UK Spectrum Policy Forum Cluster 2 “Spectrum Access and Use” - 2nd December 2014 Alex Dixon, Head of Fixed Wireless Services, Ofcom Fixed Wireless Services More information at: http://www.techuk.org/about/uk-spectrum-policy-forum All rights reserved

1. Fixed Wireless Services
Alex Dixon,
Head of Fixed Wireless Services
2nd December 2014
techUK UK Spectrum Policy Forum: Cluster 2 ‘Spectrum Access & Use’

2. 1
Areas Covered
•Overview of FWS Use
•Spectrum access licence products
•Frequency bands available
•Current significant drivers of use
•Spectrum Sharing Aspects
•Current Key FWS Spectrum Topics
•National discussions on FWS

3. 2
FWS use in Telecommunications Networks
•Fixed Wireless Systems have evolved over the years and there is continuing evolution in terms of the technologies, applications and frequency bands used.
•Fixed Wireless Systems are used in a wide range of different situations:
–Trunking, multi-hop routes and long haul connections
–Wireless backhaul for mobile broadband
–Wireless network Infrastructure for a range of different applications including the utilities, emergency services, broadcast content distribution, Local authority CCTV systems etc
–Low latency applications e.g. for the Financial services where faster than fibre performance is required.
–Temporary networks e.g. in support of PMSE, Disaster recovery etc

4. 3
Spectrum Access & Licensing Approaches
Within the UK there are four main spectrum access approaches for FWS:
–Ofcom Co-ordinated: A fully and centrally co-ordinated approach based on pre- defined technical assignment criteria with individual licenses issued on a per link basis.
–Licence Exempt: Spectrum access via a simple set of rules / technical criteria that once met do not require the equipment(s) to be individually licensed.
–Self Co-ordinated: A form of ‘light licensing’ that facilitates spectrum access via self co-ordination on a first come first served basis and based on date / time priority. Nb this is a co-ordinated approach but carried out by the licensee rather than Ofcom. i.e. Link operators are responsible for all aspects of link planning and frequency co- ordination.
–Block Assigned: A spectrum block approach to spectrum access based on blocks of spectrum made available, mainly by auction. Again operators are responsible for all aspects of link planning and frequency co-ordination within the terms of their licence E.g. 10 – 40GHz Award.

5. 4
FWS Frequency Bands Available in the UK
Band
Bottom (GHz)
Top (GHz)
Bandwidth (MHz)
1.4 GHz
1.35
1.517
2 x 24
4 GHz
3.6
4.2
2 x 180
L6 GHz
5.925
6.425
2 x 237.2
U6 GHz
6.425
7.125
2 x 320
7.5 GHz
7.425
7.9
2 x 224
13 GHz
12.75
13.25
2 x 224
15 GHz
14.5
15.35
2 x 112
18 GHz
17.7
19.7
2 x (715 + 203)
23 GHz
22
23.6
2 x 560
26 GHz
24.5
26.5
2 x 896
38 GHz
37
39.5
2 x 1120
52 GHz
51.4
52.6
2 x 504
55 GHz
55.78
57
2 x 504
70/80 GHz
71.125
83.125
2 x 2000
Ofcom Co-ordinated Bands

6. 5
FWS Frequency Bands Available in the UK - Continued
Band
Bottom (GHz)
Top (GHz)
Bandwidth (MHz)
60 GHz
57
64
6800
65 GHz
64
66
2000
70/80 GHz
73.375
85.875
2 x 2500
Ofcom Licence Exempt & Self Co-ordinated Bands
Band
Bottom (GHz)
Top (GHz)
Bandwidth (MHz)
10 GHz
10.125
10.575
2 x 100
28 GHz
27.8
29.5
2 x 560
32 GHz
31.8
33.8
2 x 756
40 GHz
40.5
43.5
2 x 1500
10 – 40GHz Award Bands that could be used for Fixed Links

7. 6
Current Significant Drivers
Mobile Backhaul
•Majority of links (>80%) in UK are used to provide wireless backhaul for mobile networks.
•It is widely expected that mobile broadband traffic will increase significantly in the future and that this rapid increase will give rise to a requirement for suitable backhaul architectures and an increase in spectrum use.
•Next generation of mobile systems, cell sizes of a Mobile Base Station are expected to be smaller, figures of 5 – 20 small cells per Macro cell are given in different international reports which will consequently lead to increased demand for high capacity short hop backhauling connections with some international studies suggesting potentially up to and beyond 10GBits/s.
•Progressive evolution of the radio traffic nature from TDM (e.g. PDH and SDH mostly used in GSM networks) to Packet traffic (e.g. IP/Ethernet required by the new generation of mobile networks)

8. 7
Current Significant Drivers - Continued
Low Latency Networks (e.g. Financial Services)
•A relatively new and recently increasing use of FWS to carry financial services data between major trading exchanges, where speed is critical and faster than fibre performance is required.
•The concept is simple; to reduce the time taken for financial data to be transmitted from one financial centre to another utilising the speed advantage of fixed wireless links i.e. Electromagnetic waves in air are ~ 33% faster than optical waves in fibre optic cables. So this speed advantage can be exploited to reduce latency in network infrastructure.

9. 8
Spectrum Sharing
•Nearly all of the FWS frequency bands already share frequency allocations with other services.
•The ITU Radio Regulations set out the international frequency allocations and the technical / regulatory framework to share spectrum and manage the international interference environment.
•At the national level traditional sharing and co-ordination is well established with Satellite Service Permanent Earth Stations in several of the Ofcom Co-ordinated bands e.g. 4GHz, 6GHz, 7.5GHz, 13GHz & 17/18GHz Bands.
•Intra-service spectrum sharing - where there is a lower risk of harmful interference, light licensing approaches can be considered e.g. 65, 70/80GHz.

10. 9
Current Key FWS Spectrum Topics
•Competing demands on spectrum below 6GHz (e.g. WRC-15 Agenda Item 1.1), particularly in the bands around 1.4 & 4GHz.
•Understanding the wireless backhaul requirements for mobile broadband into the future. Various international studies currently underway covering:
–IMT-Advanced network evolution and associated backhaul requirements
–Cell structures for IMT-Advanced – Backhaul, Midhaul & Fronthaul
–New link capacity enhancement techniques/technologies
•Higher mmWave Bands – Existing bands and potential new bands (e.g. 92GHz)
–Understanding how these bands are likely to develop
–Street level deployments
–Propagation aspects
•Competing demands on spectrum above 6GHz - Future possible WRC-19 agenda Item on mobile broadband spectrum above 6GHz.

11. 10
National Discussions – Matters related to FWS
•Ofcom holds Fixed Wireless Industry Liaison Forum meetings (FWILF) usually held twice a year.
•FWILF meeting is designed to aid direct communication with Industry, provide updates on Ofcom policy, listen to new ideas / concepts and facilitate discussion.
•Next Meeting is Friday 5th December 2014 with the following topics on the agenda
–International Update - including WRC-15 preparations and updates on the work currently taking place in the following groups; EC, ETSI, ITU-R & CEPT
–Public Sector Spectrum Release Programme - Update wrt FWS matters.
–FWS Technical Policy update, including ETSI profile updates to Ofcoms technical assignment criteria for the Ofcom co-ordinated bands.