Spectrum sharing could net France €25bn but does Europe lag USA in in-building allocation? 

A new study from telecoms and media consulting firm Analysys Mason and law firm Hogan & Hartson suggests that sharing freed-up UHF radio spectrum between the communications and audiovisual industries would add over €25 billion more to the French economy between 2012 and 2024 than would allocating the ‘digital dividend’ exclusively to the digital TV industry.

According to the study’s authors France is the centre of an increasingly heated debate over how best to reallocate spectrum that is currently being used for analogue broadcasting. By 2012, the switch-over from analogue to digital television in France will have freed up a significant amount of UHF spectrum. This spectrum will then be reallocated, generating what has become known as the 'digital dividend'. The UHF spectrum, located at frequencies below 1GHz, is especially valuable as it allows the delivery of services with unique coverage and penetration qualities.

Other findings of the study, commissioned by French telecoms regulator ARCEP at the beginning of 2008, include:
·         allocating a proportion of the released spectrum for mobile broadband services adds greater value to the economy than if this band were allocated exclusively to digital TV services
·         mobile broadband services will support political goals of 'digital inclusion'. Expanding mobile broadband access - especially in areas that will be underserved by fibre - will be most economically productive, and will significantly reduce the digital divide. Allocation of spectrum to mobile broadband will support the French government's aim of making sure 100% of the French population has access to fixed/mobile broadband Internet by 2012
·         it is vital that a detailed framework for the process of reallocating the digital dividend spectrum is established as soon as possible. France is not the only country that stands to benefit from a digital dividend. Negotiations with neighbouring countries (notably with regard to pan-European services and interference) are central to ensuring that the spectrum can be used to best effect, allowing the digital dividend to be exploited to its maximum potential, and supporting the successful launch of new services and technologies. European governments and regulators must provide clear signals to the market as to how spectrum within the UHF band will be released
·         a comparison with the approach taken in other countries shows widespread international support for the sharing of digital-dividend spectrum. The countries studied are allocating - or planning to allocate – the digital-dividend spectrum to both increase capacity for digital terrestrial television (DTT) and to provide mobile broadband services

“Our economic valuation is based on credible scenarios for the reallocation of the released spectrum, as discussed with both telecoms and television players. The aim of this valuation is to inform the government's decision on how best to allocate the digital dividend,” explains Laurent Zenou, head of Analysys Mason's Paris office.

“It's like discovering 100 hectares of prime real estate in the middle of Paris - there is enough new spectrum there to satisfy everyone,” adds Winston Maxwell, partner at Hogan & Hartson and co-author of the study. “But the French government needs to make planning decisions now in order for French citizens to benefit fully from this resource in 2012. The technical co-ordination issues take time.”

Old lags?
In another spot of spectrum use analysis, in-building wireless specialist INNOVA Wireless is claiming that the old world - Europe and the Middle East - could learn a thing or two from the US experience. Oddly enough this arises from the  circumstance that the USA has suffered from a lack of centralised spectrum planning, and system builders there have had to use their smarts to overcome this limitation.

“Because the US has traditionally suffered from a lack of wireless band planning, paradoxically that has driven the development of advanced products that simplify in-building wireless solutions through support of multiple radio systems, be they mobile, public safety and/or Wi-Fi,” opines wireless industry veteran and President of INNOVA Wireless Martin Cassidy.

And over on this side of the pond apparently we can now, courtesy of INNOVA, reap the rewards of the US smarts. “In addition to European product manufacturer partnerships, INNOVA has strong relationships with a number of leading US vendors, a combination that has real benefit to customers, facilitating the best solutions using leading products at an attractive investment level.”
John Williamson