Trading and liberalisation of spectrum

Radio based services require spectrum licences for their operation. In the UK these licences were not transferable but since the end of last year, the right to trade some licences has been introduced. The new approach is known as spectrum trading and allows changes in licence ownership, services and use of radio spectrum and should create a much more dynamic market than today. It is expected to lead to new spectrum owners, who increase usage levels, while liberalisation (reconfiguration or change of use) further increases the efficiencies and lead to the emergence of new and alternative services. Spectrum trading and liberalisation has been introduced in bands traditionally used for telecommunications. However the distinction between broadcasting and communications is becoming less clear as services continue to converge and some broadcasting services are likely to appear in non-traditional bands in the future. Mobile media is an important concept in that a handheld terminal can combine broadcast reception with 3G connectivity and services. As is typical in such initiatives, there is international standardisation activity. Some proposals for spectrum envisage fitting DVB-H within a DVB-T framework but a standalone channel is an alternative. The flexible spectrum regime which the UK is trying to create opens up the possibility of acquiring a channel for mobile media. However if it is to be combined with 3G to make converged services, then for international roaming it would help if there was some international spectrum harmonisation. The US has had a more liberalised spectrum regime for some time and Crown Castle have acquired L-Band spectrum (1.6 GHz) which is being put to DVB-H use.