Telecom specrtum management

Radio Spectrum Management in Tanzania: Opportunities and Challenges
Radio Spectrum Management in Tanzania:
Opportunities and Challenges
Eng. Dennis Libena & Dr. Emmanuel Manasseh
Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority
January 13, 2015
Eng. Dennis Libena & Dr. Emmanuel Manasseh Tanzania Communications Regulatory AuthorityRadio Spectrum Management in Tanzania: Opportunities and ChallengesJanuary 13, 2015 1 / 35

Scope of Presentation
1 Introduction
2 Spectrum as a resource
3 Spectrum Management
4 Objectives of Spectrum Management
Spectrum Management Approach
5 Economic Valuation of Spectrum
6 Digital Migration
7 White Space spectrum
White Space spectrum applications
8 Opportunities and Challenges
9 Conclusion

Introduction
What is Radio Spectrum
The radio spectrum is that part of the electromagnetic spectrum
corresponding to radio frequencies (RF).
RF range → 3kHz to 300GHz
Electromagnetic waves in this frequency range → radio waves
The range of frequencies, which wireless devices can use to
transmit and receive information.

Introduction
Radio Spectrum
To manage access to spectrum, regulators allocate different
bands of frequencies for different uses and establish technical
rules → minimize harmful interference
Some bands of spectrum are licensed for specified purposes such
as military and public safety as well as commercial applications
such as radio, TV and broadband Internet.
unlicensed or license-exempt bands → for shared use
Common uses of unlicensed or license-exempt spectrum are
Wi-Fi networks and Bluetooth devices

Radio Spectrum
Figure: Services Using Radio Spectrum

Introduction
Radio Spectrum
1 Interference is caused between radiocommunications systems
unless sufficient isolation from each other is provided: in
Frequency, Distance or Time domains
2 Radio spectrum is a finite resource
3 As the number of wireless devices and the traffic that flows over
them continues to grow, more efficient use of available spectrum is
needed to keep up with the demand
4 For physical/technical reasons, some parts of the spectrum have
greater demand, e.g. VHF/UHF bands due to better propagation
conditions

Radio Spectrum
Figure: Range of Radio Spectrum

Spectrum as a resource
Spectrum as an Economic Resource
Spectrum Land Oil Re-
serves
Water
Is the resource varied? Yes Yes Not very Not very
Is it scarce? Yes Yes Yes Yes
Can it be made more
productive?
Yes Yes Yes No
Is it renewable? Yes Partially No Yes
Can it be stored for
later use?
No No Yes Yes
Can it be exported? No No Yes Yes
Can it be traded? Yes Yes Yes Yes

Spectrum as a resource
What economics would tell us
1 Because frequencies diﬀer in what they can do, there is an
optimization problem of matching them to particular uses
2 Spectrum can be in short supply in areas of high demand
3 Shortage of spectrum in particular bands can be addressed by
moving to less favored frequencies or making more eﬃcient use of
spectrum (sharing, compression, MIMO)
4 Because spectrum is fully renewable and cannot be stored, there
is no reason to hoard it for later use
5 Spectrum demand is localized, it can only be used to provide
services in a given territory.

Spectrum Management
Spectrum Management (SM)
Spectrum management is the process of regulating the use of
radio frequencies to promote eﬃcient use and gain a net social
beneﬁt
Objective → to ensure the optimal use of the radio spectrum in
civic and economic terms and to ensure reasonable and fair
access to those who require it.

Spectrum Management
SM functions of TCRA
Developing spectrum management policy
Planning/allocation of spectrum
Frequency assignment and licensing
Spectrum control (enforcement and monitoring)
International cooperation
Administrative and legal support

Spectrum Management Activities
Figure: Range of Radio Spectrum

Spectrum Management
Spectrum Management
Individual countries manage the national use of the spectrum
reﬂecting these broad international commitments and extending
them to the retail level in more detail
TCRA Manages spectrum resource at the National level through
TCRA Act 2003.
The Electronic and Postal communications Act (EPOCA) The
Electronic and Postal communications (Radiocommunication)
Regulations govern the use of radio spectrum resource.

Spectrum Management Process
International
ITU Establishes
Allocations
ADOPTIO
N, PLANNING AND ALL
O
CATION
ASSIGN
M
ENT, LICENSING, MON
ITORING

Objectives of Spectrum Management
Spectrum Management Goals
To avoid interference between radio systems
To meet international obligations (ITU RR)
To satisfy the demand for access to the radio spectrum by all kinds
of users
To ensure rational distribution of spectrum to support safety,
social, economic, security and defense requirements, according to
national policies
To protect existing services, while enabling the introduction of new
services and technologies

Spectrum management models
1 Administrative → Command and Control
Specify detailed rules and constraints aﬀecting how, where and
when spectrum can be used and who has access to spectrum.
Emphasis on the technical management of radio spectrum
Involves allocation and assignment stage
2 Property rights
Auctions, secondary trading, administrative incentive pricing, etc.
Allow spectrum rights to be bought and sold in the lifetime of a
license
Allow a change of use of the relevant spectrum
3 Commons
License-exempt or unlicensed spectrum

Auctions
Advantages
1 Transparent and economically eﬃcient
Disadvantages
1 May lead to higher prices
2 Auction design can be complex
3 Temptation to use auctions to generate revenue
Alternatives to auctions include administrative licensing, such as the
comparative hearings conducted historically → beauty contests

Market Mechanisms
1 Bilateral negotiation: The seller and (prospective) buyer directly
negotiate the terms of the sale and are not subject to any
particular constraints set by the regulator;
2 Auctions: Once a type of auction has been chosen and the rules
have been decided by primarily the seller, prospective buyers have
the opportunity to acquire the spectrum usage rights by bidding in
the auction;
3 Brokerage: Buyers and sellers employ a broker to negotiate, with
their consent, the contractual terms under which the transfer of
usage rights can take place;
These mechanisms are most likely to be used in combination.

Requirement for adopting Market based Mechanism
1 When the demand for the spectrum in any band is less than its
availability, → assignment of spectrum needs to be done over the
counter on an administratively determined price.
2 When the demand for a spectrum in band outstrips its availability
→ the market based approach is best suited for ensuring the
optimal use of the spectrum.
3 Whoever can put together the best price (for the given band) will
clearly win.

Economic Valuation of Spectrum
How should one value spectrum?
How much is it worth?
One can establish the value of a discrete block of spectrum by
putting it up for sale and seeing how much anyone is willing to pay
to use it.
Current use values → the economic value generated by
applications which are major users of spectrum
Social values
Final use → Saving life
Satisfaction → News, Entertainment, Education, etc.
Direct and Indirect values → What value would be obtained if the
spectrum were not available

Economic Valuation of Spectrum
Opportunity in Spectrum Value
Assessment of the spectrum value
Opportunity → To investigate the use of well-being valuation (WV)
techniques.
WV techniques are based on an estimate of the impacts of diﬀerent
spectrum uses, income, and a vector of other factors on life
satisfaction.
Opportunity → Develop a consistent methodology for assessing the
full value of spectrum to the country.

Digital Migration
Digital Migration
Digital Migration, also called the digital switchover or analogue
switch-oﬀ, is the process in which analog TV broadcasting is
replaced by digital TV.
Digital TV can support more than one program in the same
channel bandwidth
Digital transmissions can be packed into adjacent channels, while
analog ones cannot

Digital Migration
Digital Migration
Has the potential for resolutions and sound ﬁdelity far higher than
those of analogue broadcasts.
The band can be “compressed" into fewer channels, while still
allowing for more transmissions.
It is the most signiﬁcant advancement of television technology
since color TV was introduced
Opportunity → Digital transmission can easily integrate other digital
services

White Space spectrum
White spaces refer to frequencies allocated to a broadcasting
service but not used locally.
The White Spaces Coalition, have advocated using white spaces
left by the termination of analog TV to provide wireless broadband
Internet access.
TV White Space frequencies occupy the ranges traditionally used
by Analogue TV in the UHF range.
In the United States, this is 698 - 806 MHz and in the UK it is 470 -
790 MHz.
In Tanzania, it is 694 - 862 MHz

The technology is predicted to improve the availability of
broadband Internet and Wi-Fi in rural areas.
White Space devices are expected to have a range of miles
instead of feet (in comparison to WiFi) → Filling Wi-Fi coverage
gaps
White spaces will enable to span the University Campus

White Space Devices (WSDs)
Any device that intends to use White Space channels for
communication is deemed to be a White Space Device (WSD).
They are expected to travel through physical obstacles like walls,
trees etc., just like conventional broadcast signals.
Are expected to deliver network speeds comparable to current 3G
and 4G technology.
WSDs will be cognitive radio devices.

White Space Spectrum
Figure: TV White Spectrum

White Space Spectrum
Figure: TVWS → Broadband Internet in Rural areas

Cognitive Radio
In wireless communication, cognitive radio is a transceiver that
can intelligently detect what communication channels are in use
and what are not.
It can then instantly move into vacant channels and avoid
occupied ones.
This optimizes the use of available radio frequency spectrum while
minimizing interference to other users.
All mobile devices are cognitive to some extent
A cellular handset will select one of many frequency bands and
standards or use Wi-Fi depending on the networks it ﬁnds.

Innovation
White Space networks “democratize" wireless networks.
Anyone can deploy a network without the need of a nationwide
contract.
This makes a big impact in the deployment of innovative
applications especially where traditional networks do not extend
easily.
White Space networks have potential to unleash innovation by
creating a new class of applications based on deploying networks
in areas where traditional networks cannot be easily deployed
(rural deployments, M2M, etc)

Cognitive Radio
With White Space radios, cognitive technologies are an integral
part of the operation due to the need to dynamically sense and
select the frequency.
The concept of this cognitive radio system also includes the ability
to conform to spectrum etiquette.
Radio varies its transmitted power output level if it detects that
interference is being caused to other legitimate users, or if local
spectrum regulations that may be in service dictate a maximum
output power level.

What infrastructure would the technology require?
The one essential infrastructure piece needed to deploy a TV
White Spaces network is a database.
The database lets devices in the area know which spectrum is
available for access in that location.
Users will be able to purchase, install and operate their own
networks.
Companies like Microsoft, Google, Dell, HP, Intel, Philips,
Earthlink, and Samsung Electro-Mechanics are involved in
developing the White Space ecosystem.

Challenges
The need to avoid interference with existing services like
broadcast.
The challenge is not only to ﬁnd empty frequencies but also a
database
Could the principles of cognitive radio be adopted into the wider
telecoms spectrum management?
Will White Space technology and Cognitive radios cause a change
in better management of Spectrum?

Conclusion
Conclusion
Effective use of spectrum can make a big difference to a country’s
prosperity, especially where communications are heavily reliant
upon wireless technologies such as mobile phones.
Spectrum Management remains the crucial factor in wise and
efficient utilization of radio spectrum resource. Spectrum scarcity
whether it is real or artificial can have an adverse impact upon
prosperity.
A wise combination of administrative and market-based
mechanisms is required to address challenges of radio spectrum

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