FINAL REPORT - Stakeholders - Ofcom

8.6.4 Other AIP Issues
In section 7.5 it was suggested that consideration might be given to the introduction of a
class licence for domestic GA and non SOLAS ships, which did not travel outside the
British Isles. The use of spectrally efficient VHF radio equipment for the safety and
regularity of operations, as well as spectrally efficient on-board radionavigation applications
could be a condition of such a class licence, see 8.6.3 above. If such a concept is
favourably received it might be portrayed as an AIP approach, where the fees would be
zero if voluntarily certified spectrally efficient equipment is deployed. If older equipment
continues to be used, the official position could be that such equipment would attract a
significant annual renewal charge, proportionate to the bandwidth used.
For aeronautical and maritime mobile stations utilising frequencies generally available to
these services, the introduction of an AIP regime is unlikely to have a major impact on fees
and charges. This is borne out by the pricing structure introduced in Australia.
Furthermore, in order to avoid a negative impact on the UK registry it may be appropriate
to introduce a mechanism whereby the use of spectrally efficient mobile radionavigation
equipment on domestic non SOLAS and GA vehicles is the subject of the class licence as
described above. However continued use of radar equipment within a timetable to be
agreed, not conforming to the state of the art voluntary standard would require individual
licensing in accordance with AIP principles.
On the other hand, land radionavigation systems might benefit from a more rigorous AIP
approach in order to reflect the amount of spectrum occupied and the spectrum congestion
likely in that geographical area. Costs should follow the typical AIP pattern described in
section 2.5 above. With regard to radar systems the fee structures should ideally include
appropriate tariff breaks which adequately award systems employing state of the art
technology.
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