National Frequency Allocation Table, Licensed vs. Unlicensed spectrum use International Telecommunication Union Telecommunications Development Bureau ITU Regional Workshop on Efficiency of the Frequency Spectrum Use in the Arab Region Amman-Jordan, 5-7 Dec Dr. Arturas Medeisis ITU-BDT Spectrum Management Expert

ITU Regional Workshop, Amman, 5-7 Dec Scope of presentation Role, principles and structure of NFAT Developing and publicising NFAT Licensing status of different services Comparative overview of different licensing types: –individual –general == un-licensed use –light-licensing

ITU Regional Workshop, Amman, 5-7 Dec Role of NFAT Most important piece of national SM legislation Policy ArtefactsPractice Telecoms Law, NFAT, rules NRA Licence Monitoring Enforcement Individual General Radio Market

ITU Regional Workshop, Amman, 5-7 Dec Role of NFAT (II) The legal instrument for transposition of ITU RR provisions into national law Sets the founding and ground-rules for the use of radio spectrum May contain some additional legal/technical info: –type of licensing –technical provisions (channelling, power limits, etc.) –future strategy for the frequency band Important to keep in mind the balance of providing additional information vs. consideration of frequency of updates!

ITU Regional Workshop, Amman, 5-7 Dec Principles of NFAT Consistency with ITU RR provisions for respective region: –NFAT may specify not all services allowed by RR for given region/frequency band! Consistency with any applicable regional spectrum harmonisation initiatives Sub-allocations and designations to specific uses/applications: –E.g. RR: Mobile Service -> NFAT: Public Cellular

ITU Regional Workshop, Amman, 5-7 Dec Principles of NFAT (II) Important role of NFAT as setting the national departmental SM limits (if any!): –e.g. civil vs. military frequency bands –domains of specialised authorities (broadcasting, aeronautical, maritime) although ideally all spectrum management should be concentrated in the hands of one authority for the sake of maximum efficiency!

ITU Regional Workshop, Amman, 5-7 Dec Structure of NFAT Terms and definitions NFAT (sometimes different tables for different parts of spectrum) Applicable international footnotes National footnotes

ITU Regional Workshop, Amman, 5-7 Dec NFAT examples (I)

ITU Regional Workshop, Amman, 5-7 Dec NFAT examples (II)

ITU Regional Workshop, Amman, 5-7 Dec NFAT examples (III)

ITU Regional Workshop, Amman, 5-7 Dec Developing and maintaining The NFAT is a living document! The most obvious updating cycle is linked to the WRCs, however more frequent changes might be needed depending on national content Important to include all stakeholders/major spectrum users into the review and updating process: –to ensure most optimal partitioning of spectrum –to ensure understanding and commitment by all spectrum users

ITU Regional Workshop, Amman, 5-7 Dec NFAT publication Traditional way: hard copy (PDF on the website) Fancy way: wall charts Increasingly: electronic online databases!

ITU Regional Workshop, Amman, 5-7 Dec Electronic publication example

ITU Regional Workshop, Amman, 5-7 Dec Licensing status May be embodied directly in NFAT or, by default, by a principle of exclusion: –every radio apparatus which is not granted any special spectrum access rights by separate governmental order is subject to individual license –i.e. the users may look up any special spectrum access orders, and if their desired apparatus/network/radio frequency band is not provided for, they should apply to NRA for licence

ITU Regional Workshop, Amman, 5-7 Dec Individual licensing Hence the default type is Individual Radio Apparatus Licence: –given equipment type –at a given place –with a given antenna (type/gain/height) –at a given frequency channel(s) This is the absolute safest harbour for both NRA and the user as it provides maximum certainty and security But more elaborate types are required to cope with modern times...

ITU Regional Workshop, Amman, 5-7 Dec Unlicensed spectrum use Also known as General Authorisation Establishes use of radio devices without individual authorisation Is suitable for radio services/devices that have self-containable interference potential Two variants may be distinguished: –Licence-exempt application –Commons Band or ISM Band

ITU Regional Workshop, Amman, 5-7 Dec Licence-exempt applications Licence-exempt access usually means a an order exempting very specific application(s) from individual licensing: –e.g. Mobile phones, Short Range Devices, VSAT, radio amateurs etc –may be one or more bands associated –some blanket conditions are imposed, i.e. maximum power limit, adherence to some co- existence protocol requirements, compliance with OOB limits, etc. (these often defined in the equipment standard)

ITU Regional Workshop, Amman, 5-7 Dec Commons Band In this case the order decrees a certain band available for use by any device : –best example – 2.4 GHz ISM band –still some blanket conditions are necessary to contain the interference, but expressed in a more general way, such as maximum power limitation or other similar generic (technology neutral) requirements of RF emissions, cf. well known example of FCC Part 15 rules

ITU Regional Workshop, Amman, 5-7 Dec Benefits of unlicensed use For industry: –easier development of low cost wireless devices –economies of scale, cheap RF modules for commons bands –harmonisation between different countries –simplicity for users For NRAs: –reduction of administrative work –no need for planning, coordination –providing for development of innovative industries

ITU Regional Workshop, Amman, 5-7 Dec Drawbacks of unlicensed use For industry: –no protection from interference –no quality of service assurance for users –usually quite low power limits reduce communications range For NRAs: –uncontrolled growth in number of devices may bring interference to unacceptable levels –marginal loss of licensing revenues

ITU Regional Workshop, Amman, 5-7 Dec Light-licensing (I) A novel type of licensing, suitable for services which: –are characterised by high and fluid demand –have a significant mutual interference potential –yet their protection can be established by simple means/calculation method In this case it might be easier for NRA to withdraw from daily handling of these numerous coordination requests Instead providing some kind of simplified notification or even automated self-service licensing, e.g. user self- registration of radio devices in an online database with automated interference check –hence, simplified/self-service==light

ITU Regional Workshop, Amman, 5-7 Dec Light-licensing (II) Having some kind of registration procedure allows: –control/limit the number of devices –collect some nominal fees, both as means of incentive pricing and to recover licensing costs (i.e. IT application/database maintenance costs) Still, even light registration requires certain professionalism on the part of the user/operator

ITU Regional Workshop, Amman, 5-7 Dec Light-licensing (III) Examples of services/applications considered suitable for light-licensing: –GNSS ground repeaters –repeaters in public cellular systems –VSATs in harmonised FSS bands –FWA/BWA base stations in dedicated bands (e.g. 5.8 GHz) –mm-band short-to-medium range (1-3 km) FS Point-to-Point links –Radio Amateur, Maritime (Ship) stations

ITU Regional Workshop, Amman, 5-7 Dec Light-licensing implementation Via online licensing systems of NRA

ITU Regional Workshop, Amman, 5-7 Dec Comparison of different regimes Individual authorisation (Individual rights of use) General authorisation (No individual rights of use) Individual licenceLight-licensingLicence-exempt Individual frequency planning / coordination Traditional procedure for issuing licences Individual frequency planning / coordination Simplified procedure compared to individual licensing With limitations in the number of users No individual frequency planning / coordination Registration and/or notification No limitations in the number of users nor need for coordination No individual frequency planning / coordination No registration nor notification Source: CEPT ECC Report 132

ITU Regional Workshop, Amman, 5-7 Dec General picture Source: CEPT ECC Report 137 General Authorisations Individual authorisations Licence exemptionLicense: Administrative assignment License: Market mechanisms Generic uses Specific uses Light Licensing (registration/ notification) Private common s Flexibility and spectrum trading Authorisation: Licensing regime : Management approach : Collective use of Spectrum Increasing protection No fee Cost recovery Incentive prices Fees set by market

ITU Regional Workshop, Amman, 5-7 Dec Other important novel terms Underlay spectrum access: –a kind of unlicensed spectrum use based on assumption of secondary non-protected non- interfering very low power access, i.e. with emissions below the noise levels of primary service, hence underlay, example: UWB Overlay spectrum access: –future technology of intelligent interspersing of secondary transmissions in the unused spectrum spaces of primary user. Also known as Dynamic Spectrum Access. Most advanced development: TV White Space Devices

ITU Regional Workshop, Amman, 5-7 Dec Conclusions The NFAT is a very important regulatory document that sets the ground rules for national SM The choice of licensing regime for given frequency band is not a trivial task Novel licensing regimes, such as Light-Licensing or Unlicensed use (as well as Underlay and Overlay uses) may bring important degrees of flexibility for NRAs and facilitate more efficient use of spectrum through deployment of innovative wireless services

ITU Regional Workshop, Amman, 5-7 Dec Thank you! Dr. Arturas Medeisis ITU: Committed to connecting the World