700 Mhz Spectrum Usage

clohamon

It does seem odd though that they went to the trouble of tracing the outlines of the buildings only to decide that there need be no coverage inside them.

https://www.comreg.ie/media/2019/12/Specific-Locations-Boundary-Files.zip (shapefiles)

...and Annex 4 in the Information Memorandum looks ambiguous (see page 250 of ComReg 21/40), maybe they clarified it later.

A 4.3 Table A4.2 below contains a list of public and private hospitals obtained from the Health Service Executive. Where a hospital is located in more than one location, the coverage obligations apply to each of these locations.

A 4.4 The coverage obligations apply to the hospital’s buildings, adjacent car parks and key thoroughfares.

The Cush

2100 MHz transition licensing, updated Monday

As I post this, within the last hour my local eir/GoMo mast has been ungraded from EARFCN 525 (LTE-A 15+15 MHz) to EARFCN 500 (LTE-A 20+15 MHz)

Connection was all over the place in the process 1800 MHz, 800 MHz, even down to 2G EDGE 900. Still a bit flaky.

The Cush

Since 2 April 2023 all MBSA2 spectrum rights have commenced.

• Spectrum rights in the 2.3 GHz and 2.6 GHz bands commenced on 20 January 2023; and
• Spectrum rights in the 700 MHz and 2.1 GHz bands commenced between 26 January 2023 and 2 April 2023.

Multi Band Spectrum Award 2022 (MBSA2) | Commission for Communications Regulation (comreg.ie)

heavydawson

You love to see it 👍👍

Power just went in my area so fibre down, but benefiting from the recent auction

The Cush

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120469631#Comment_120469631

This spectrum has been available to Vodafone since early 2020 at a tiny licence fee prior to April 2nd, is it only available now at your local mast?

heavydawson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120471515#Comment_120471515

Ah no, I had it in fits and starts during the pandemic, but it appears to have become my primary signal from my home office now.

clohamon

ComReg released some documents obtained by them for the court proceedings, now extensively redacted.

It seems expert witness Professor J. Peter Clinch (UCD) was checking the work of expert witness, Doctor Dan Maldoom (DotEcon)

On the key question of whether the 700MHz band was vital to the roll-out of 5g (itself also asserted to be vital), expert Professor Clinch revealed....

... While I do not claim to be an expert on the suitability of the spectrum for particular services, I understand that the 700 MHz band in the MBSA2 award is particularly suitable for rural 5G and there is a significant problem with rural broadband coverage which is an inhibitor to economic and social development in rural areas.

Nonetheless both experts brought their expertise to bear on the loss Ireland might suffer, and expertly (and frequently) referred to a big round number,

...in the order of €1 bn per annum, and potentially double that. [Maldoom]

On a different topic the quarterly summary of purchase orders made by ComReg to suppliers is now more than a year overdue.

clohamon

The war of words continues. Three is not happy with ComReg's recent summary of Three's court challenge**.

6 MBSA 2 licence award
We note the reference to completing MBSA 2 in section 4.3.2, which is headlined as
"A positive outcome delayed by litigation". In paragraph 4.6.1, ComReg states the
following: "While the completion of the MBSA2 took longer than expected (in the main
due to Three's appeal, which delayed the assignment of some MBSA2 spectrum rights
by up to 14 months 128,129) with consequential costs to the Irish economy 130

130 In the MBSA2 High Court proceedings, ComReg obtained reports from economic
experts Dr. Dan Maldoom (ComReg Document 23/35a) and Professor J. Peter Clinch
(ComReg Document) which estimate the likely economic benefits from the widespread
deployment of 5G to be in the order of € 1 bn per annum.

Three is surprised with the presentation used in this this section. At the least, it is open
to misinterpretation as it does not give a whole or balanced representation of the
appeal taken by Three and the basis on which the auction proceeded. It is also
possible that the presentation could be interpreted as an implied criticism of the
appeals process through the courts. In addition, it is surprising that ComReg has
repeated a reference to loss to the Irish economy in footnote 130. ComReg is aware
that the validity of this assessment was challenged in court on multiple material
grounds and that such challenges were not answered or contradicted. It is misleading
for ComReg to repeat these claims without also highlighting that material errors in their
calculation have been pointed out and not responded to.**

Having already got it's dig in, (see above) ComReg then responded to Three by saying

ComReg sees no benefit in debating those arguments again in print***

….but nonetheless yammers on for another page.

**ComReg 24/99s p.8 of Three submission

***ComReg 24/99 paras 2.119-2.123

heavydawson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122955656#Comment_122955656

Thanks @clohamon I have to say the coverage point is feeling a little moot in practical terms IMHO. I've often found a full bar level for 4G/5G in the country can still result in basically zero connectivity. A lot of smoke and mirrors still.

clohamon

Interesting to see how much dedicated rural 5g is ultimately delivered, and how much of it on 700Mhz. It seems perverse to provide a 'capacity' technology on a 'coverage' frequency spread over huge service areas.

And it must be galling for Three to hear ComReg's experts/lawyers make one set of arguments in court and then hear the Commissioner make the opposite arguments at a conference in London.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058354395/anyone-for-6g-adequate-networks-are-sufficient-says-comreg/p1