UK military faces spectrum sell off
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The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) may sell off some of its reserved radio spectrum, potentially for large sums. Guidelines for sale of military frequencies are being drawn up by the communications regulator, Ofcom.
“Public bodies and the MoD in particular hold some of the most valuable and sought-after radio spectrum," said Ofcom chief Ed Richards earlier today.
"By working with these organisations we are enabling them to trade and release this spectrum which will create new opportunities for the development of wireless services for the whole country."
The idea behind allowing public bodies to trade in spectrum is that market conditions will ensure the most economically efficient use of the available capability, so benefiting the nation as a whole.
According to the regulator, public-sector organisations hold around half the spectrum in the desirable sub-15GHz range, with the MoD accounting for three-quarters of this (or about a third overall). Ofcom indicated that the government bands could be worth anywhere from £3bn to £20bn+, suggesting that the MoD is sitting on up to £15bn-worth of air.
The MoD is said to be "committed to sharing", and will consult on proposals in May. With the UK defence budget currently under severe pressure, it's certainly believable that the military brass may be eager to make sales - even if they don't get to keep the money. Under Treasury accounting rules introduced in recent years, holding onto the spectrum could cause serious financial difficulties if the frequencies stay on the MoD balance sheet as capital assets.®
COMMENTS
The Air we Breathe Next - on easy PAYG terms
I almost despair - but that doesn't quite fit, selling off the sky... yeah , right as if we actually need more dishonest predatory corporates providing wireless "services" - if they thought they could sell the air we breathe I'm sure some grasping pen pusher with one eye to "retirement" in the corporate sector would try - the can of "Perriair" in the Mel Brookes' "SpaceBalls" comes to mind.
Give it to Google I say - that'd cause some splutterings in boardrooms
It's only a thought - but how far up - does the government reckon to own electromagnetic radiation?
When I read the title
I expected a report of them listing their rubber keyed Sinclair Spectrum's on Ebay.
out of date but worth looking aat for a graphic overview...
http://www.onlineconversion.com/downloads/uk_frequency_allocations_chart.pdf
@Nigee: the organisation you are thinking of is probably the ITU, yes there are international agreements on how some of the spectrum shall be used, yes countries are allowed to vary it on their local soil.
in the end, mil/gov will probably keep primary user status, allowing for secondary users on spectrum that they are not currently using.
Why did the military grab lots to begin with? because when they had the oportunity to grab, nobody knew which bits of it would be god for what so the mil grabbed lots to be sure it wold have the bits it needed for effective operations. we have a lot better idea (but far from perfect) of the potential uses of different areas or the spectrum now.
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