Ofcom UK Moots Mobile Broadband in UHF Spectrum Bands IV and V

The UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom, has started a new consultation that will look at the long term development options (after 2018) for handling the valuable radio spectrum in Ultra High Frequency (UHF) bands IV and V. One option could be to repurpose them for use by Mobile Broadband services.

A significant chunk of the bands, which were originally used by the old analogue TV services (expected to be cleared by the end of 2012), have already been freed up for Digital TV services and others will soon be used by “4G” superfast Mobile Broadband (800MHz) services. But that still leaves a big question mark over chunks of 700MHz and some 600MHz, which could be repurposed for use elsewhere.

The consultation (closes on 7th June 2012) makes clear that any solution would need to be mindful of Digital TV services, which share the same frequency. The regulator also notes that several countries, such as the USA and Asia, have already allocated parts of the 700MHz band to LTE based Mobile Broadband services and its consultation focuses heavily on that.

Ofcoms UHF Bands IV and V Consultation (.PDF)
http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/consultations/uhf-strategy/summary/spectrum-condoc.pdf