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Appendix: Spectrum Management in Other Jurisdictions
Australia
309. Spectrum management policies and processes fall under the Radiocommunications Act 1992 and the Australian Communications Authority Act 1997. Sections of five Taxation Acts, and various Regulations, Standards and determinations deal with particular aspects. Primary responsibility for managing the spectrum lies with the Australian Communications Authority (ACA). Radio and television broadcasting frequency bands are managed by the Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA). 45 The Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts is responsible for the relevant policies and legislation. The stated objectives of spectrum management are:
- managing international interference issues;
- equipment compatibility;
- technical efficiency; and
- facilitating the assignment of non-commercial spectrum.
To these ends the ACA produces spectrum and frequency plans.
310. Licences are issued by the ACA in three categories:
- apparatus, assigned administratively for 1 to 5 years, with an expectation of renewal;
- spectrum, assigned for up to 15 years and not renewable, other than in the "public interest"; and
- class, covering "public park" frequencies, and not issued to individuals.
A separate licence, issued by the ABA, is required for transmitting broadcast content.
311. Commercial spectrum licences, normally assigned by auction, may be traded, subject to any limits established by the responsible Minister, through direct negotiation or a spectrum trading exchange, or by leasing from a band manager. Non-commercial licences are assigned administratively and subject to conditions appropriate to their use (e.g. defence, public safety and security, public broadcasting, etc).
312. The Australian Department of Defence (DoD) is exempt from the provisions of that country's Radiocommunications Act, and manages the defence bands directly. Licences are obtained by DoD largely to protect tactical bands from interference, as the Department's exemption gives no protection. DoD pays A$1.2 million a year for licences, on the same basis as commercial users.
313. The Radiocommunications Act 1992 allows the responsible Minister to require limits on aggregated spectrum holdings, in terms of bandwidth, geographic area or population cover. Such conditions have been imposed on spectrum auctions from time to time, to prevent anti-competitive hoarding and blocking.
314. Australia has introduced secondary trading, on a basis of subdivisible Standard Trading Units (STUs) defined by geographic and bandwidth boundaries. Licence holders are able to sell, lease, repackage and change the use of STUs assigned to them. This has had the effect of bringing secondary trading prices down to initial auction levels.
Canada
315. Spectrum management falls under the Radiocommunications Act 1985 and its Regulations, and under the Telecommunications Act 1993. An agency of Industry Canada, Spectrum Management, has the relevant administrative responsibilities. Its primary objectives are:
- to ensure that all spectrum use is compatible;
- to provide consumers with frequency assignments that meet their needs;
- to minimize occurrences of interference; and
- to ensure that cases of harmful interference are investigated promptly.
316. Broadcasting policy and licensing, both commercial and non-commercial, is the responsibility of the Department of Heritage. All licences carry content requirements. Broadcasting and telecommunications regulation is under the Canadian Radio and Telecommunications Commission.
317. Spectrum licences were introduced in 1996 by an amendment to the Radiocommunications Act. Assignment is by geographic area and frequency rather than by apparatus licence, which considerably reduces administrative costs. Licensees are responsible for proper planning and coordination of their radiocommunications networks. There are nine classes of spectrum licence, issued on an annual basis with a "reasonable certainty" of tenure.
318. Licences may be converted to alternative uses and transferred to third parties with Ministerial approval. Prices, other than at auction, are determined through a relatively complex administrative process based on full cost-recovery. Services provided in the public interest are exempt from licensing requirements.
319. Where there is competition for licences, auctions are employed, and three have been conducted to date. Most licences continue to be issued administratively, however.
320. A small number of low power FM licences have been assigned by Industry Canada on a case-by-case basis.
European Union
321. Most EU member states operate a first-come-first-served spectrum assignment regime, with variations to resolve competing applications, or to provide medium-to-long-term security of tenure for telecom providers and broadband networks. In the majority of jurisdictions, licences are for prescribed apparatus operating at a given frequency, and are renewable as of right on payment of a periodic fee whose rationale is administrative rather than commercial.
322. A recent report submitted to the European Commission recommended that EU countries should be required to implement spectrum trading and liberalisation to spur more efficient use of spectrum. The report recommended that member states create tradable rights, basing the definition on such minimum characteristics as geographic coverage and frequency.
323. The report added that, given the likelihood of wide divergence among member states in implementing spectrum trading, countries should be given considerable latitude in deciding how their systems will work provided that national regimes are coordinated across the EU, by such bodies as the Spectrum Policy Group and the Spectrum Committee.
Finland
324. The primary agency for managing spectrum is the Finnish Communications Regulator, FICORA, whose objectives are:
- to promote efficient, appropriate and interference-free use of radio frequencies;
- to safeguard the fair availability of radio frequencies;
- to create conditions that maximise the unrestricted mobility of radio equipment; and
- to promote efficiency on the public telecommunications market.
325. FICORA determines the frequencies that will be used for different classes of service, in alignment with ITU and EU decisions. There are three major classes of licence.
- Radio transmitter, issued for periods of up to ten years at varying fees (€16 to €178.90 - there is an annual fee of €896.30 for spectrum use).
- Telecommunications, issued for periods up to 20 years at varying fees (€700 to €815,500 plus annual spectrum fee).
- Television receiver, issued annually at a fee of €186.60. Yleisradio (YLE), the national broadcasting service with approximately 50% of the radio and television audience, is supported by the TV receiver licence fee.
326. Licences are renewable annually, with an understanding of continuity. Spectrum planning and auctioning of rights is not current FICORA policy, 46 despite contrary EU recommendations. There are no secondary markets, therefore.
327. The following pieces of radio equipment are, for instance, exempted from licensing.
- GSM and UMTS mobile stations.
- PR 27 and LA (CB) telephones.
- Cordless telephones.
- Satellite telephones.
- WLAN/RLAN equipment operating in 2.4 GHz and/or 5 GHz bands.
- Telecommand equipment operating on collective frequencies.
- Equipment for detecting movement and equipment for alert.
328. Digital television services started in Finland officially on the 27th of August, 2001. Analogue networks will be closed down on the 31st of August, 2007.
United Kingdom
329. Spectrum management falls under the Communications Act 2003, which created the Office of Communications (Ofcom). The Act updated and amended a plethora of prior Acts. Regulations are made under this Act and, to implement EU directives, under the European Communities Act 1972.
330. A Cabinet-level Committee provides oversight of spectrum allocation. Military and national security spectrum is managed by the Ministry of Defence. Ofcom manages all public spectrum, subject to direction by the Secretary of State, with the overall objective: to further the interests of the citizen-consumer where appropriate by encouraging competition. Ofcom maintains the national Frequency Authorisation Plan, in which are incorporated all UK decisions on spectrum. The Working Group for Spectrum Engineering (WGSE) resolves optimum efficiency and compatibility issues.
331. Management of spectrum designated for defence purposes is the responsibility of the Ministry of Defence (MoD). Spectrum is allocated to MoD by the Cabinet Office-level UK Spectrum Strategy Committee. Within MoD, the Defence Spectrum Management unit implements military spectrum strategy.
332. The UK's 2002 Review of Spectrum Management recommended that the MoD make a comprehensive audit of all military frequency assignments, and disclose to industry all those frequencies which might be released or shared. Protocols already exist for the return of unused spectrum to civilian use, and for shared use where this is feasible. The recent introduction of partial spectrum pricing is thought to have influenced MoD to make more efficient use of spectrum.
333. The Review also recommended that MoD bear the full opportunity cost of spectrum used in mobile, aeronautical and maritime applications, to stimulate its efficient use and encourage the release of unused bands.
334. The UK has 67 classes of licence. Seven classes of apparatus are exempt from licencing (e.g. alarms, telemetry). The fees structure is complex. Commercial apparatus fees are based on a percentage of annual turnover. Other services, including defence and public safety organizations, pay a variety of fixed fees. Regulations permit the extension and conversion of existing licences on payment of the appropriate fee. Licences are issued for a fixed term that varies with the class of licence. "Rolling" licences with an annual term carrying a presumption of renewal have been proposed.
335. Spectrum is allocated according to the Frequency Allocation Plan, with decisions on competing assignments being made by Ofcom. Incentive pricing is applied to congested bands, based on a formula developed by NERA-Smith in 1996. Given that Ofcom's primary objective is the promotion of competition, market mechanisms are ultimately favoured as a means of resolving competing applications.
336. The Cave report, 2002, recommended more realistic pricing and, where applicable, auctions. Auctions are now being used selectively for new national and regional services: e.g. Broadband Fixed Wireless Access and 3G cellular telephony. The MoD spectrum is also subject to incentive pricing, and the Ministry is obliged to publish details of spectrum available for shared or public use.
337. […] Ofcom has [since] published the Spectrum Framework Review - its strategy for securing the optimal use of the civilian radio spectrum. [The Review's] proposals will enable radio spectrum licence holders to make more efficient use of their spectrum [assignment] and encourage innovation and investment in wireless communications services across the UK.
338. Spectrum has traditionally been centrally allocated and managed by the regulator. However, demand for spectrum has increased dramatically in recent years and centralised administration has resulted in an inefficient system which has limited the innovation and development of higher-value services.
339. The Spectrum Framework Review sets out four key recommendations to address this problem:
- Allow the market to decide the best use for new spectrum allocations.
- Allow licence holders to trade spectrum in an open market and change the use they make of spectrum rights to develop new technologies and offer different services to customers (also known as liberalisation).
- Clearly define the rights of spectrum users, giving them the confidence to plan for the future.
- Increase the amount of licence-exempt spectrum which allows businesses to develop and bring to market new technologies and services without the need for a licence.
340. Ofcom will, over time, apply this market-led approach to over 70% of the radio spectrum (currently 0%). However, it must continue to maintain control over spectrum licences where:
- Signals cross international boundaries;
- International mobility is critical, or
- The UKhas agreed to harmonise spectrum use in line with important multi-national accords.
341. Ofcom will continue to monitor and act against interference between spectrum users. It will introduce trading and liberalisation in a phased way, intervening where necessary to make sure that these initiatives do not result in excessive harmful interference for other users. 47
United States of America
342. Spectrum management falls under the Communications Act 1934, which established the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and gave it the power to make regulations. Commercial spectrum is managed by the FCC, which has 2000 employees, and federal spectrum by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), which was established in 1978 and has 250 employees in spectrum management.
343. FCC objectives are economic efficiency and revenue maximisation. NTIA's primary objective are to make effective, efficient, and prudent use of the spectrum in the best interest of the Nation, with care to conserve it for uses where other means of communication are not available or feasible. A Spectrum Policy Task Force is currently recommending changes to legislation governing spectrum auctions and the use of auction proceeds to consolidate federal bands.
344. The US military, assigned frequency bands through the NTIA, has reported no shortage of spectrum, but in 2003 predicted an increase in total military use by 90% by 2005. This reflects not only the employment of ever more complex technology, but particularly heightened levels of security following 9/11.
345. Commercial spectrum is assigned by the FCC, generally through auction, and federal spectrum is assigned administratively by NTIA. There are several classes of FCC licence, varying in term from eight to fifteen years with an implementation requirement.
- FM Broadcast Station License 48
- TV Broadcast Station License
- Digital Television Broadcast Station License
- License for AM, FM, TV, Translator, or LPTV Station
- Low Power FM Broadcast Station License
- Multipoint Distribution Service Authorization
- Satellite Space and Earth Station Authorizations
346. All spectrum is auctioned, except that allocated to international satellites, public safety and public broadcasting, federal services, and unlicensed ("public park") bands. The FCC is actively exploring alternatives to SMR auctions, including combinatorial and clock methodologies. Fees are levied for spectrum assignment applications and for operating radiocommunications apparatus, on a sliding scale according to such factors as technical complexity, power output and population coverage.
347. Licences are tradable and convertible, on application, to other uses. There is a small secondary market, which may grow if the FCC implements an intention to establish a spectrum trading desk. Five-year experimental licences can be issued to encourage innovation.
348. The FCC's Spectrum Enforcement Division resolves complaints regarding spectrum use, such public safety and technical issues as interference, transmission tower registration, marking and lighting, equipment requirements, unauthorized construction or operation and compliance with operational provisions of licenses.
349. The imminent roll-out of "smart" radiocommunications has prompted the FCC to initiate spectrum management reforms that move away from the traditional system of assigning frequencies under licence or as management rights. An FCC Notice of Proposed Rule Making is pending. A Notice of Rulemaking has been issued regarding new unlicensed activity in the VHF and UHF bands, for intelligent low power transmitters 49 that "hear before they talk" and fill the "white spaces" in this spectrum.
45 The ACA and ABA will merge to become the Australian Communications and Media Authority by 1 July 2005
46 …in common with a majority of EU members
