The claims in the news give the impression that Ofcom will make suitable alternative spectrum available UK-wide for the PMSE sector, and that compensation or 'funding' will be made available so that users of the spectrum do not have to bear the costs of replacing radio microphone equipment.
However, PLASA's technical resources manager Ron Bonner, a member of the BEIRG (British Entertainment Industry Radio Group) steering committee which is campaigning against Ofcom's proposed measures, says that we should remain very wary of Ofcom's plans. He told L&SI: "The recent headlines should be treated cautiously as the 800MHz document is a consultation and no decisions have yet been made. Ofcom have indicated that they wish to provide a funding package but any such package would still need agreement from the treasury. If any funding is made available there is likely to be a strictly controlled eligibility criteria to limit the amount that might be claimed, who might claim it and for which equipment it might be claimed for. In the consultation document, Ofcom's high-end estimate for the practical amount required to compensate PMSE is just £18 million - intended to "replace" the estimated £100m worth of radio equipment that is in use by the PMSE sector today."
On the question of alternative spectrum being made available, Bonner told us: "Channel 38 has been earmarked for the replacement for channel 69 but no final decision has been made on this. At this stage it is not known what services will be using the adjacent spectrum and only one 8MHz channel will not be sufficient to solve the inevitable fragmentation problem. Interleaved spectrum and its UK availability is likely to alter again but its availability won't be known until 2010, and if the push towards free access to cognitive devices continues, the quality of the spectrum is still not assured."
(Lee Baldock)
