The UK regulator follows through on the options it had presented in an industry workshop in September 2019.
Background: In September 2019, Ofcom held a workshop with industry stakeholders, seeking input on its future spectrum strategy. The new strategy would succeed the one Ofcom had set out in 2014, with an outlook for the following 10 years prioritising the growing demand for mobile data services and the development of IoT/M2M. During the workshop, Ofcom hinted at the possibility that, for the first time, Extremely High Frequency (EHF) spectrum (i.e. 100GHz and above) could be made available for wireless services in the future.
A detailed proposal is now out: Ofcom has followed through on its intention to explore new uses for the 100–200GHz band, noting that other countries are looking to use them (including a recent decision by the FCC in the US), and that UK innovators could benefit from international research collaboration, as well as economies of scale as new internationally compatible devices are likely to emerge.
The options: To help foster such innovation, Ofcom is now consulting stakeholders on two possible options to enable “simple, flexible access” to over 18GHz of spectrum across three bands (116–122GHz, 174.8–182GHz, and 185–190 GHz). This could be used either by Lower power licence-exempt devices, or by increased power devices under a new ‘Spectrum Access: EHF frequencies’ licence on an uncoordinated shared basis. To protect Earth Exploration-Satellite Services from the risk of undue interference, these devices would be authorised subject to certain technical conditions. The consultation also invites stakeholders to express views on other future uses of spectrum above 100GHz.
Next steps: The consultation is open until 20 March 2020. Ofcom aims to make a decision during summer 2020, and to have a new authorisation framework in place by the end of the year. In parallel, Ofcom also opened a consultation to make 500MHz of spectrum available on a licence-exempt basis in the 5GHz and 6GHz bands, to improve reliability of Wi-Fi services.
