Spectrum, mobile & wireless update May 2016

The National Infrastructure Commission launched a 5G call for evidence further to announcements earlier this year in the 2016 Budget, where the Commission was asked to consider what the UK needs to do to become a world leader in 5G deployment and to ensure that the UK can take early advantage of the potential applications of 5G services. The Commission is particularly keen to explore the uses envisaged for 5G services, challenges to establishing 5G services and the infrastructure requirements for 5G deployments. Responses are requested by 11th July 2016.

Ofcom announced new proposals designed to speed up Wi-Fi connections for millions of people across the UK. It is proposing to increase the amount of 5 GHz radio spectrum available for Wi-Fi and other related wireless technologies, while ensuring protection for other users of this range, such as satellite services:

“At present, the spectrum band most commonly used for Wi-Fi in the UK is the 2.4 GHz band (2400-2483.5 MHz). However, use of frequencies in the alternative 5 GHz band is catching up, in line with the development of new Wi-Fi equipment standards. There is more spectrum available in the 5 GHz band than in the 2.4 GHz band, enabling more and wider channels to support high data rate applications. Most new routers and almost all consumer client devices on the market can now use both the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands.”

The closing date for responses to Ofcom’s consultation on its proposals is 22nd July 2016.

Other spectrum, mobile and wireless news this month:

• Vodafone announced that Iwade is the first Kentish community to be connected in Vodafone’s Rural Open Sure Signal (ROSS) programme. The ROSS programme is a national initiative by Vodafone to provide reliable mobile access to up to 100 rural communities in mobile not-spot locations; in April 2016 Vodafone announced that seven Cumbrian villages had been connected via the scheme.
• Cable and ISP Review reported on the deployment of BT’s hybrid microwave and VDSL based wireless-to-the-cabinet (WTTC) technology in the Northumbrian village of Coanwood. WTTC replaces the fibre optic line running between an exchange and a local street cabinet in a standard fibre-to-the-cabinet (FTTC) deployment with a point-to-point microwave link.
• Avanti Communications Group plc announced a contract win to supply EE with satellite capacity for cellular backhaul. Avanti will connect a number of cellular sites across the UK to EE’s network using the HYLAS 1 and 2 satellites, to provide communications in remote areas and additional network resilience.
• The City of Edinburgh Council announced a 10-year concession contract with intechnologyWiFi to bring free Wi-Fi coverage and improved mobile coverage to Edinburgh's city centre. The programme has been funded by the UK Government as part of its Super Connected Cities programme.
• ISP Review reported that the Church of England has offered to help boost rural broadband connectivity by providing access to 10,000 churches to allow the installation of wireless broadband equipment.
• ZDnet reported on the development of gigabit 4G services by companies such as Ericsson and Qualcomm.
• Network World provided overviews of WiGig, which operates in the 60GHz band and offers data rates in the 1Gbit/s or 2Gbit/s range, and gigabit Wi-Fi, or 802.11ac, which, while offering speeds of up to 400Mbit/s, is often limited by slow wired backhaul connections.
• Fortune reported that Verizon may in future use 5G to deploy home broadband services across the US (more here).