FINAL REPORT - Stakeholders - Ofcom

It is against such socio-economic issues that the feasibility of introducing more spectrally
efficient technologies must be considered. It will also be necessary to gauge the
possibility and likelihood of whether significant changes to the status-quo are likely to
occur within the various regional and international organisations.
In both maritime and aeronautical industries, finding a way forward is limited by the
difficulty of obtaining widespread fleet equipage for any particular solution. Furthermore,
equipment costs tend to dominate any implementation strategy and spectrum
considerations are given little consideration. The Consultant considers it important that
Ofcom work to ensure that future solutions are spectrum efficient. Given the very long
lead times for implementation, it is important now to ensure that correct implementation
paths are chosen.
Radiodetermination is a generic term for radionavigation and radiolocation and includes
radar, navigational aids and systems such as ILS, VOR, radio altimeters etc.
Concerning aeronautical radio determination, evolution in the following areas is
highlighted:
• Ground based primary radar, which provides non-co-operative surveillance of
aircraft;
• Secondary radar, which relies on cooperation from the target in the form of
equipage with a suitable transponder;
• Aeronautical Radio-Navigation Services.
Concerning maritime radio determination, evolution in the following areas is highlighted:
• Ground based systems;
• Shipborne systems.
Though opportunities for improving the spectral efficiency of the radar and associated
technologies used for maritime radiodetermination are limited, there are potential
modifications to spectrum use which could make overall more efficient use of spectrum.
Improvements to existing technologies, replacement technologies, allocation sharing,
spectral efficiency improvements and socio economic issues are discussed for both
aeronautical and maritime areas, as listed above.
Concerning aeronautical radiocommunications, evolution is driven by two key factors:
• The saturation of the VHF radiocommunications band and
• A steadily rising demand for ATS services and a potentially very large increase in
demand for non-ATS services.
Concerning maritime radiocommunications, the key issues are:
• Maritime safety requirements are dominated by the internationally agreed
GMDSS, SOLAS Convention and the Marine Equipment Directive,
• MF and HF (especially public correspondence) requirements are declining in the
developed world,
• VHF public correspondence is also declining; however a number of important
operational and safety functions are identified for the Appendix 18 (to the Radio
Regulations) frequencies and on frequencies contiguous to Appendix 18, used in
the UK for maritime business radio.
• GSM is providing most maritime public correspondence traffic in the European
maritime area.
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