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Ofcom to auction off 14 channels of TV spectrum


20th November 2005

Ofcom has come to the conclusion that 14 UHF channels that are currently used for analogue TV will be freed-up once analogue TV is switched off on a region-by-region basis between 2008 and 2012. These channels represent a total of 112 MHz of spectrum.

Ofcom's outline of the band plan for 470 - 854 MHz is as follows (the numbers represent the channel numbers):

21 22 23 23 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32
33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44
45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56
57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68

 

available spectrum from digital switch-over - these channels will become free for new uses
unavailable spectrum - 36 is radar; 38 is radio astronomy
spectrum assigned to six DTT multiplexes, and resulting "interleaved" spectrum


Ofcom envisages that the freed-up spectrum could be used for the following types of services:

  • New mobile services, with high quality video and interactive media delivered to handheld devices.
  • Wireless broadband services, with high-speed data and voice services. 
  • Wider coverage for advanced services in remote and rural areas. This spectrum is particularly suitable for low cost, wider-area coverage. 
  • Advanced business and broadcasting services, such as those used to support major sporting events.
  • Additional television channels including possible High Definition (HD) channels carried on Freeview. 

Mobile TV using the DVB-H standard represents one of the most likely uses for the freed-up spectrum, and because the mobile phone networks have very deep pockets then you would expect them to be able to outbid, for example, the TV companies.

There should still be additional capacity for HDTV via Freeview after digital switchover, however, because the number of DTT multiplexes is planned to increase from the current 6 to 8, and the Crown Castle and BBC multiplexes which currently use 16-QAM will change to using 64-QAM, which will increase the multiplex data capacity from 18.1 Mbps to 24.13 Mbps, and the overall capacity available via Freeview will increase from the current 120.7 Mbps to 193.0 Mbps. Therefore, there will be extra capacity that could be used for HDTV on Freeview as well as freeing-up spectrum for other uses.
 
 

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