11th Review Meeting

11TH FACSMAB Review Meeting

AITI HOSTED THE 11TH FACSMAB REVIEW MEETING

The Authority for Info-communications Technology Industry of Brunei Darussalam(AITI) hosted the 11th Frequency Assignment Committee, Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei(FACSMAB) Review meeting on 20th January 2011. It was held at the Mangrove Paradise Resort, Kota Batu. The meeting Was attended by Telecommunication Regulatory bodies from Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia and Singapore.

The meeting was chaired by the Chief Executive of AITI, Hj Yahkup Hj Menudin. The Singapore delegation was lead by Mr. Leong Keng Thai, Director General of Telecom & Post, Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) and Malaysia delegation was lead by Puan Norizan Baharin, on behalf of the Chairman of the Malaysian Communications & Multimedia Commission (MCMC).

Land Mobile Services in 29.7 – 87.5 MHz

Several frequency bands are allocated for land mobile services to support the growth in the demand for its services well as advances in land mobile technology. The highly demanded frequency bands for land mobile services are as follows: – 30 – 50 MHz (VHF low band) – 70 – 87.5 MHz(VHF mid band) – 138 – 174 MHz(VHF high band) – 403 – 450 MHz(UHF band) – 851 – 866 MHz(800 MHz band)

FACSMAB members had successfully agreed on several frequency band plans for land mobile services which include 162 – 174 MHz band, 410 – 430 MHz band and 800 MHz band. However, There are no band plans for VHF low band and VHF mid band.

The radio propagation characteristic of VHF low and mid bands provides good coverage which requires few base stations in a network and therefore an economical solution. These bands are mainly used in military’s wireless tactical communications.

Digitalisation of FM Radio Band II

The ITU Radio Regulations Article 5 has allocated the frequency band 87.5 – 108 MHz to terrestrial broadcasting services in Region 3. It is widely used for sound broadcasting and is also commonly referred to as FM Band II.

Due to its excellent combination of coverage, sound quality and low cost nature both I terms of current networks available and receiver in the market, this band is regarded as an important spectrum for FM broadcasting. It is used for national, regional and local coverage corresponding to different demands.

Although FM broadcasting in Band II has been successfully used for the past forty years, there is a need to look into the possibility of digitalization of Band II for audio broadcasting services to address current frequency use congestion as well as to cater for future demands.

Existing radio broadcasting in analogue mode in the MW, SW was well as FM bands has some drawbacks compared to the emerging digital sound broadcasting systems in terms of quality, bandwidth as well as dynamic range. In addition, digital transmission provides flexibility for transmitting multi-channel programmes with added attractive value added services.

Harmonised Sub- Band Plan in the 150 – 174 MHz and 440 – 450 MHz bands

There have been growing demands by the government and private sectors alike for spectrum in the 150 – 74 MHz and 440 – 450 MHz bands for their private network and telemetry applications.

This has been seen from the increasing trend in number of frequency registrations in these bands at FACSMAB meetings. Since there have been no sub-band plans for these two bands so far, it is timely for FACSMAB members to harmonize the band plans in order to expedite the frequency coordination process and facilitate fast roll out the user’s telecommunication network.

Harmonised Sub- Band Plan in the 150 – 174 MHz and 440 – 450 MHz bands

There have been growing demands by the government and private sectors alike for spectrum in the 150 – 74 MHz and 440 – 450 MHz bands for their private network and telemetry applications.

This has been seen from the increasing trend in number of frequency registrations in these bands at FACSMAB meetings. Since there have been no sub-band plans for these two bands so far, it is timely for FACSMAB members to harmonize the band plans in order to expedite the frequency coordination process and facilitate fast roll out the user’s telecommunication network.

Coexistence of Broadcasting Satellite Services and Wireless Broadband Access services in 2.5GHz Band

The deployment of 3G mobile communication systems has brought about a paradigm shift in mobile communications. The next stage is now underway globally for the introduction of 4G mobile communication system that will offer end users higher data rates and shorter latency.

In accordance with footnote 5.384A of the Radio Regulations 2008, the band 2500 – 2690 MHz (2.5GHz band) is one of the bands identified by WRC-07 for use by administration wishing to implement IMT. It is anticipated that the 2.5 GHz band will be adopted for the 4G deployment among the other bands. Mobile technologies capable of delivering performances in line with market expectations have already been announced. Amongst them, Long Term Evolution (LTE) and WiMax have received the most attention.

LTE in the 2.5 GHz band was approved and included as one of the FACSMAB agenda items in the 9th FACSMAB Review meeting. In this regard, the agenda item was to look into three issues and they are (i) the frequency availability; (ii) channeling plan; and (iii) the border coordination with DG Postel with regard to its Broadcast Satellite Services (BSS) in 2.5 GHz band.

The BSS had been deployed in Riau islands (specifically Batam and Bintan) and due to the sensitivity nature of the BSS earth station, the coordination with DG Postel on the coexistence of BSS and Wireless Broadband Access (WBA) services posed as the main challenge.