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Where will the RSPG find 1200 MHz of spectrum?

The EU has signed up to the RSPP which aims to find 1200 MHz of spectrum for broadband services by 2015. Where might this spectrum come from?

Dec 19, 2011 | Richard Womersley

The European Commission has recently agreed he Radio Spectrum Policy Programme (RSPP /headlines/eu-telecoms-ministers-approve-rspp) which will run until 2015, though in principle it will continue well beyond this. One of the key objectives of the RSPP is to: “make at least 1200 MHz of spectrum available for wireless broadband services in the Union by 2015, following an assessment based on the new spectrum inventory”.

The 1200 MHz of spectrum is not 1200 MHz of new spectrum, but includes that which is already available for mobile services. This includes:

Frequencies (MHz)	Amount of spectrum	Notes
791-821 // 832-862	60 MHz	800 MHz band (Digital Dividend)
880-915 // 925-960	70 MHz	900 MHz band
1710-1785 // 1805-1800	150 MHz	1800 MHz band
1900-1920	20 MHz	2 GHz TDDTDD, or Time Division Duplex, is a techniq… band (part A)
1920-1980 // 2110-2170	120 MHz	2 GHz FDDFDD, or Frequency Division Duplex, is a te… band
2010-2025	15 MHz	2 GHz TDD band (part B)
2500-2570 // 2620-2690	140 MHz	2.6 GHz FDD band
2570-2620	50 MHz	2.6 GHz TDD band
TOTAL	625 MHz

This little lot already comprises 625 MHz or over half of that being sought. If we add in bands which are already being touted for future mobile connectivity (eg by the ITUThe International Telecommunication U…), or which are already available in some EU Member States but not necessarily all, we can add the following to our inventory:

Frequencies (MHz)	Amount of spectrum	Notes
452-457 // 462-467	10 MHz	450 MHz band
1785-1805	20 MHz	Duplex gap in the 1800 MHz band
1880-1900	20 MHz	Used for DECT in the EU but formally an IMT200 band
2300-2400	100 MHz	2.3 GHz band
3400-3600	200 MHz	3.5 GHz band
TOTAL	350 MHz

This adds another 350 MHz making our total so far 975 MHz. In order to achieve the RSPP objectives, another 225 MHz of spectrum is therefore needed. Simply harmonising those bands listed in the table above across Europe would bring the RSPGRSPG stands for the Radio Spectrum Policy … pretty close to their 1200 MHz target – not that agreeing such harmonisation would be simple, but there are precedents in some EU Member States which could be expanded more widely.

If we broaden slightly our definition of ‘wireless broadband services’ to include WiFi, where public, commercial networks already operate albeit not with the same degree of protection as those in fully licensed spectrum, we should add the following to our list:

Frequencies (MHz)	Amount of spectrum	Notes
2400-2483.5	83.5 MHz	2.4 GHz band (eg WiFi)
5150-5350	200 MHz	Lower 5 GHz band (indoor only)
5470-5725	255 MHz	Upper 5 GHz band
TOTAL	538.5 MHz

Achieving wider use of just one of the 5 GHz bands alone would get things looking up. Whilst the target of finding 1200 MHz of spectrum may seem ambitious, there are plenty of bands which, with some effort (and the amount of effort should not be underestimated) could meet the target.

The spectrum inventory currently being undertaken by the RSPG will certainly assist in understanding the extent to which these bands might be able to be used more widely across Member States, and may even throw up other opportunities not listed above. If more than 1200 MHz could be found, it might provide flexibility for those countries where some of the bands cannot be made available because of, for example, significant use by spectrum incumbents such as public sector users.

The bigger question is possibly, “Is 1200 MHz enough?” Certainly in a 2015 timescale, it would seem to be, especially given the time-to-market between any spectrum being released and networks being rolled-out. Perhaps one of the goals of the RSPG should be to determine exactly how much spectrum is likely to be required for ‘wireless broadband services’ into the future, which, tied with the results of the inventory might serve to give an indication of how much, and from where, any future spectrum requirements above the initial 1200 MHz target might come.