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Ofcom Sets UK 2.6GHz Mobile Broadband Spectrum Aside for Olympic Cams Instead

Posted: 23rd Aug, 2010 By: MarkJ
ofcomMarket regulator Ofcom has launched a new consultation on proposals to set the 2.6GHz band (radio spectrum 2500-2690MHz) aside for use by wireless camera applications during the London 2012 Olympic Games (between 27th July and 9th September 2012), as opposed to using it for future Mobile Broadband services, such as WiMAX and Long Term Evolution ( LTE ) technologies.

Ofcom claims that experience at the Vancouver 2010 Games, further growth in the use of wireless cameras in sports coverage, plans for airborne television coverage and the emergence of 3-dimensional television makes it likely that the spectrum demand may be greater than predicted.

Ofcom's Statement

Ofcom's Spectrum Plan did not include the band 2500-2690 MHz (the 2.6 GHz band) even though the band is highly suitable for wireless cameras and is currently used for this application. The band was not included in Ofcom's Spectrum Plan because of plans to make the band available for commercial use within the timescale of the London 2012 Games. At the time we published the Spectrum Plan we therefore judged the opportunity cost of reserving this spectrum for the Games to be high.

The Government's plans for an award process have now been clarified, and the award of these frequencies is now expected at the end of 2011. In addition, an upgrade programme to radars at 2.7 GHz is required to permit widespread deployment of mobile or broadband services at 2.6 GHz, and this programme is unlikely to be complete before the end of 2012. We therefore believe that the opportunity cost of reserving this band for the London 2012 Games has reduced significantly.

There appears little realistic prospect of using 2.6 GHz to deploy new mobile or broadband data services widely to UK citizens and consumers before the Games; and not reserving the band for the London 2012 Games, in the absence of any significant deployment of new mobile or broadband data services, could be a serious loss to the broadcasting coverage of the Games and to citizens and consumers in the UK and world-wide.

The last paragraph serves as the closest thing we've come to an admission that it could be 2013 before the new generation of Mobile Broadband services finally arrives. The new measures could cause planning problems for operators that are looking to roll out faster solutions.

However LTE (3.9G / 4G) Mobile Broadband solutions can use other bands, such as 900MHz, which is currently deployed for 2G (voice) services and will be liberalised for use by 3G/4G Mobile Broadband next year. Still, 2.6GHz is regarded as being better for urban coverage, which could present a problem or two.

Ofcom believes that the consultation itself will not cause too many problems and has thus set the end date to be 17th September 2010 (just four weeks away).
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