[kictanet] Fw: PRESS RELEASE ON SURRENDER OF FREQUENCIES

Fri Mar 16 11:20:44 EAT 2012

fyi from CCK. 
walu.
nb: Sounds like the frequency wars are heating up again.

--- On Fri, 3/16/12, Wambua, Christopher <Wambua at cck.go.ke> wrote:

From: Wambua, Christopher <Wambua at cck.go.ke>
Subject: PRESS RELEASE ON SURRENDER OF FREQUENCIES
To: "Walubengo J" <jwalu at yahoo.com>
Date: Friday, March 16, 2012, 11:08 AM

Walu, 

Please circulate this to
listers. 

Wambua 

From: Wambua, Christopher

Sent: Friday, March 16, 2012 11:05 AM

To: 'kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke'

Subject: PRESS RELEASE ON SURRENDER OF FREQUENCIES

Importance: High 

      PRESS   RELEASE 

16th
March 2012 

Listers, 

CCK’s
response to agitation for surrender of broadcasting frequencies  

The attention of the Communications
Commission of Kenya (CCK) has been drawn to media reports attributed to one of
the mobile operators in the country calling for the surrender of assigned
broadcasting frequencies on the 700MHz band to mobile operators and other
service providers for use in the deployment of 4G services (i.e. superfast
mobile broadband/Internet services).  

The CCK wishes to
respond to the agitation as follows: 

1.     
The
spectrum in question   

The spectrum/frequencies in question here (i.e.
700MHz band) will only become available for re-assignment for use in deployment
of non-broadcasting services after the successful migration from analogue to
digital TV broadcasting. According to an international agreement reached at the
International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in 2006, member countries party to
the agreement (including states in Africa, Europe, Russia and the Middle East)
set 17th June 2015 as the global deadline for the switch-off of
analogue TV broadcasting. The ITU is a specialized UN agency in the field of
ICTs to which Kenya is affiliated. As a member of the ITU, Kenya is bound by
the provisions of this agreement.   

2.     
Transition
to digital TV broadcasting  

To prepare the country for smooth and timely
transition to digital TV broadcasting, the Government of Kenya constituted the
Digital Television Committee (DTC) to oversee the migration process. The DTC
recommended an early transition deadline of 2012 to enable the country to have
the flexibility and time to address any difficulties that may arise before the
multi-laterally agreed deadline of 2015. The demand for broadcasters to
surrender frequencies in the 700 MHz band immediately to mobile operators,
therefore, cannot be justified at this point.  In any case, even the 2012
national deadline for migration to the digital TV broadcasting is not cast in
stone. As has happened in other countries, the deadline could be postponed if
there are challenges in achieving it.   

3.     
Impracticable
and ill-timed proposition 

Surrender of frequencies in the 700MHz band
currently in use for broadcasting services would be ill-timed and
impracticable. This is because the transition to digital broadcasting is being
implemented in the same frequency band that is used for analogue TV
broadcasting. The digital signal is at the moment only available in Nairobi,
which means that the rest of the country is still dependent on analogue TV
transmissions. Thus the existing analogue TV broadcasters cannot switch off
their services without disconnecting a sizeable proportion of consumers. This
explains why the country is on a simulcast period where both digital and
analogue TV signals are on air. The switch-off of the analogue TV signals will
only be done when the Government is satisfied that digital signal coverage is
available nationwide.   

4.     
Statutory
mandate over frequency spectrum management 

The responsibility of managing frequency spectrum in
Kenya is vested in CCK by law (that is by the Kenya Information and
Communications Act, CAP 411A). In addition, CCK is the designated
Government representative to the ITU, where international treaties/agreements
and international regulations on frequency spectrum management and other ICT
issues are made. Therefore only the CCK has the statutory mandate to assign
spectrum (to broadcasters, mobile operators and other assignees) and to recall
frequencies, where necessary, in line with the provisions of international
agreements and regulations as well as national law.   

5.     
Orderly
planning of freed up spectrum 

Owing to the vast investments in the existing
analogue infrastructure for TV broadcasting, the migration to digital TV
broadcasting shall be done in an orderly way and freed up spectrum shall be
surrendered to CCK for re-planning and re-assignment. The re-planning exercise
shall involve deciding on the modalities of re-assignment, including use of
market-based allocation methodologies such as spectrum auction. Re-assignment
shall take due consideration of the various competing radio-communication
services that require access to this vital spectrum.  

In view of the foregoing, it is premature to agitate
for re-allocation of spectrum that is not even available in the first place. In
any case, the World Radiocommunications Conference 2012 held in Geneva,
Switzerland, early this year resolved that the implementation date for
assignment of spectrum in the frequency band 694-790MHz to mobile services
would be 2015, subject to results of studies conducted between now and then on
the feasibility of implementing mobile services in part or in the entire
694-790MHz frequency range. Spectrum on this band is currently allocated to
broadcasting services. Thus, it is the said studies that will effectively
determine the amount of digital dividends (or freed up spectrum) that will
emerge from the 694-790MHz frequency range for use in deployment of
non-broadcasting services (including superfast mobile broadband/internet and
other services).  

As a public body, CCK remains open to receive
representations and comments on any regulatory issue touching on the ICT
sector. Such representations should, however, be done within the framework of
the law, without causing public confusion and exerting unwarranted pressure on
the duly licensed players in the broadcasting industry.   

Issued by 

Francis W. Wangusi 

Ag. Director-General  

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