Ofcom to sell off current UHF radio mic spectrum to Mobile Broadband companies.

If you use UHF radio mics plan to have to replace them next year.

UK regulator Ofcom has published a consultation on the harmonisation of 800MHz across Europe, and proposes shuffling the digital TV bands already in operation and finding a permanent home for wireless mics at channel 38. This means that if, like me, you use currently use UHF radio mics you will have to plan to replace them next year.
The main reason for this is because Europe is hoping to make a chunk of spectrum at 800MHz available across the region, to take advantage of economies of scale so mobile manufacturers and telecoms companies can make one mobile broadband device that works across Europe saving money, increasing profits and supposedly making life better for you and me the humble consumer.

However, here in the UK we’re already broadcasting digital TV in the 800MHz, not to mention the fact that all of our theatres and the PSME industry (Programme Making and Special Events), which is worth an estimated £15bn, use that spectrum as well as Mobile DJ.

So Ofcom plans to move DTV transmissions down the dial, and shift microphones from channel 69, where they currently hang out, down to channel 38 where there is still room for professional users to expand into the white space (as they currently do from channel 69). Ofcom reckons that move will cost the Programming Making and Special Events (PMSE) industry between £90m and £200m, and the regulator is prepared to reimburse companies that have already bought kit operating solely at channel 69.

However, I suspect that it would prove difficult for a small mobile DJ operate to obtain any part of this compensation and that it is aimed more at the concert and outside broadcast industry who hold around 1700 licences for wireless microphones at channel 69.

Ofcom would really like to see the PMSE operators moving to digital transmissions, but respects the views of professionals that the latency and quality of existing digital systems is not up to the mark – for the moment at least.

Those of us using Freeview or similar will need to retune our set-top boxes to allow for the shift, but Ofcom reckons we should be doing that every now and then anyway, so the impact will be small.

All this chopping and changing will delay the whole Digital Dividend sell-off, so it will be 2010 before anyone gets to bid on a chunk of the spectrum formally used to transmit analogue TV signals.

Stakeholders’ views should be sent to Ofcom by April 20 so please let the SEDA committee know if you have any thoughts and we can consider whether to make a statement to Ofcom on behalf of the membership.