As previously noted, Real Wireless is at World Radio Conference 2012. Here’s the first update on progress:

WRC-12 is well under way. Over 3000 delegates from over 150 countries, numerous international organisations and a diverse range of industries are considering over 2500 proposals. At the end of the first week, some agenda items have been dealt with, at least at the working level. Others however have raised major problems and conflicts. One, strictly beyond the scope of the WRC agenda, concerns an attempt to extend the mobile allocation in the UHF TV band in Europe, Africa and the Middle East below the current limit of 790 MHz. This has proved very controversial. On the positive side however, there is a good degree of consensus on including in the agenda of the next WRC (scheduled for late 2015) a wide-ranging item to look at the needs of mobile broadband/IMT and consider new frequency allocations. There is enormous pressure to complete all of the detailed work in time for formal approval by the WRC. This is requiring multiple meetings in parallel every day, including the weekends. The first week seems to have gone very quickly and there are only 3 more to go!

Real Wireless celebrates its 5th birthday this month. To celebrate we thanked customers, partners and friends with a party at Glazier’s Hall, right next to the River Thames adjacent to London Bridge. We had a cake and even a party game as befits a birthday. The talk was lively – and not only about wireless. Thanks again to all who have got us to this point and we look forward to many more exciting years in the wonderful world of wireless.

Real Wireless will be represented at the ITU’s World Radiocommunication Conference in Geneva, which starts on 23 January and will last for 4 weeks. International Spectrum Policy Advisor Mike Goddard will be on the UK delegation advising and supporting the UK regulator Ofcom and the Ministry of Defence. This year’s conference, which could have over 2000 participants from about 140 countries, will decide on frequency allocations and regulatory provisions for a wide range of radio services across a broad range of the radio spectrum. Mike has also been supporting GSMA, the mobile industry’s global forum, in seeking an agenda item on mobile broadband for the following WRC due in 2015.

The ITU website has the full details, and Mike will be posting regular updates. 

Our report on the features of LTE and HSPA and how they might change over time has just been published. This includes a detailed look at the standards, comparing the roadmap of capabilities which will emerge from the 3G standards. It also includes a roundup of the mobile devices which have been announced by manufacturers and an exclusive look at a survey of manufacturers (conducted by the nice folks at Rethink Research) regarding their plans to support various features and frequency bands in future devices.

The full report is available here, and the wider consultation documents published by Ofcom are here.

Our report on the cost of extending an 800 MHz coverage obligation for the UK has just been published by Ofcom, alongside their further consultation on the award of 800 MHz and 2.6 GHz spectrum.

Example of extending LTE 800 MHz coverage for mid and North Wales

We extended our modeling tools specifically for the purpose to allow us to efficiently place new sites – both macrocells and small cells – on a cost-efficient basis, taking full account of terrain and the locations of users.

The full report is available here, and the wider consultation documents are here. Further information on this project is available here.

Real Wireless have been appointed by Ofcom to investigate long-term capacity issues for mobile networks. The project involves a cost-benefit assessment which accounts for:

· demand

· technology

· topology (offload and small cell) and

· spectrum issues

over the next 20 years. The study follows our earlier study for Ofcom on the capacity gains associated with 4G mobile technology .

We would welcome input from industry generally to help inform this study. Please e-mail info with any relevant information and we will be in contact.

Real Wireless are speaking at the Westminster EForum event Delivering the UK’s Broadband Future. We’re joining a panel of distinguished guests from Neil, Everything Everywhere, Hughes Systems and others to debate the issues involved in covering not-spots and ensuring national coverage.

The event is on Tuesday 10th November at Sixty One Whitehall, London. Full details at:

http://www.westminsterforumprojects.co.uk/forums/event.php?eid=304

There have been several discussions on spectrum in UK parliamentary circles recently. We thought it would be useful to gather these in one place for reference:

• Rural broadband and mobile coverage: House of Commons debate, 19th May http://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2011-05-19b.557.0
•  DCMS and Ofcom –  Oral evidence t0  Culture, Media and Sport committee, 5th July http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201012/cmselect/cmcumeds/uc1258-iii/uc125801.htm
• Telefonica-O2, Vodafone, Inmarsat, Intellect – Oral evidence to Culture, Media and Sport committee 28th June http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201012/cmselect/cmcumeds/uc1258-ii/uc125801.htm
•  Arqiva, Everything Everywhere, Three – Oral evidence to Culture, Media and Sport committee, 21st June http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201012/cmselect/cmcumeds/uc1258-i/uc125801.htm

Transcript:  http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/culture-media-and-sport-committee/news/committee-announces-new-inquiry-into-spectrum/

Video: http://www.parliamentlive.tv/Main/Player.aspx?meetingId=8662

• Written evidence: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201012/cmselect/cmcumeds/writev/1258/contents.htm
• Terms of reference for inquiry into spectrum, 10th May

Real Wireless is proud to announce that we are collaborating with Intellect – who represent the UK technology industry – to offer a one-day comprehensive update on the latest trends in the mobile market and networks. The course will be run at Intellect’s offices for the first time on 3rd October 2011 and includes details of:

• Mobile broadband demand
• Changing mobile business structures
• Technology evolution (3G, LTE, WiMAX etc)
• Regulatory framework
• Spectrum
• Mobile network topology evolution
• Future trends

Ofcom just published our report which highlights studies relevant to technical licence conditions for the 2.6 GHz band. This accompanies Ofcom’s own consultation document highlighting their proposed licence conditions for both 2.6GHz and 800 MHz.

The specific areas examined are:

• The need to protect FDD base station receivers from interference from TDD systems operating in the restricted block of unpaired spectrum
• The optimum frequency placement for low-power FDD  access points (including femtocells, microcells and picocells)
• Potential coordination rules to limit uplink and downlink interference to standard power networks from low power access points which share spectrum in the ‘hybrid’ approach which we examined in a previous report.
• Issues which could constrain the number of  licences for shared low power access.

The full report is available here, together with the Ofcom consultation document. The closing date for consultation responses is 28th July 2011.