The U.K. will back international calls for a harmonized release...

Friday in a UHF strategy statement (http://xrl.us/bnzy4d). The 700 MHz band, now used in the U.K. for DTT, wireless microphones and white space technology, could help meet the burgeoning demand for mobile data, it said. But changing the use of the band risks preventing DTT from fulfilling its role of providing nearly universal, low-cost access to public broadcasting services and of maintaining viewers’ choice of platforms, services and equipment, it said. Mobile operators have several ways to boost the capacity of their networks, such as using more high and low frequency spectrum, upgrading mobile networks to more efficient mobile broadband technologies such as LTE, and offloading mobile data on Wi-Fi and femtocells, Ofcom said. But even if they do all that, additional mobile spectrum will be needed to meet the anticipated growth in demand, it said. Only international harmonized spectrum is likely to be used for mobile broadband because of economies of scale, it said. There will be a potentially significant increase in harmonized spectrum resulting from the U.K.’s planned 800 MHz and 2.6 GHz spectrum awards; refarming of existing 2G and 3G mobile bands to LTE; government plans to release 500 MHz of public spectrum; and other emerging higher frequency spectrum options such as the 3.6-3.8 GHz bands, it said. But the 700 MHz band “represents the most attractive option for providing additional lower frequency spectrum because there is now momentum behind it being allocated for mobile broadband use on a global scale,” it said. Among other things, a 2012 World Radiocommunication Conference resolution paved the way for the band to be used for mobile services after the next WRC. The earliest it could be made available is 2018, provided there’s sufficient agreement in Europe, Ofcom said. Shifting the 700 MHz band to mobile broadband use could affect multiplex operators running the DTT platform, wireless microphones and white space applications, it said. Some say Ofcom may have underestimated the role broadband Internet Protocol TV-delivered services could play in offering a viable substitute to the DTT platform, it said. But over the time-scale of a future release of the 700 MHz band, perhaps as early as 2018, there’s a major risk that IPTV won’t be able to substitute for DTT because it’s unclear whether broadband connections with enough speed and data capacity limits will be universally available, it said. Moreover, there’s a strong likelihood that consumers won’t have universally taken up high speed broadband connections and IPTV-compatible receivers by 2018, and there is currently a complete absence of stand-alone IPTV service that provide the range of linear TV services available on the DTT platform, it said. Two factors could help ensure there’s enough DTT broadcast capacity for ongoing delivery of its important benefits, Ofcom said. One is further improvements in digital television compression and transmission technology that will allow DTT spectrum to be used more efficiently; the other is the potential use of the 600 MHz band released by digital switchover for DTT and the other services that share spectrum with it, Ofcom said. Most respondents to an earlier consultation said alternative spectrum at 600 MHz should be made available for DTT if the 700 MHz band is switched to mobile broadband, it said. One consequence of that approach is that no long-term rights in the 600 MHz band can be granted, given international development around the 700 MHz band, it said. Ofcom considered two options for shorter-term use of the band -- shared use by DTT, wireless mics and white space devices, and exclusive reservation of an innovation space for white space devices -- and decided that the former solution is better. The regulator stressed that its statement doesn’t reach any final decisions about the process and timeline of any future release of the 700 MHz band. For now, it said, it will engage internationally on the 700 MHz band, and study how and when a change in its use could be achieved. Ofcom also said it will look at ways to reduce or avoid costs and disruptions to consumers and work with current users of the 700 MHz band to safeguard DTT and help them plan for a potential move. The regulator will publish as soon as practicable a document laying out how best to award 600 MHz spectrum, and do more work on the actual arrangements for coexistence of wireless microphones and white space devices in the band, it said.