Introduction to Spectrum Management and Regulations

1

DAY 3  Enforcement and Compliance –

DAY 3  Enforcement and Compliance –

Spectrum Management

Spectrum Management

Spectrum Management



Introduction



Justification of Spectrum Management



Spectrum as a Resource



Need for Spectrum Regulations



Tools for Enforcement



Spectrum Coordination



Spectrum monitoring and Compliance



Spectrum Fees

2

Definition of spectrum management

(as per ITU Study Group 1 ):



Spectrum management is the combination of

administrative and technical procedures

necessary to ensure the efficient utilization of

the radio-frequency spectrum by all

radiocommunication services defined in the ITU

Radio Regulations and the operation of radio

systems, without causing harmful interference.

3

Specific Terms Related to

Frequency Management (RR 1)



Allocation (of a frequency band): 

Entry in the Table of Frequency

Allocations of a given frequency band for the purpose of its use by

one or more terrestrial or space radiocommunication services or

the radio astronomy service under specified conditions. 



Allotment (of a radio frequency or radio frequency channel):

Entry of a designated frequency channel in an agreed plan, adopted

by a competent conference, for use by one or more

administrations for a terrestrial or space radiocommunication

service in one or more identified countries or geographical areas

and under specified conditions.



Assignment (of a radio frequency or radio frequency channel): 

Authorization given by an administration for a radio station to use

a radio frequency or radio frequency channel under specified

conditions.

4



Radiocommunication service: A service 

involving the

transmission, 

emission and/or reception of radio waves for specific

telecommunication purposes (RR 1).



Radiocommunication is sub-divided into 

space and terrestrial

radiocommunication:



Space radiocommunication is defined in Article 1 of the Radio

Regulations as “any 

radiocommunication involving the use of one or

more space stations or the use of one or more reflecting satellites

or other objects in space”.



Terrestrial radiocommunication is defined as “any radiocommunication

other than 

space  radiocommunication or radio astronomy”.



 Definitions for more than 40 radio services are provided (ITU RR,

AC National Table of Frequecy Allocation, 2017, ed 2016).

5

Specific Terms Related to

Frequency Management (RR 1)

Radio Regulations



The 

RR is the principal instrument of the 

international radio

regulatory arrangement



It is based on the use of two main concepts:

◦

Frequency block allocations intended for use by defined radio

services = Table of Frequency Allocations as contained in RR

Article 5 (from 9 kHz to 1 000 GHz)

◦

generally provides common frequency allocations to mutually

compatible services operating with similar technical

characteristics in specific parts of the spectrum  is a stable

planning environment for administrations, for equipment

manufacturers and for users

◦

Voluntary or obligatory regulatory procedures (for coordination,

notification and recording of assignments) adapted to the

allocation structure and vary from service to service



Objective to obtain international recognition of recorded

frequency assignments (RR Article 8)

6



It takes  4 years for spectrum to be allocated and identified at ITU

level



The allotment then assigned at national level until it is finally

deployed in the network.



Planning and Assignment of the spectrum is done at ITU WRC

every 4 year



Spectrum Requirements-Main Drivers:

◦

As mobile traffic increase   price decrease,

◦

 internet connection,

◦

 convergence to other industries,

◦

tablets& smart phones,

◦

new mobile applications

7

Spectrum Requirements

Justification for Enforcement



Spectrum as a Resource



Spectrum Requirements

◦

Spectrum as a Technical Resource



Spectrum Scarcity of Spectrum

8

CA Mandate



In accordance with the Kenyan Legislations, all radio

communication equipment in Kenya must be owned and/or

operated under a license, issued by CA and which must be kept in

force at all times by regular payment of the prescribed license fee.



This legislation is contained in the Kenya Communications Act

1998, Section 35 to Section 46.



This is Act is complemented by

◦

 the Kenya Communications Regulations, 2001 and 2009

(amendment) and

◦

other subsidiary legislations as  Government Legal notices /

Sector Policy statements that may be issued by the Minister in

charge of communications from time to 

time.



The Authority plans frequencies for use by various services every

four years following results from the WRC



National Table of Radio Frequency Allocations 2016 Edition is

available at the Website of the Authority.

9

The Services that Require

Frequency Licence



The services that require frequency licenses from CA include;

◦

TV and FM radio broadcasting;

◦

cellular mobile telecommunications,

◦

satellite communications;

◦

aeronautical and maritime radio services and;

◦

emergency and disaster communication services.



CA carries out inspection and monitoring exercises. to ensure that

assigned spectrum is used in accordance with the license terms and

conditions,



CA provides Guidelines for use of  Wireless Access Systems (WAS)

on Shared Non Protected Basis in the 2.4GHz and 5GHz

Frequency Bands

10

CA Mandate



CA is responsible  for management of the country’s

radio frequency spectrum resources.



Management of spectrum resource entails planning and

assignment of spectrum to various radio

communications services and users.



CA carries out national co-ordination to ensure

harmonious sharing of frequencies by various users and

services.



CA performs international and regional frequency co-

ordination to avoid harmful interference of frequency

users in different administrations.

11

Objectives of Spectrum Management



Spectrum management reflects many separate

activities, including :

◦

Planning  spectrum use,

◦

Allocating  and  Assigning spectrum licences,

◦

Enforcing  licence conditions,

◦

Interacting  with a regional and international

organisations etc. on assignments, etc.

12

Objectives of Spectrum Managements



Each of the objectives will have its own key

performance indicators.:

◦

An enforcement unit may have monitoring targets or

◦

A  licensing department’s performance may be

measured by the number of licences granted or  the

average amount of time taken to issue a license.



Such specific indicators can be separated from broader

objectives relating to the key spectrum management

role:

◦

which is deciding which frequencies should be put to

use for what purposes.

13

Objectives of Spectrum of Enforcement Unit



High Level-Economic objectives relate to:

◦

Ensuring   spectrum use in ways which meet the country’s goals

covering the efficient allocation of resources

◦

Ensuring  spectrum is employed by both private and public

sector organisations in ways which meet the countries economic

growth and other objectives.

◦

Ensure the licenses pay for their spectrum licences in time



High-Level Technical efficiency objectives relate to the more

specific goal of:

◦

Ensuring  that service frequencies are used in ways which allow

the maximum utilisation of the resource,

◦

Avoiding interference among users.

14

Spectrum Utilization and  Harmonization



Overview



International Framework



Regional Band Allocations and Uses



Utilization and Harmonization



Spectrum Coordination



Spectrum Change



TV White Spaces



Digital Dividend Spectrum

15

Overview



The radio spectrum is a subset of the electromagnetic waves lying

between the frequencies from 9 KHz – 30 GHz



 Supports a wide range of business, personal, industrial, scientific,

medical research and cultural activities, both public and private.



Communications are foremost among those activities and together

with other radio services, are increasingly important to economic

and social development.



Historically, access to and use of radio spectrum has been highly

regulated:

◦

to prevent interference among users of adjacent frequencies or

◦

to prevent interference from neighbouring geographic areas,

particularly for reasons of defence and security.



There have been continuous significant innovations in the theory of

spectrum management along with gradual changes in practice of

spectrum management and regulation.

16

Radio Frequency Utilization

17

Overview



The past and current regulatory practices

originally intended to promote the public

interest have:

◦

delayed, in some cases, the introduction and

growth of a variety of beneficial technologies

and services

◦

increased the cost of the same through an

artificial scarcity.



The demand for spectrum has grown

significantly highlighting the need for efficient

use available spectrum to avoid scarcity.

18

Overview



The  policy-makers and regulators worldwide focus anew on

spectrum regulation with an increasing emphasis on striking a

balance between:

◦

the certainty to ensure stable roll-out of services, and

◦

flexibility (or light-handed regulation) to improve in cost,

services and the use of innovative technologies.



In developing countries, mobile communications greatly outnumber

fixed line telecommunication services, spectrum is a highly valuable

resource for economic development.

19

International Framework



The international framework for the use of the radio frequency

spectrum is set out in a treaty – the 

Radio Regulations - ratified by

the 

Member States of the ITU



Within that international framework, countries manage their

national use of the spectrum.



At the highest level, countries do this through establishing a

National Frequency Allocation Table



The NFAT sets out what radio services can use which frequency

bands and under what conditions.

20

Radio Spectrum Utilization



The key characteristics of spectrum are the propagation features

and the amount of information which signals can carry.



The signals sent using the higher frequencies have lower

propagation distances but a higher data carrying capacity.



These physical characteristics of the spectrum limit the currently

identified range of applications for which any particular band is

suitable.



Some spectrum (e.g.,  UHF band 300-3000 MHz) is known to be

suitable for a wide variety of services and is thus in great demand.



Effective use of spectrum can make a big difference to a country’s

prosperity, especially where communications are heavily reliant

upon wireless technologies such as mobile phones.



Spectrum scarcity whether real or artificial can have an adverse

impact upon prosperity.

21

International Framework



Conditions of use vary widely, from inflexibly reserving

particular frequencies for uses which are specified in

detail, to considerable freedom in spectrum use for

particular 

bands or services.



Decisions are made at the international and national

levels on the purpose or purposes to which particular

frequencies will be put.



This is making spectrum allocations on either an

exclusive, shared, primary or secondary basis.



These decisions are reflected in the International and

National Tables of Frequency Allocations., assigning

particular frequencies to specified users.

22

World Spectrum Map

23

Radio Frequency Allocations

24



The radio frequency spectrum is a natural resource that is available

equally in every country but limited by technology and

management capability.



 There are radiocommunication systems that use the spectrum as a

function of geographical location and time, and;



Those  that use non-communication uses such as ISM (Industrial,

Scientific and Medical) equipments.



As the number of implemented radiocommunication networks

increases, the congestion of radio spectrum usage grows

accordingly;



Without some form of management, the transmission of radio

signals in the same frequency bands, time and geographical

locations by independent networks is certain to increase the

probability of interference.

25

Utilization and Harmonization



Interference-free operation of multi-channel

frequency-agile networks requires intelligent

spectrum management system.



Even diversification provided by an intelligent

spectrum management system in an advanced

radiocommunication network will offer only a

limited capability to guarantee transmission

quality.

26

Utilization and Harmonization



Long-range communications in international airspace

and waters, such as aeronautical and maritime

communications, spectrum management is a much more

sensitive and complicated task compared to the short-

range applications.



Coordination of spectrum utilization by terrestrial

stations around national borders is another spectrum

management task which needs special care.



Harmonized decisions on usage of frequency bands with

neighbouring countries are necessary to increase the

efficiency of spectrum utilization and speed up the

frequency coordination process.

27

Utilization and Harmonization



From the market perspective, economic delivery of

radiocommunication services and international roaming

requirements cannot be achieved except by harmonized utilization

of spectrum.



A massive loss of national resources and also delay in the

introduction of popular telecommunication services in the national

market may occur by having different national regulations or uses

for internationally harmonized bands.



In such cases, urgent action to harmonize national regulations and

spectrum use with the global situation would encourage the

growth of the telecommunication industry in the country

concerned.



At the international level, ITU, as a special agency of the UN, assists

global harmonization of relevant telecommunication activities,

including spectrum management.

28

Utilization and Harmonization



At the national level, member administrations are responsible for

coordinating their telecommunications activities with each other

directly or through the ITU to develop international

telecommunication regulations that satisfy national interests as well

as meeting the requirements of international trends.



Efficient administration of the increasing number of spectrum users

is possible only by using advanced administrative-technical tools.



By means of an automated spectrum management system (ASMS),

the responsible authorities may perform a variety of EMC

calculations, handle different scheduled administrative procedures

and store the records of all national spectrum users in an

electronic data base.

29

Utilization and Harmonization



Some of the capabilities of an ASMS include :

◦

interference resolution,

◦

supporting coordination with other administrations, charging

frequency usage, etc.



Moreover, an advanced ASMS facility may be connected to remote

monitoring stations to perform monitoring missions and identify

unauthorized spectrum utilization as well as quickly resolving cases

of harmful interference.



The ITU-R and ITU-D developed,  jointly,  ASMS computer

software programs to support national spectrum management.



However, many countries have acquired more advanced Spectrum

Management Systems

30

Utilization and Harmonization

Spectrum Coordination



The Importance of Coordination



The Levels of Coordination



ITU role in Spectrum Coordination



WRC and Radio Regulations



Procedures for Preparations for WRC



The role of Regional bodies

31

Importance of coordinating

framework



Adequate and timely availability of spectrum and supporting

regulatory provisions is essential to support future growth



Countries have to make available spectrum already identified for

new services in the Radio Regulations, e.g.  for IMT,



The failure comes as a result various reasons, including the use of

this spectrum by other systems and services.



The purpose of coordinating framework is to ensure the rational,

equitable, efficient and economical use of the radio-frequency

spectrum in each country of the world.



There is a fairly long lead time between the identification of

frequency bands by WRCs and the deployment of systems in the

bands.



The coordinating framework is to ensure the timely availability of

spectrum

32

Levels for the coordinating

framework



There are 3 levels for the coordinating framework of the

international use of the radio spectrum.



1st

 level: 

ITU-R

 for Global regulations (Coordinating the

international use of the radio spectrum in the world)



 2

nd

 level: 

Regional Organizations

 for Regional regulations

(Preparation of common coordinated proposals in the region)



3rd level: Administrations for national regulations (Governmental

Agencies for the national frequency arrangement and management)



facilitates international collaboration to ensure the rational,

equitable, efficient and economical use of the radio-frequency

spectrum and satellite orbits.

33

World Spectrum Map

34

Spectrum Change



Making Spectrum Change



Specifying Spectrum Blocks for New Services



Finding Spectrum for Emerging Applications



Spectrum Re-Planning, Re-farming and Change



Spectrum Change Enforcement and Compliance

35

Two main instruments to effect

spectrum re-farming and reallocation 



Market Driven



Policy or Regulation Driven

36

Spectrum Changes



Whatever the reason, there will be times when

spectrum users will have to make changes to

their operations.



The central issues that arise are:

◦

who decides,

◦

who will pay for the costs incurred by these users in

transitioning to new frequencies?



One solution involves the regulator establishing

a re-farming fund by setting aside a portion of

spectrum revenues.

37

 Modern spectrum management

is much about change.



Why?



Growing and competing demands



Changes in technology Dig.Migration-

DVB-T-DVBT2



Change of use; TV to mobile



Changes to International Agreements



Coexistence between adjacent users thus

changing interference environment

38

Modern spectrum management is

much about change.



Coexistence challenges of changes in spectrum

use(TVWS-TV White Spaces)-Poor equipment

standards  constraints on future changes in use.

e.g. out of band emissions



Change of spectrum held by government to

ensure efficient use.



Monitor changes in spectrum demands



Change of use may be necessary e.g. Clearing

the 800MHz band for mobile to ensure best use

of spectrum.

39

Finding spectrum for emerging

applications:



Two options:

•

buy new spectrum or

•

re-farm spectrum already in possession.



First method (if by auction) is time 

consuming

and costly



R

e-farming

 cheaper and swift but

requires perfect planning and

management.

40

Re-farming Definition



Re-farming may be seen as process constituting any basic change in

conditions of frequency usage in a given part of radio spectrum.

Such basic changes might be:

◦

Change of technical conditions for frequency assignments;

◦

Change of application (particular  radiocommunication system

using the band);

◦

Change of allocation to a different radiocommunication

service.(re-allocation due to change of ITFA)



It involves the clearing of frequencies from low-value (by economic

and/or social criteria) and reassignment to high-value applications.

(ITU Regulatory Tool Kit)

41

Administrative and Market Driven



The essential difference between administrative and market-driven

approaches is that under the administrative Approach:

◦

 the regulator makes the decision while considering several

criteria and possible competing objectives;

◦

Such  as: logical market-structure, financial, socio-economic, and

technical efficiency criteria.

◦

 The regulator’s analyses include factors such as prices, costs,

license conditions, withdrawal, and compensation.



Under a market driven approach, the criteria used and analyses

centre on financial and business factors with decisions resulting

from an agreement between two or more parties.

42

Policy or Regulation Driven Change



Policy or Regulation driven change is an

administrative action taking into account such

items as follows:

◦

Market Structure: facilitating competition

◦

Access: allows for better access and efficient use of

spectrum

◦

Revenue: The regulator may consider re-farming and

reallocation of spectrum in order to earn revenue

and also allow equity in distribution of spectrum.

43

Re-allocating / Re-farming

Spectrum



One of the biggest challenges the reallocation of spectrum is

reallocating frequencies  for  a different purpose when  they have

been used  for other purpose ,  perhaps for decades.



The need for reallocation – often known as re-farming - can arise

in several ways:

◦

International table of frequency allocations has changed and the

national table of frequency allocations must be realigned to be

consistent with it.

◦

Undeveloped radio service, while the spectrum available for

another service operating in a nearby frequency band is

insufficient.



New technologies become available which is more spectrum-

efficient, allowing spectrum to be freed up either for the same use

or other uses.

44

Re-allocating and Re-farming Spectrum

Central Issues and Solutions



Who decides, and who will pay for the costs incurred by these users in

transitioning to new frequencies?



 One solution involves the regulator establishing a re-farming fund by

setting aside a portion of spectrum revenues.



Various approaches for re-farming:



Administrative approach -  the regulator makes the decision while

considering several criteria and possible competing objectives such as:

logical market-structure,  financial, socio-economic, and technical efficiency

criteria.

◦

The regulator’s analyses will include factors such as prices, costs, license

conditions, withdrawal, and compensation.



 Market driven approach-  users determine the timing and price, the

criteria used and analyses centre on financial and business factors with

decisions resulting from an agreement between two or more parties.

45

The White Spaces



White Space Overview



Application



Regulatory Aspects of White Space



TV Terrestrial Broadcasting Frequency

Planning



Digital Dividend Spectrum Allocation



The Internet of Things (IoT).

46

What is White Space Spectrum?



The term “white space spectrum” refers to

frequencies that are not being used by existing

licensees at all times or at all locations.



A white space device can make use of these

frequencies provided that the risk of harmful

interference to the licensed users of the

spectrum can be appropriately managed.

47



Rural broadband :



This involves the use of TVWSs to provide fixed wireless

broadband communications to rural communities.



In this application a communications provider would

deliver radio coverage by deploying so called

“master”WSDs in the form of base stations.



The communications provider would also provide so

called “slave”WSDs in the form of consumer premises

equipment (CPE) which would connect to the master

WSDs over the UHF TV band.

48

Applications of  White Space?



Hot-spot coverage 



This involves the use of TVWSs to provide fixed or

mobile indoor/outdoor communications in hot-spots.



Similar to the way WiFi technology is used today for the

same purpose in coffee shops and public areas.



The slave WSDs would then be in the form of modem

cards or dongles in laptops or mobile phones.



As with the rural broadband case, the master WSDs

might be supported by the communication provider’s own

WSDB, or by a third party WSDB.

49

Applications of  White Space?



In-home broadband: 

◦

 This involves the use of TVWSs to provide in-home  wireless

communications,  as  WiFi technology and mobile network femto-

cells.

◦

In this application both the master and slave WSD would be

consumer equipment.

◦

The master would be in the form of a wireless router similar to

today’s broadband routers, and the slave in the form of a wireless

card or dongle in a PC, laptop, mobile phone, or other consumer

device.

50

Applications of  White Space?



In-home multi-media distribution: 

◦

 Not too different from the in-home broadband application,

◦

 TVWSs would be used to transfer multi-media content or other

data from one device to another, i.e., as a form of cable

replacement.



Machine-to-machine communications

◦

Refers to low data-rate connections between sensors and

devices used for purposes of control, telemetry, or remote

monitoring.

◦

Applications might include the control of consumer equipment

and devices in the home, control and monitoring of

equipment in factories, remote reading of utility meters and

remote sensing of the environment.

51

Applications of  White Space?

Technical and Regulatory aspects

of White Spaces



Decision Drivers of White Space



The main driver for the use of the TVWS frequencies is the

favourable propagation characteristics of radio waves in the UHF

TV band,



The ability of UHF to penetrate deep inside buildings.



Spectrum planning aspects

◦

Interference with existing licensed users



Regulatory developments at international level



The Digital Dividen

d

52

The co-existence Challenges



Potential interference from mobile base stations

that could affect the ability of some people to

receive DTT



Technical Countermeasures include:

◦

 Filters for DTT consumer equipment

◦

 Filters for mobile base stations

◦

 Changes to aerials including reorientation

and cross polarisation

◦

 Mobile base station power reductions

53

The Digital Dividend



The Digital Dividend resides in the ranges of broadcast spectrum –

VHF (30 MHz – 300 MHz) and UHF (300 MHz – 3.0 GHz).



The most common definition of the Digital Dividend is:

◦

the amount of spectrum in the VHF and UHF bands that is above

that amount nominally required to accommodate existing

analogue TV programmes and that might be potentially freed up

in the switchover from analogue to digital television.



Spectrum is becoming available since digitally transmitted broadcast

services (principally, television) now require a smaller amount of

spectrum than the amount needed to accommodate existing

analogue transmissions.

54

Digital Dividend by ITU Region

55

Source: ITU Radio Regulations 2007

Note: Identified for IMT on Primary Basis  past 17 June 2015

Need for digital TV Frequency Plan



In the framework of the digital switch-over process new channels

have to be assigned to enable digital broadcasting of:



the existing and already planned analogue TV services; existing and

possibly new services from additional sites future HDTV services;

possibly digital radio services;  and mobile communication services



Approaches for developing a Frequency plan

◦

Evolutionary frequency plan:  starts from an existing situation

and is developed by adding assignments when needed

◦

A-priori frequency plan : all known and expected (long term)

requirements are planned at once.



In both cases, interference calculations are carried out and a station

is only entered into the plan when it is compatible with the other

plan entries.

56

The Digital Dividend



Digital compression systems (DTV) allow six to eight standard

digital television channels (depending on the coding and modulation

techniques) to be transmitted in the radio-frequency spectrum

previously used by a single analogue channel.



More content can be carried for a given amount of spectrum.



New technologies are likely to continue to increase the capacity of

the current DTT multiplexes and hence allow more services to be

provided without using additional spectrum that is in high demand

for other uses.



Estimates of the size and value of the digital dividend vary by ITU

region and national circumstances.

57



Decision-making processes for digital switchover and potential uses

of the Digital Dividend, along with spectrum re-allocation decisions,

have been driven essentially by political considerations.



These decision-making  processes have pitted one set of interests

(telecommunication operators and service providers) against the;



influential and powerful interests, such as consumers who primarily

bear the cost of replacing in-home equipment and stakeholders,

such as government departments and broadcasters



Two important considerations for politicians concerning the Digital

Dividend conisdered:

◦

 measuring the public value of broadcast services and

◦

reserving spectrum for future use



58

DD: Main Decision Driving Factors

DD: Main Decision Driving Factors



Choosing how much spectrum to allocate and for

whom,



Regulators placed emphasis on social development and

cultural goals. Market mechanisms do not necessarily

take public policy priorities into account,



In the case of broadcast, governments often intervene in

allocation decisions to ensure that public-value

broadcast content is available.



Public values are often strongly defended and yet they

are hard to quantify because:

◦

it is difficult to measure in terms of incremental

spectrum assignments.

59

Should some DD Spectrum be

reserved for future use?



To answer this question, it is necessary to

consider two central issues:

◦

the uncertainty over the best use of the

reserved spectrum both now and in the

future and

◦

 the lack of 

information available, i

n the

potential for regulatory decisions to have

undesirable effects on the incentives for

spectrum efficiency.

60

End Session 3 and  Day 2

END OF DAY 2

61