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The E-Tub of Europe and TV Spectrum Policy (emm what policy)
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02-02-2006 2:08pm#1Here in the E-Tub of Europe we do not have Digital TV yet, therefore we do not have a turnoff date for analogue TV which in turn will free up lots of useful wireless spectrum for more useful things than grainy TV picture.
The US will turn off Analogue TV in 2009
The UK will turn off Analogue TV region by region with the South West being turned off in 2008
Because we have no plans of any sort here in the E-Tub of Europe ©®©® we are not at the races in determining uses for this specturm in future. If we want to buy a new telly by next year we will fidn ourselves in a situation where we cannot BUY A TELLY WITH AN ANALOGUE TUNER and will have to buy a special box to 'upconvert' to Digital if we want to use the TV at all. After all who will bother to make these any more as all countries go digital ....except us ! . I am sure that Comreg will maintain their morbid interest in Car Radar spectrum nevertheless.
As we have long sunk in relevance in the greater communications firmament from having a decent telecoms network in the 1980s to having a rotting crapheap in this decade we will shortly find that even Televisions do not work anymore .
What a bloody mess
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My point is that there is no policy therefore we are in the stone age with any technologies developed for the spectrum freed up by analogue TV .
The only thing that could focus us on the issue is if Dialup Dempsey sets a turnoff date around 01/12/2009 in the new Comms Bill but such foresight from Dialup Dempsey will be unforthcoming until the election is over in June 2007 what with deflectors and that.
Along we will muddle in the stone age thanks to visionless and gutless Ministers and Regulators , can we have the Telegram Back lads 0 -
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crawler wrote:Is there not some sort of European framework that stipulates an analogue switch off date for all of Europe ( 2015 I think from memory) ?
2012 but there is an equally important EU Directive that stipulates we are all supposed to have had "Functional Internet Access" since July 2003 an look what Comreg did to that
From
http://www.digitag.org/WebLetters/2006/External-January2006.htmlUnderstanding the RRC 04/06 process
At the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), national administrations are preparing a frequency plan for an all-digital broadcast environment. The final plan is expected at the conclusion of the Regional Radiocommunications Conference (RRC-06) in June 2006.
As part of the plan's remit, national administrations from 118 countries from Europe, Africa and parts of Asia will try to agree on arrangements for sharing digital radio and television broadcasting services in the frequency bands III (174-230 MHz) and IV/V (470-862 MHz).
Leading up to the second session of the RRC, national administrations have been considering what their service requirements might be in an all-digital future. The first session of the RRC held in May 2004 successfully set out the planning parameters and criteria for the new plan. Since then, national administrations have been involved in intersessional activities both at the ITU level as well as at the regional level.
National administrations were asked to submit their initial service requirements by 28 February 2005. Based on the requirements submitted, the ITU published the results of the first planning exercise in July 2005. The results of the first planning exercise has given a certain indication of the initial country requirements and how feasible it will be to accommodate them.
On 31 October 2005, national administrations submitted their revised planning requirements. These new requirements are being used to create the first draft plan expected to be published in February 2006. Following further analysis and bi-lateral negotiations, as well as a five week meeting in Geneva, it is hoped that a final plan will be agreed at the conclusion of the RRC-06.
Current situation
Terrestrial broadcasting in Europe is currently regulated by the Stockholm plan of 1961. It has proven to be flexible enough to meet the diverse requirements of broadcasters for the past 45 years. While the Stockholm 61 plan provided assignments for 5,300 analogue transmitters in 38 countries, it has since been able to cope with the inclusion of over 80,000 analogue transmitters.
Updates to the plan have been made. A conference held in Geneva in 1984 covered the use of Band II while the Wiesbaden conference in 1995 and the Chester Agreement in 1997 allowed for the introduction of digital radio and television broadcasting respectively. The RRC-06 plan aims to serve as the replacement to the Stockholm 61 plan and its later updates. It will also replace the Geneva 1989 agreement between African countries.
Planning parameters
The service requirements submitted by national administrations will be used to formulate a new frequency plan. While requirements have traditionally been submitted as assignments (per transmission unit), national administrations can also submit their frequency requirements as allotments in order to enhance the flexibility of the plan.
In submitting an allotment, national administrations do not need to detail the number of transmitters in a given area but rather provide information on the type of network for a given area and its boundary. How coverage is provided within the area is then left for the country planners to determine at a later stage. National administration can select from four different reference network types depending on the topography and the given network.
For both assignments and allotments, national administrations will need to decide on the type of reception needed for a given service. Three reception cases are possible - so-called fixed roof-top antenna, portable outdoor and portable indoor. Because of the higher field strength necessary for portable indoor coverage compared with roof-top antenna reception, it may be more difficult to provide this type of coverage over large areas.
Because the remit of the RRC-06 plan had been established prior to the development of the DVB-H standard for mobile television services, the planning process does not allow for the direct inclusion of such services. However, because the DVB-H standard is based upon the DVB-T standard for digital television broadcasting, national administrations can set requirements with specific reception cases that would allow for the emergence of DVB-H services. Given the rapid pace of technological innovation, it is unlikely that the RRC-06 plan will have the same life span as the Stockholm 61 plan. However, it is hoped that it can incorporate enough flexibility to last well into the future.
At this stage, the requirements submitted by national administrations currently exceed the physical spectrum available, thus making negotiations between countries necessary. In the first planning exercise, national administrations requested 43,000 allocations in the UHF band although only about 26,000 allocations could be satisfied.
Analogue switch-off
Countries are at very different planning stages in digital switch-over; some have started analogue switch-off while others have not yet launched digital services. Given the geographical size of the planning area, not all countries will be ready to implement the new frequency plan or end their analogue terrestrial television services at the same time.
Two options have been proposed for when countries will stop protecting the analogue services of their neighbours. Under the first option, analogue protection could end no later than 2015. Alternatively, analogue protection could cease between 2028 and 2038. The selection of one of these two options will need to be decided at the RRC-06.
In the preparation for the RRC-06, the majority of European countries has indicated a preference for the first option. This is further re-enforced by the position of the European Commission calling on "Member-States to adopt a common position in the RRC negotiations to ensure that the end of the transition period, namely the end of general legal protection of analogue channels will take place at the earliest proposed date, as close as possible to 2012" (COM (2005) 461 final).
It may be possible that analogue switch-off take place regionally with some regions in the planning area choosing to implement the plan earlier than in others.
Spectrum dividend
Services delivered using digital technology make more efficient use of the spectrum than the equivalent services delivered using analogue technology. This implies that with analogue switch-off, a spectrum dividend could exist. The European Commission has calculated that 300 to 375 MHz of spectrum could become available after analogue switch-off should the digital platform only provide the same services as existed on the analogue platform (COM (2005) 461 final). However, based on the first planning exercise, the requirements of the national administrations are greater than the frequency channels available.
This suggest that countries have already taken into account the spectrum dividend in setting their requirements by providing new broadcast services and expanding the coverage area of existing DTT services. Only when the RRC-06 plan is finalised will it become clear how much spectrum has been released, if any at all.
Next steps
In a country where wireline regulation has manifestly failed, and where wireless is threfore of great importance , the fact that 3G services appeare in 2005 and that there is no plan to LAUNCH DIGITAL telly without which plan we cannot RETIRE ANALOGUE telly speaks volumes.
Consider this telly fiasco to be a sort of lead indicator. Even Greece are ahead of us . Spain 1 million homes hooked up already etc, Czechs launched . 0 -
Sponge Bob wrote:2012 but there is an equally important EU Directive that stipulates we are all supposed to have had "Functional Internet Access" since July 2003 an look what Comreg did to that
From
http://www.digitag.org/WebLetters/2006/External-January2006.html
It was a pity that there was no definition of FIA put forward by ANY EU body. Even in the UK Ofcom never defined it in a legal document, the threat was enough.
In some countries mandating ISDN quality lines pre-empted the reg, in others there was no need as telco competition was pushing BB forward regardless. AFAIK Ireland is one of th only countries to attempt to define FIA, albeit in a typically Irish answer to an Irish problem kind of way. Countries like Germany are watching the Irish solution with interest.
John
[Kenny Voice] OMG I defended ComReg [/Kenny Voice]0 -
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The incentive is that the transponder beam could be ultra narrow and centred on the Aran Islands , the rationale is simple.
40cm in Galway 50cm in Athlone and 60cm in Dublin (as at present)
This would mean that the size of dish required in overspill territory like Manchester would be over 80cm and prohibitively large ...thereby reducing leakage and allowing setanta its space.
You would also have the best service on the west coast where the dish size would be most wind resistant while no new dishes would be required on the more populated east coast.
Murdoch beams overspill here because Murdoch must serve from the Shetlands to the Channel islands and shape accordingly, Ireland is more compact and round so a smaller transponder beam will do fine.
You'd nearly be able to pick it up with a teapot lid in Connemara
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