Ofcom publishes plans to enable the release of new mobile airwaves and possible 5G spectrum to avoid capacity crunch
Ofcom has unveiled its plans to ensure the future release of new airwaves to help meet consumer demand for data on the move.
“Within the coming months we will hold the UK’s largest-ever auction of mobile spectrum for 4G. However, that may not be enough to meet consumers’ future data demands, which is why we are already making significant efforts to prepare to go beyond 4G,” commented Ofcom chief executive, Ed Richards.
Alongside the announcement, Ofcom has also published new data on the UK’s communication infrastructure. The findings show that 20 million GB of data is now being used per year through the country’s mobile networks, more than double last year’s figure of nine million GB.
Estimates show that by 2030 demand for mobile data could be 80 times higher than today, and in order to avoid a ‘capacity crunch’ more mobile spectrum is needed over the long term together with new technologies to improve the effectiveness of mobile broadband. Ofcom is now preparing plans to support the release of spectrum for future mobile services and possibly ‘5G’ when the spectrum becomes available.
Ofcom’s plans aim to draw upon the 700 MHz frequency band, which is currently being used for digital terrestrial television, as part of future harmonised spectrum planning across Europe and worldwide. Releasing the new frequencies can be achieved without the need for another TV ‘switchover’.
It is essential the different countries use the same frequencies of spectrum for mobile broadband as it widens the scale and availability of handsets, which should also reduce cost for consumers.
Richards added: “Our plans are designed to avoid a ‘capacity crunch’, ensuring that the UK’s mobile infrastructure can continue to support the inescapable growth in consumer demand and economic growth more generally.”
Whilst the arrival of 4G mobile networks will provide much-needed new bandwith, fixed networks also need to develop at a fast pace to keep up with consumers’ growing use of the internet and data-heavy features such as Video-on-Demand. Mobile capacity and coverage is set to improve following the auction of the 4G spectrum, as one of the 4G licences will require a service to be made available to at least 98 per cent of people in villages, towns and cities across the UK.
Ofcom’s plans also set out to ensure the long-term future of digital terrestrial TV (DTT), which provides low-cost, near-universal access to public service TV channels. Ofcom believes this can be sustained by ensuring alternative frequenices2 are available for DTT towards the end of the decade when the next generation of mobile broadband is introduced.
These changes are unlikely to come into place before 2018 as they require an international spectrum plan to be agreed. Unlike the last ‘switchover’ for the vast majority of consumers moving DTT to different frequencies will only require a simple retune of existing TV equipment.