U.K. Wireless Mic Industry Called Short-Changed in Spectrum Move
U.K. wireless microphone companies are irate over government plans for paying for the spectrum move they're required to make, they said Wednesday. The Office of Communications decided in June to clear the 800 MHz band used by those in what’s called program-making and special events and turn it over to mobile applications. Now it’s seeking suggestions on how to compensate users required to switch spectrum. The criteria for funding eligibility, however, fall far short of what’s required, the British Entertainment Industry Radio Group said.
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Ofcom’s relocation plan requires PMSE users of frequency channel 69 to move to channel 38, which is available across most of the country now and will be fully available at the beginning of 2012, the regulator said. Some users will be entitled to compensation for replacing or modifying channel 69 equipment, Ofcom said. The consultation notice it put out Friday seeks recommendations for the eligibility criteria should be and for figuring the compensation.
Wireless microphones also operate in the “white spaces” in the 790-862 MHz band now allocated to broadcasters, BEIRG steering group member Alan March said in an interview. Channel 69 is in the spectrum being reallocated for mobile broadband use in the U.K. and other European countries as a result of the switchover from analog to digital TV, he said. Ofcom proposed compensating some of users, but most PMSE companies with equipment outside channel 69 have been excluded from the plan, he said. Under current proposals, even those with channel 69 equipment eligible for compensation will have to fork out money for extra equipment to make the move -- assuming they can stay in business, he said.
Under Ofcom’s proposal, the only PMSE businesses eligible for funding are equipment rental companies that aren’t required to be licensed because they don’t operate it, those that held a channel 69 license on Feb. 2, those with equipment bought by June 30, and those with equipment tuneable to the channel, the BEIRG said. Payment will be based on the residual value of the equipment from 2012 through 2018, or until the end of its useful life, if that’s sooner.
This is a far cry from what BEIRG expects, the group said. PMSE owners are in effective being evicted from channel 69 and shouldn’t have to bear any of the costs, it said. The government in its Digital Britain Report said it will “meet the costs by broadcasters and PMSE users as a result of these changes,” not some or a proportion of them, BEIRG said.
Although it uses a great deal of spectrum for TV and theater productions and many other events, the PMSE sector is “invisible,” March said. It has worked hard in the last five years to raise the PMSE sector’s profile, ensuring it has been “recognized, marked out and given ’special status,'” BEIRG said. Ofcom acknowledges that the diversity of the business means that it can’t compete in an open spectrum market, but the office’s proposed funding criteria will make it hard for PMSE users to claim what they're morally entitled to, the organization said. The sector believes its value to society is “grossly undervalued,” in part because it doesn’t pay what’s considered the market rate for spectrum, March said.
The enforced move is also dicey for PMSE device manufacturers, he said. Companies need security and certainty about where their equipment will be operating in order to invest in new products, he said.
Other EU telecommunications regulators tend to watch Ofcom carefully, March said. Germany, France and other European countries are also making plans to free up the digital dividend spectrum, but PMSE users there aren’t as organized as in the U.K. and haven’t made as much noise because they came later to the game, he said. Ultimately, users would welcome frequency allocations across the EU, so touring acts can stick with one set of equipment, he said. Comments on the funding consultation are due Sept. 11, and details of the funding system are expected later this year, Ofcom said.