Ofcom has released details of its plans to auction licences for the "L-Band" of radio spectrum.
The 1452MHz to 1492MHz band is suitable for various mobile multimedia services, including mobile television, as well as services such as satellite digital radio and WiMax wireless broadband.
The auction will take place online, starting in spring 2008. Ofcom said there will be 16 lots of approximately 1.7MHz each for spectrum from 1452MHz to 1479.5MHz. The remaining spectrum will be auctioned as a single lot.
The release of the L-Band is part of a wider programme to unleash around 400MHz of spectrum at frequencies below 3GHz — which includes the digital dividend, whereby spectrum will be freed up by the switch to digital TV.
L-Band spectrum will be released on a technology- and service-neutral basis, said the regulator, and all licences will be tradable.
Talkback
The term "Digital Dividend" has been used so many times that it has become a holistic metaphor. Companies have been waiting for a long while when this dividend, generated by phasing out analog TV will actually be realized.
It will also give a new lease of life to mobile TV services in UK which have lagged their Eurepean counterparts except for mobile TV streamed on 3G networks.
We are excited about the prospects of mobile TV being enabled by at least three different technolgies i.e satellite delivered DVB-SH, terrestrial broadcast DVB-H and not the least services based on WiMAX networks.
Amitabh Kumar
www.mobiletvhome.com