Advanced Television

spectrum

WBA praises Saudi Arabia’s spectrum designation

The Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA), the body leading development of next-generation Wi-Fi services, commends the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) for their spectrum designation of the entire 6 GHz band (5.925-7.125 GHz) for licence-exempt use. Saudi Arabia is the first country in the Middle East, Europe, or Africa to designate […]

March 31, 2021

UK spectrum auction at negotiation stage

UK comms regulator Ofcom has confirmed that the spectrum auction for the 700 MHz and 3.6-3.8 GHz bands aimed at releasing more airwaves to improve mobile services and support 5G will now move to the negotiation period. Ofcom announced the results of the principal stage of the auction on March 17th. This set out how […]

March 25, 2021By Colin Mann

Ofcom 5G spectrum auction set to start

Mobile operators will begin bidding in the UK’s next spectrum auction from Friday March 12th, comms regulator Ofcom has confirmed. A total of 200 MHz of spectrum is being released through the auction, which will help improve existing mobile services and also support the continued rollout of 5G across the UK. After a pause in […]

March 10, 2021By Colin Mann

South Africa delays spectrum auction again

South Africa has postponed its spectrum auction yet again. This time the reason was a legal objection from the telco provider, Telkom, and broadcaster, e.tv, who secured a ruling from the nation’s high court to pause the auction. Judge Selby Baqwa has now placed an interdict on regulator ICASA. The auction was supposed to happen […]

March 10, 2021By Chris Forrester

New homes boost for full fibre roll-out

Barratt Developments, Britain’s biggest house builder, has partnered with digital infrastructure provider Openreach to ensure that its ultrafast ‘Full Fibre’ broadband is installed as standard across all of its new build developments. The move means that all of the c.15,000 new homes that Barratt builds every year will now provide access to a Full Fibre […]

January 26, 2021By Colin Mann

Ofcom consults on future vision for spectrum

Supporting innovation is at the heart of UK comms regulator Ofcom’s new vision for managing spectrum in the future. To support innovation, it wants to make it easier for organisations to access the spectrum they need for new and exciting uses. For example, this could include remote healthcare applications to support people taking medication and […]

December 4, 2020By Colin Mann

FCC to open up more spectrum for 5G

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai has shared with his colleagues a draft proposal which would take steps toward making the 3.45-3.55 GHz band available for commercial use throughout the contiguous United States. This item will be on the agenda of the FCC’s September 30th Open Meeting and, if adopted, would position this 100 megahertz […]

September 9, 2020By Colin Mann

UK completes 700 MHz clearance

UK Digital Infrastructure Minister Matt Warman has confirmed the milestone completion of the four-year, £350 million major infrastructure programme to clear the 700 MHz spectrum band, allowing new data capacity to be released for mobile operators. The 700MHz spectrum band had mainly been used for digital terrestrial TV broadcast as well as professional radio microphones […]

September 3, 2020By Colin Mann

US frees up midband spectrum for 5G

The White House and US Department of Defense (DOD) have revealed that the 3.45-3.55 GHz band will be made available for 5G, a move that has been welcomed by FCC Chairman Ajit Pai. The DOD worked closely with the Services, as part of America’s Mid-Band Initiative Team (AMBIT), and leveraged technical work performed by the […]

August 11, 2020By Colin Mann

Ofcom confirms 5G spectrum auction plans

UK comms regulator Ofcom has confirmed plans to auction spectrum to help improve mobile broadband and support the rollout of 5G, with bidding set to start in January 2021. According to Ofcom, the auction will increase the total amount of spectrum available for mobile in the UK by nearly a fifth (18 per cent) – bringing […]

August 4, 2020By Colin Mann