Author - Julia Ofori-Addo

Proposed licence fees for 412-414 MHz paired with 422-424 MHz

Ofcom has published the proposed licence fees for the 412–414 MHz and 422–424 MHz paired spectrum which is currently licensed to Arqiva and Airwave. Arqiva won this spectrum in a 2006 auction, with a 15-year initial licence period during which no additional fees would be required. The initial period will come to an end later this year at which point an annual licence fee will become payable. Arqiva traded part of the spectrum with Airwave in 2008 – making Airwave the co-licensee.

Ofcom is proposing that the annual fee be set at £396,000 per MHz, which is in line with what Business Radio users pay for a UK-wide licence in nearby bands.

The deadline for comments is 16 July 2021.

Ofcom’s consultation on future regulation of telephone numbers

Ofcom has launched a consultation which proposes the removal of the requirement to provide a local dialling facility and banning direct and indirect revenue-sharing across geographic and non-geographic number ranges. Local dialling is where a person makes a call from one landline to another landline in the same area without needing to dialling the area code. The migration to IP will affect all landline phone users and is fundamentally restructuring how voice services are provided across the UK. Revenue-sharing occurs where a phone company shares the revenue that it receives for terminating a call with a third party.

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BSG Paper ‘COVID & accelerated digitalisation: the implications for broadband’

The UK is undergoing a fundamental re-evaluation of the value that telecoms bring to the UK economy. The pandemic has consolidated the pivotal role that digital connectivity plays in underpinning the economy and wider society. Broadband and mobile connectivity have been the backbone of the accelerated drive to digital adoption, as the paper by Robert Kenny of Communications Chambers sets out. (more…)