Ddo6 Lorelien Hoet 2008 10 17 Gof Presentation Digital Dividend Final
1. GSM Operators' Forum
Digital Dividend : challenges and
opportunities in Belgium
Mobile applications and socio-economic relevance
CONFIDENTIAL 1
2. Table of contents
Digital switch-over and digital dividend
International context
Why do mobile operators request part of the digital dividend ?
Mobile data growth/ mobile data services evolution
Very efficient and valuable spectrum with good propagation characteristics
Consumer and society benefits
No negative impact for broadcasting
Application to the Belgian case
Flanders
French Community
Timing issues
Technical considerations
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3. Background of « GOF »
The GSM Operators' forum (« GOF ») comprises the 3 Belgian
mobile network operators
Base
Belgacom Mobile
Mobistar
Where appropriate, GOF adopts common positions on neutral
issues / regulatory aspects of mobile telecom services.
The GOF operators share the same view on the digital
dividend.
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4. Digital switch-over and digital dividend
The switch-over from analogue to digital broadcasting will
liberate a considerable number of frequencies in the UHF band
Analogue TV currently uses the frequencies from 470 to 862 MHz
Digital transmission of one TV channel requires up to 6 times less
spectrum than analogue transmission
The so-called digital dividend = spectrum over and above the
frequencies required to support existing broadcasting services
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5. Digital switch-over and digital dividend
Switch-over and digital dividend: a great opportunity
Allocating only part of the dividend to digital terrestrial television (DTT) already
allows a major expansion of the capacity and the quality of the DTT.
In addition, it allows to stimulate new information society services such as mobile
television, mobile broadband or other wireless services.
Mobile sector requests to allocate at least 72MHz of UHF band,
i.e. from 790 to 862 MHz, to mobile/wireless broadband services
This is less than 25% of the total spectrum in the UHF band currently used for the
provision of broadcasting services
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6. International context
WRC 07 designed in Nov 2007 the sub-band 790-862 MHz (channels 61-69)
for mobile broadband for Europe, Africa, Middle-East
Effect as from June 2015.
But flexibility to allocate this sub-band prior to 2015, which a majority of members have
formally declared to be willing to in light of the switch-over
Discussion at EU level
Commission Communication of 13 November 2007 : “The most promising of these potential
uses belong to the category of electronic communication services”
Technical work within the CEPT :
Reports A, B (and C) completed in September 2007
Second mandate given in April 2008 to precise conditions for coexistence in the UHF band
Council conclusions of 12 June 2008
underlining the use of the digital dividend as an “opportunity both to extend broadcasting services [ ] as
well as to introduce new communication services such as wireless broadband communications,
additional terrestrial broadcasting services and mobile multimedia services”.
European Parliament’s endorsement of the Toia Report in September 2008
“calls on Member States to develop, following a common methodology, national digital dividend
strategies by the end of 2009”,
“supports a common and balanced approach to the use of digital dividend allowing both broadcasters to
continue offering and expanding their services and electronic communications operators to use this
resource to deploy new services addressing important social and economic uses, but stresses that in
any case the digital dividend should be allocated on a technology neutral basis”.
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7. Why do mobile operators request part of
the digital dividend ?
Mobile data growth / mobile data services evolution
Very efficient and valuable spectrum
Benefits for society & consumer welfare
No negative impact for broadcasting services
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8. Mobile data growth & services evolution
Fixed electronic communication services are clearly and quickly moving
towards higher bitrates and enhanced broadband access (1 to 16 Mbps
currently)
Consumers are increasingly requesting ubiquitous access to high
speed services
New value added services such as e-health, e-learning, e-
governement, etc.
Mobile sector technologies evolve :
3G UMTS (1-14 Mbps)
3G LTE or WiMax
(>100 Mbps)
Estimate Spectrum Value Partners,
Digital Dividend Study March 08
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9. Very efficient and valuable spectrum
Spectrum generally regarded as being of greatest value
(‘golden spectrum’) lies between 200 MHz and 1 Ghz
because of attractive characteristics :
Good propagation characteristics, i.e., easy penetration and larger wave capacity
leading to larger base station cells
Good coverage characteristics, i.e., allowing to cover large geographical areas
with fewer base stations and thus lower costs
Source BBC
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10. Very efficient and valuable spectrum
UHF spectrum will be very useful for rolling out mobile
broadband in rural areas
Coverage matters more than capacity
Lower bands required (900 MHz and below)
Larger cells allow to cover larger distances at lower costs
900 MHz band is not sufficient as it is already used for 2G (GSM) and 3G
(UMTS) services
UHF spectrum could also be used for improving signal
penetration through buildings (in-door penetration)
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11. Very efficient and valuable spectrum
Do mobile operators already dispose of too much spectrum ?
Source, Ofcom, Statement on Digital Dividend Review December 2007
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12. Consumer and society benefits
Rural roll-out & digital divide :
Broadband mobile services will in near future be overall available in urban
areas using 2.6 GHz band
In order to cover rural areas, frequency bands below 1 GHz will be
necessary
Use of UHF band allows to offer broadband mobile services in rural areas
Cost advantages :
Inherent spectrum propagation characteristics of UHF band lead generally
to lower network costs enhanced penetration & lower end user service
cost
In sum : without UHF access for mobile broadband:
Less geographic coverage for mobile broadband, and/or
The cost of building the network is much higher impact on end user
service and uptake
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13. Consumer and society benefits
Analysys and Hogan & Hartson study for ARCEP of May 2008
shows that coverage rate of high bitrate mobile access varies in
light of UHF :
Without UHF spectrum, maximum 74 % coverage of population (based on
2.6 GHz)
With UHF spectrum, up to 99 % coverage of population (based on 2.6
GHz and UHF)
Spectrum Value Partners study March 2008:
Allocating some of the UHF spectrum to mobile services would generate
between EUR 63-145 bn NPV
This is in addition to the NPV generated by mobile services generally.
This is the net added value as compared to allocating UHF spectrum only
to broadcasting
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14. No negative impact on broadcasting services
DVB-T is much more efficient than analogue broadcasting :
1 Multiplex or MUX (8 MHz carrier) can be used for 4-6 standard channels
or 2-4 HDTV channels
With 7 multiplexes, theoretically more than 40 TV channels could be served
via DVB-T technology Demand for this is uncertain.
Belgium is country with high cable and DSL penetration
E.g. in Flanders, 97 % of TV-households have cable & IP-TV access
Number of analogue TV-households very low compared to EU average
Only two channels are currently accessible through analogue TV
We do not contest value of UHF allocation to DTT but note that :
The majority of the UHF spectrum is concentrated in the first few channels
that account for the bulk of viewing
For dense cable/satellite countries, UHF spectrum has less value on a per
capita basis (typically < 10 % of TV households using analogue TV)
TV consumption will become increasingly interactive while focusing less on
classic TV-programs Less spectrum required for classical TV
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15. Application to Belgium : Flanders
With switch-over end 2008 Flanders has the possibility to
evolve without delay toward a prosperous and ubiquitous
information society by already integrating future e-
communication services spectrum needs.
Impact:
Only 1 community-wide multiplex of 5 is affected and 1 regional multiplex
of 2 is partially affected.
5 multiplexes would still be fully operational to offer DTT services which is
equivalent to 30 TV channels (with standard definition); a multiple of
today’s offer.
Positive to see that Flanders provisionally decided in August
2008 not yet to allocate the spectrum above 790 MHz to
broadcasting
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16. Application to Belgium : French community
With switchover in 2011, French community has some time to
take appropriate actions to allocate some UHF spectrum to
electronic communications.
Impact:
4 multiplexes would still be entirely operational to offer DTT services,
which is equivalent to 24 TV channels (with standard definition)
3 multiplexes would only be partially affected
We thrust that open discussion can be launched between the
sector and the authorities in light of what happens in
neighboring countries, e.g. France
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17. Timing
2012 : latest year for switching off the analogue broadcasting
network and replacement by digital broadcasting.
In Flanders, switch off is planned for November 2008.
In French community, switch off is planned in 2011 only.
Delay of the allocation of the digital dividend is not an option :
Mobile is an industry with long payback periods on investments and needs
to make large upfront investments
Various frequency bands are linked (900, 1800, 2100, 2500/2600 Mhz)
and it is hard to make investment decisions on one without knowing what
will happen to the others
Delayed decisions on UHF could adversely affect investment decisions on
the others
Two-step allocation of the UHF band is no option either :
Could make it necessary to adapt antennas and equipment costly
Will enhance interference and harmonization problems with neighboring
countries
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18. Technical considerations
The UHF spectrum used for mobile broadband needs to be
harmonized as much as possible
Separate national band plans destroy value
Harmonization goals :
Control cross border interference
Enable roaming services
Reduce handset costs (higher volumes > lower prices)
Definition of the bandwidths requires harmonized approach :
LTE needs wider bandwidths to offer mobile broadband data rates
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19. At last …
THANK YOU for your attention !
We hope to have convinced you of the importance to
allocate at least 72 MHz of the digital dividend to
mobile broadband services.
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