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Technical Review | January-March 2012


PMP Conference


The conference addressed various issues that pertain to sustainability of broadcasting in the region, including the challenges faced by PSB with changing consumer demands and habits, the possibilities which new media offer the Pacific broadcasters and the relevance of digital TV and radio to broadcasters operating in the Pacific.


Nine CEOs of media organisations put forward their viewpoints in a CEO Forum session on the theme, “The Way Forward for Pacific Broadcasters” which discussed issues crucial to the sustainability and development of broadcasting and to finding solutions.


The Conference adopted a key declaration calling on governments, international organisations and all stakeholders


to assist and empower the broadcasters in the Pacific region to help them carry out their mandate of providing information, education and entertainment through their services to audiences. More specifically the PMP Declaration asked the Governments in the Pacific countries to consider providing assistance to their broadcasters to help them in capacity building and strengthening of their infrastructure and services.


The composite event provided a platform for the Pacific broadcasters to share knowledge and expertise to improve the electronic media in the region and, in particular, for broadcasters from the smaller islands to articulate their experiences and help in finding solutions. We are thankful to the FES, UNESCO, UN-AIDS, CBA, ITU, ABC, NHK Intl, Sasakawa Foundation, RNZ and PIAF for their funding and support ‘in kind.’


WRC-12 Results for Broadcasters


The World Radiocommunication Conference 2012 (WRC- 12) took place in Geneva in Jan-Feb this year. Among the agenda items were three relating directly to the broadcasting services spectrum; easy access to operating frequencies for ENG and EFP links; orderly usage of the 22 GHz spectrum for Ultra-HDTV satellite broadcasting and the possible sharing of the upper part of the UFH TV band with mobile phone services.


Spectrum Harmonisation for ENG links gets a No


This item pertained to the frequencies that being used for setting up links for ENG, EAP, wireless microphones and wireless cameras while covering outside broadcast events. These frequencies are in various bands spread all over the spectrum, generally not the same in all countries, or even in neighbouring countries. It is very difficult for ENG operators to coordinate the use of link frequencies and more so in a foreign country.


The discussion centered on at finding ways to identify common frequencies (harmonisation) which would be used in neighbouring countries. This would have greatly facilitated the operating procedures for seeking access to frequencies.


At the conference, while most broadcasters were supportive of frequency harmonisation, the majority of the national regulators were opposed to any such moves. As a result, the conference responded with a decision for “no change” in the regulations.


Orderly Use of 22GHz BSS Spectrum Achieved


This agenda item addressed how to set up orderly usage of the spectrum from 21.4 to 22 GHz frequency band in Region 1 (Europe and Africa) and Region 3 (most of Asia-Pacific) for use by BSS satellites for delivery of direct-to-home Ultra HDTV broadcasting services. The last


WRC had decided to leave the band for use on a first- come-first-served basis. Since that time, many countries had filed for a large number of satellite systems in the band, totaling more than 1000.


Resulting from the above an important goal had become to set up orderly use of the spectrum and orbital resources, and also to prevent individual countries from commandeering all the orbital slots. The conference arrived at solutions to all major aspects, including technical and operating parameters of the BSS satellites, regulatory provisions governing use of spectrum and orbital slots, reducing the number of satellite filings, providing spectrum for uplinks and, most importantly, providing opportunities for equitable access to the spectrum and orbital space resources for all countries.


Sharing of 790-862 MHz band with Mobile Service


This item looked into the compatibility issues of sharing the UHF band between the incumbent services (including TV services) and the mobile service (mobile telephony, mobile data etc). The main issue for this region was the terms and conditions under which band sharing would be allowed.


In this regard, ITU’s studies had found that, in general, the current regulations were adequate to handle the sharing issues. However, according to the broadcasters, these studies were flawed because interference calculations had taken into account only one mobile base station and not the cumulative effect of multiple mobile base stations involved in practical mobile coverage.


As far as the band 790 to 862 MHz, for Region 3, was concerned, the conference made virtually no change in the regulations. It asked for studies to protect existing and future broadcasting stations, both analogue and digital, and to provide results to WRC-15. Another result was that, in Region 1, the 694-790 MHz band was identified for use by mobile services from 2015.


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