of any nature by wire, radio, opti-cal, computer or other electromagneticsystems. The proposed changes add“processing of signs” and “computer”to the definition.

A group of 20 Asia-Pacific countriessaid the telecom mandate is sufficiently broad to include all network-related

aspects of ICT. The communities andorganisations dealing with ICT arewidespread, the US executive said, andthe ITU is a relatively minor venue.However, ICT seems like it will inevi-tably replace telecom for most people,the US executive said.•

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http://www.arcep.fr/uploads/tx_gspublication/consult-umts-900-dom-juil10.pdf

http://www.arcep.fr/uploads/tx_gspublication/consult-umts-900-dom-juil10.pdf

http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/consultations/uk

http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/consultations/uk

http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/Pages/MoreInformation.aspx?docid=40&refer=e-serve/sm/Documentation



http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/consultations/code-of-practice/

http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/consultations/code-of-practice/

pt_sept_2010

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