With television broadcast poised to a changeover to digital mode, a substantial measure of broadcast spectrum is going to be freed up. Given the predictions for growth in these areas, this broadcast spectrum is a very attractive acquisition for industry players. However, the auctioning of this spectrum has hit a roadblock with some sections raising their voices in protest.
The protest is originating from some groups who will be stripped of their airwaves if the reallocation and auction go through. The reallocation will mainly affect some players in the entertainment business including the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Professional Footballers’ Association. Groups that use short-range wireless radio for their activities are the ones who will be left high and dry by the Ofcom regulations and initiatives.
These groups have come together to launch a campaign called “Save our Sound” to voice their grievances in this issue. Even though Ofcom has confirmed that it will make good the cost of equipment which will be rendered obsolete by the re- allocation, these players are stating that such reimbursement will hardly compensate the full loss that they will face.
The auction is being viewed as a solution to offering better mobile services across the UK. Initiatives to upgrade broadband are being implemented to make the UK a world leader in high quality, super-speed broadband services by 2012. The reallocation is Ofcom’s solution to bringing good quality broadband across the country, but this will unfortunately involve redistribution of the spectrum among existing users who have now protested the idea.
Their contention of the groups is that this will affect their business as live performances, conferences, sporting events and many other programmes will lose audience significantly.
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