OTTAWA – The broadcasting industry is opposing a plan by Industry Canada to allow fixed and mobile services – in addition to broadcasting – in portions of the L-band. Aerospace players say they want a piece of the band as well to accommodate testing of aeronautical mobile telemetry (AMT).
The L-band is divided into three sub-segments: 1435-1452 MHz is used for subscriber radio systems (SRS); 1452-1492 MHz is allocated to digital audio broadcasting (DAB) and has some SRS services; and the 1492-1525 MHz has an SRS and mobile satellite services allocation. This upper part of the band is the least used.
The 1452-1492 MHz portion of the band has seen very little deployment of DAB services in Canada as radio companies here have all but stopped any move towards digital radio, but broadcasters say removing their near exclusive use of the band could inhibit future service development.
The Canadian Association of Broadcasters says the majority of this band should be used exclusively for broadcasting activities. It argues that its radio members need this spectrum to address “increasing demand” for over the air services by Canadians over the next 30 years.
“Moreover, the future disposition of this spectrum will have a critical bearing on the ability of broadcasters to develop innovative digital services that can provide the public with much more than basic stereo audio programming, especially new multimedia content and datacasting services,” the association states in comments to Industry Canada.
The ministry is proposing to remove the DAB designation in the band and replace it with flexible-use licences that would encourage the deployment of other services, including “subscription broadcasting, multimedia, mobile or fixed broadband wireless access, or other telecommunications applications,” Industry Canada states in its consultation DGTP-010-09.
DAB in the L-band has been around since the 1990s and despite the licensing of 76 radio stations, almost nothing has happened on the deployment front. While some stations went to air, others closed up shop. This lack of development, however, can also be attributed to Industry Canada’s decision in May 2007 to impose a moratorium on DAB licensing in the band.
As well, the failure to significantly develop DAB in the band is the result of international developments, notably a decision by US radio broadcasters to deploy their own made in the US solution HD Radio, also known as in-band, on-channel (IBOC).
Rogers Communications, owners of 54 radio stations, echoes the sentiment expressed by the CAB. “Rogers believes that this band should be used to support a variety of broadcasting services, including multimedia and mobile applications, such as digital mobile multimedia broadcasting (DMB), DAB+ and Mobile TV,” the media and communications conglomerate tells the department.
The CBC is less concerned about the DAB designation remaining official as long as the department retains broadcasting as the primary use of the 1452-1492 MHz band. Lack of DAB services in the band shouldn’t lead Industry Canada to conclude that other services can be allowed.
“Such a policy would be short-sighted given the pace of change in wireless technology and the evolution of broadcasters to multi-media platforms,” the public broadcaster states.
The Corp. is concerned that the proposal “to let market forces play a greater role in determining the services to be offered in this spectrum” will put broadcasters at a disadvantage. This “will inevitably lead to the exclusion of both public and private broadcasting uses of this spectrum due to the comparatively weaker economics of the broadcasting sector.”
Aerospace companies Bell Helicopter Textron Canada Inc. and Bombardier Aerospace say they need an additional 25 MHz of spectrum by 2012 for aeronautical mobile telemetry (AMT) testing, and allocating 1452-1477 MHz would work on an interim basis. They propose shifting existing DAB licences to the 1477-1492 MHz frequencies.
Other options are available for AMT services. Industry Canada has proposed allowing AMT in the 1492-1525 MHz band after a five-year transition period so operators can migrate their SRS services to the lower part of the L-band (1435-1452 MHz).
Bell Helicopter and Bombardier suggest this solution is only viable if the department shortens the transition period for SRS so they could get access to the spectrum by 2012.
But Bell Canada says this would negatively affect about 2,600 customers, who rely on SRS for basic telephony surrounding the Downsview airport near Toronto and the Mirabel airport close to Montreal.
Both the aerospace companies and Bell acknowledge that further technical studies are required to determine if SRS and AMT can co-exist in the band.
Perry Hoffman is a freelance writer based in Ottawa.
