1.1 This document sets out Ofcom's decision to vary the Wireless Telegraphy 28 GHz Broadband Fixed Wireless Access (BFWA) licences of Urban Wimax Limited and Cable & Wireless UK so as to:
- extend the licence duration indefinitely beyond the current expiry date of 31 December 2015;
- apply, where applicable, the technical terms of Interface Requirement 2048 (IR 2048) to align with other 28 GHz licences; and
- apply, from January 2016, administered incentive pricing per geographic region at a rate yet to be determined but which will be decided as part of (or in parallel with) the fees review for fixed link bands.
1.2 The Consultation on these licence variation requests set out two options for dealing with the period beyond end 2015:
- Vary the licences to make them indefinite and introduce annual fees from the date at which the licences would have expired; or
- Decline the variation requests and hold a new award process for the spectrum access rights that relate to the period following the expiry of the current licences (the new award process would be an auction).
1.3 We have considered carefully the responses received and have concluded, in light of our duties and for the reasons set out in this Statement, that it is appropriate to vary the licences held by Urban Wimax Limited and Cable & Wireless UK by extending them so that they become of indefinite duration. We consider that this variation will provide licence holders with clarity of spectrum tenure/use beyond 2015 and should remove the main obstacle to investment, development and use of the spectrum in the meantime; it will do sooner than the alternative of holding an auction. We also consider that this approach is a more proportionate and cost effective process by which to promote the optimal future use of the spectrum, noting that these licences can be traded (with a history of having been traded on a number of occasions already) and that spectrum pricing will apply from the end of 2015.
1.4 Ofcom will offer this variation, on request, to other BFWA licence holders, noting in particular that UK Broadband indicated via its response that it intends to request the variation.
The full document is available below