FINAL REPORT - Stakeholders - Ofcom

However the situation would be somewhat different for users. It is likely that a new
receiver would have to be fitted for Galileo systems; indeed one scenario suggests that
the Galileo Operating Company will obtain revenue from royalties on chipset sales, paid
by equipment providers who incorporate a Galileo chip in their products, to allow users to
get the open access service. Additional revenues would come from service providers who
envisage utilising the encrypted signals to offer other enhanced services. With such
scenarios in mind it is likely that a significant period of time must elapse before the current
DGPS can be curtailed since the navigation of UK and Irish waters by non British Isles
(Ireland, UK and Isle of Man) flagged vessels could be impaired. The current cost for
DGPS equipment is between £600 and £2000. On top of this would be the cost of fitting
and training. This cost in turn may be extrapolated to provide a hint of the possible costs
involved if a country’s maritime fleet required to be fitted with new equipment.
Until such time it is also clear that the accuracy advantage afforded by DGNSS (1-10 m)
remains essential for meeting the IMO requirement for navigation in restricted waters. In
addition the accuracy advantage of DGNSS remains significant for specialised positioning
applications, whilst the relaxed requirement for data latency may improve the effective
availability of the service in marginal areas and offers the potential to reuse part of the
datalink capacity. This opens up many opportunities to improve the service by increasing
coverage or by providing additional information. Lastly, the introduction of phase
corrections could allow the service to meet the most stringent accuracy requirements in
IMO Resolution A.860(20).
6.3.9.5 Possible use of eventual vacated spectrum
The band 283.5 - 325 kHz is adjacent to the 148.5 – 283.5 kHz LF broadcasting band in
Region 1 and overlaps and is adjacent to the primary and exclusive aeronautical
radionavigation band 325 – 405 kHz used for non directional beacons (NDBs).
It would seem that the DGPS could to a certain extent be treated in a similar manner to
any overall review of spectrum between 283.5 kHz and 526.5 kHz which might occur as a
result of the availability of Galileo services in Europe towards the end of the decade. This
could open the door to a sound broadcasting band extending from 148.5 kHz to 1606.5
kHz. There would appear to be a limited number of other radiocommunications
applications that might make use of this LF and MF spectrum which might be refarmed.
If then the band 283.5 – 325 kHz is considered as a possible candidate for broadcasting;
conventional LF broadcasting systems are ideal for wide area coverage but require high
power transmitters and very large antenna arrays. It would also be advisable to seek
CEPT agreement on any plans to change the service designation in the band, in view of
the large co-ordination distances involved for broadcasting and the situation that the
current service designation in the frequency band is to a safety service.
The last two LF broadcasting services launched in the British Isles were established on a
commercial basis in Ireland to predominantly serve a UK market. The music station
Atlantic 252 was launched in 1989 and closed down in December 2001. The Irish public
service broadcaster RTE held 20 per cent of the shares. Bids of up to £60 million were
expected when Atlantic 252 first came on the market in early 1998. In 2001 CLT (Radio
Luxembourg) disposed of their 80 per cent share for £2 million after the parent company
sold the station to the sports station, Teamtalk. Teamtalk 252, a live sports station
launched in March 2002 itself closed in July 2002. The holding company disposed of its
80% shareholding to RTE. The experience is therefore that the economic viability of large
AM LF commercial stations is at least questionable, in view of numerous competing local
services, poor music quality and the limited availability of advertising revenues for
nationwide radio services.
However potential operators of DRM (Digital Radio Mondiale - a universal, nonproprietary
digital AM radio system with near-FM quality) many of which are public service
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