Award of the 700 Mhz and 3.6-3.8 Ghz Spectrum Bands Annexes
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Award of the 700 MHz and 3.6-3.8 GHz spectrum bands Annexes ANNEXES: Publication date: 13 March 2020 Contents Annex A1. Relevant documents published before and since the December 2018 consultation 3 A2. Additional issues raised in responses to the December 2018 consultation 6 A3. Current state of the UK mobile market 14 A4. Mobile spectrum bands 48 A5. Current performance of UK mobile networks 60 A6. Potential competition concerns relating to asymmetries in low frequency spectrum - supporting information 71 A7. Supporting information for the competition assessment regarding the 3.6-3.8 GHz band 112 A8. Coexistence issues for the 3.6-3.8 GHz band 142 A9. Interface requirements for the 700 MHz band 164 A10. Interface requirements for the 3.6-3.8 GHz band 175 A11. Illustrative auction procedures 185 A12. Glossary of terms 17 2 Statement on the award of the 700 MHz and 3.6-3.8 GHz award - annexes A1. Relevant documents published before and since the December 2018 consultation Our publication of the December 2018 consultation on the award of the 700 MHz and 3.6- 3.8 GHz award followed a number of earlier consultations on various matters relating to the spectrum and its availability. The responses generated, and the conclusions we reached through those consultation exercises, helped to inform the proposals set out in the December 2018 document. Those earlier documents are summarised below: • In May 2014 we published a consultation on proposals to make spectrum in the 700 MHz band available for mobile broadband from 2022, or possibly two years earlier. 1 It proposed moving existing DTT and PMSE services out of the 700 MHz band and into other bands. It went on to present our initial assessment of the costs and benefits of such a change, and said there would be significant benefits to citizens and consumers. • In November 2014 we published a statement setting out a decision to proceed with the proposals to make the 700 MHz spectrum available for mobile. 2 The statement included a further assessment of the costs and benefits of clearing existing users from the band, taking account of stakeholder responses, including early analysis of coexistence issues between DTT and new mobile services. • In March 2016 we published a consultation setting out proposals to make the 700 MHz spectrum available for mobile earlier than had been anticipated in the May 2014 document. 3 We said it would be possible to accelerate clearance of the band so that it became available for mobile by no later than Q2 2020. It also set out proposals to include the 700 MHz band ‘centre gap’ in any future award. • In October 2016 we published a statement setting out our decision to proceed with the proposals set out in the March 2016 consultation. 4 We also set out a decision to allow interim DTT multiplexes currently operating in the centre gap to continue until at least 1 May 2020, or until mobile downlink services in this spectrum were deployed. Finally, we set out a decision to serve notice on PMSE users that from 1 May 2020 they would no longer have access to 700 MHz spectrum. • Also, in October 2016 we published a consultation setting out our initial thinking on expanding access for mobile services in the 3.6-3.8 GHz band. We noted the band was currently used for fixed links and satellite services - but said the band was a high priority band for future mobile use, due to the large amount of spectrum available and the interest in this band for the rollout of future 5G services 1 https://www.ofcom.org.uk/consultations-and-statements/category-1/700mhz 2 https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0024/46923/700-mhz-statement.pdf 3 https://www.ofcom.org.uk/consultations-and-statements/category-1/maximising-benefits-700mhz-clearance 4 https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0031/92659/Maximising-the-benefits-of-700-MHz-clearance- Statement.pdf 3 Statement on the award of the 700 MHz and 3.6-3.8 GHz award - annexes • In May 2017 we published a consultation on our more detailed technical analysis of coexistence issues between future mobile services in the 700 MHz band and DTT in the adjacent band. 5 We also discussed potential solutions to mitigate the risk of interference to DTT. • In July 2017 we published a statement and further consultation on use of the 3.6-3.8 GHz band for mobile. 6 The statement element confirmed a decision to proceed with making the band available for mobile. The consultation element set out proposals to remove current authorisations for fixed links and to no longer take registered satellite earth stations with a receive component in the 3.6GHz to 3.8GHz band into account for frequency management purposes. • In October 2017 we published a statement confirming our approach on the revocation of fixed links licences in the 3.6-3.8 GHz band and on the proposal to no longer take satellite earth stations into account for spectrum management purposes. 7 We said we would begin the statutory process to enact these decisions. • In December 2017 we published an update to our analysis of coexistence issues for the 700 MHz band spectrum. 8 The update presented our conclusions on the May 2017 technical assessment, having taken account of stakeholder responses. • In February 2018 we published an update on when we expected spectrum in the 3.6- 3.8 GHz band to become available, following the decisions we set out in the October 2017 statement. 9 We said that spectrum will be available to enable future mobile services in many areas from June 2020, but not necessarily nationwide, before the end of 2022. • In June 2018 we published a consultation on a request by UK Broadband for variations to its licence in the 3.6 GHz band (3925-4009 MHz).10 Most notably, it requested shifting its holding down by 5 MHz; surrendering its rights to use 4 MHz of spectrum at the top of the resulting block; and changing the applicable technical conditions. We set out our view that we were minded to grant the requested variation. • In December 2018 we published a statement setting out our decision to grant the UK Broadband request. 11 Since the publication of the December 2018 consultation on the award of the 700 MHz and 3.6-3.8 GHz spectrum bands, we have published two further consultations on the award: • In June 2019 we published a consultation setting out proposals for supporting the defragmentation of the 3.6-3.8 GHz band through the auction process. 12 5 https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/101619/Coexistence-of-new-services-in-the-700-MHz-band- with-digital-terrestrial-television.pdf 6 https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0017/103355/3-6-3-8ghz-statement.pdf 7 https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0019/107371/Consumer-access-3.6-3.8-GHz.pdf 8 https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0025/108655/update-coexistence-700-mhz.pdf 9 https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/110718/3.6GHz-3.8GHz-update-timing-spectrum-availability.pdf 10 https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0017/115343/Variation-UK-Broadband-Licence-3.6-GHz- spectrum.pdf 11 https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0014/130253/Statement-UK-Broadbands-spectrum-access-licence- 3.6-GHz.pdf 12 https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0011/152102/consultation-defragmentation-spectrum-holdings.pdf 4 Statement on the award of the 700 MHz and 3.6-3.8 GHz award - annexes • In October 2019 we published a consultation setting out proposals for a revised auction design based on a Simultaneous Multi-Round Ascending (SMRA) format.13 In addition to the documents listed above, there is a further relevant document which was published alongside the December 2018 consultation. ‘Enabling opportunities for innovation’ consulted on proposals to make spectrum available in a range of spectrum bands on a shared basis. 14 We said the spectrum we identified could support deployment of local networks in sectors including industrial Internet of Things (IoT), enterprise, logistics, mining and agriculture, as well as help to improve the quality of coverage in poorly served areas. A statement setting out our decisions on those matters was published in July 2019. 15 13 https://www.ofcom.org.uk/consultations-and-statements/category-2/award-700-mhz-3.6-3.8-ghz-spectrum-revised- proposals 14 https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0022/130747/Enabling-opportunities-for-innovation.pdf 15 https://www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0033/157884/enabling-wireless-innovation-through-local- licensing.pdf 5 Statement on the award of the 700 MHz and 3.6-3.8 GHz award - annexes A2. Additional issues raised in responses to the December 2018 consultation In this annex we address issues raised in responses to the December 2018 consultation that are not fully discussed elsewhere in the statement. Our consultation proposals In the December 2018 consultation (paragraphs 1.10-1.12 and annex 5) we set out our plans to award the 700 MHz and 3.6-3.8 GHz bands through an auction of UK-wide licences. We said an award of UK-wide licences was appropriate in this case because the bands are particularly suitable for mobile broadband use, for which we expect there to be national demand. We noted that some stakeholders had suggested awarding the spectrum in alternative ways, such as through local or regional licences, to enable different uses of the frequencies.