DTG SUMMIT 2012 – LONDON. Ofcom is to postpone its auction of capacity at 600 MHz following decisions made at the WRC 2012 conference in Geneva last month.
WRC 2012 agreed that the 700 MHz band would be allocated for mobile services on a co-primary basis from 2015. Speaking at the DTG Summit H Nwana, group director of Ofcom’s spectrum policy group, said the regulator would consult later this month on its approach to the UHF spectrum and later consult on the 600 MHz award itself. “We foresaw some of the things that happened in Geneva last week,” he said. “We’ve had to take a step back and think much more carefully”.
Nwana acknowledged that even in ten years time, DTT will still have a significant hold on the TV landscape, however he said there was not the spectrum to cope with the projected demand for mobile data.
Addressing the issue of interference to existing television services on neighbouring frequencies, Nwana said that filters to stop mobile interference would cost around £10.
As previously reported in Broadband TV News, a single implementation body will be set up to manage the delivery of DTT interference mitigation and to provide support to DTT consumers. It will be led by the new 800 MHz licensees and watched over by a new supervisory board.
