1.        Introduction

Given the increasing demand for limited radio frequency resources, efficient spectrum management including the transition from analogue to digital services are critical issues for policy makers, regulators, network operators and other stakeholders With a national spectrum plan the regulator strives to ensure effective and efficient spectrum usage and compliance with international standards as well as informing market parties on the current and future (intended) use of spectrum.

At a national level, the radio-frequency spectrum is considered the state’s public domain. As such, it is subject to the state authority and must be managed efficiently so as to be of the greatest benefit to the entire population. As the result of the state’s right to manage the spectrum, authorized spectrum users derive the benefits of the right and associated obligations to access and use the spectrum.

The national spectrum plan is the result of the national (long term) planning process for spectrum usages and basically matches supply with future market demand. The associated planning process spans across all categories of use.

The purpose of the Radio Frequency Migration Plan is to inform the national spectrum planning process on the implications of radio frequency migration to digital services with a particular focus on traditional broadcasting services. The intention being to execute the process as efficiently as possible and to the benefit of all South Africans in terms of section 2(e) of the Electronic Communications Act, 2005 (Act No. 36 of 2005) as amended ("the Act").

The plan provides :

In order to use terminologies and avoid confusion, the technical and administrative terms generally used in spectrum management are clarified in the following section.

Full definitions of terms are given in Appendix A.

The standard definitions for spectrum management in the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Radio regulations (Article 1) are as follows:

allocation (of a frequency band):

Entry in the Table of Frequency Allocations of a given frequency band for the purpose of its use by one or more terrestrial or space radiocommunication services or the radio astronomy service under specified conditions. This term shall also be applied to the frequency band concerned. (1.16)

allotment (of a radio frequency or radio frequency channel):

Entry of a designated frequency channel in an agreed plan, adopted by a competent conference, for use by one or more administrations for a terrestrial or space Radiocommunication service in one or more identified countries or geographical areas and under specified conditions. (1.17).

assignment (of a radio frequency or radio frequency channel):

Authorization given by an administration for a radio station to use a radio frequency or radio frequency channel under specified conditions. (1.18).

refarming (of frequency spectrum):

"Spectrum redeployment (spectrum refarming)" is a combination of administrative, financial and technical measures aimed at removing users or equipment of the existing frequency assignments either completely or partially from a particular frequency band. The frequency band may then be allocated to the same or different service(s). These measures may be implemented in short, medium or long timescales;" reference Recommendation. ITU-R SM.1603 (See Appendix H).

From the above the key element is the clear distinction between allocation and assignment which is not always followed in certain benchmark examples.

Herewith further clarification of terms generally used in the process of describing spectrum migration and associated regulations. The ITU does not exhaustively define spectrum migration terms.

In the Act, the reference to spectrum migration is clearly the migration of users of radio frequency spectrum within the same band or other radio frequency bands in accordance with the radio frequency plan. The emphasis of the FMP is thus on migrating existing users.

It is important to expand the definition of migration term to also include usage1 users of spectrum .

"Radio Frequency Spectrum Migration" thus means the movement of users or uses of radio frequency spectrum from their existing radio frequency spectrum location to another.

The term spectrum re-farming is widely used, but as for spectrum migration it does not have a universal definition and its interpretation may vary somewhat in different countries.

The ICT Regulation Toolkit2 notes the following regarding spectrum re-farming:

Generally speaking, re-farming may be seen as process constituting any basic change in conditions of frequency usage in a given part of radio spectrum. Such basic changes might be:

The term re-farming is used to describe:

For the purposes of the plan therefore, radio frequency spectrum re-farming may be defined as follows:

"Radio Frequency Spectrum Re-farming" means the process by which the use of a Radio Frequency Spectrum band is changed following a change in allocation, this may include change in the specified technology and does not necessarily mean that the licensed user has to vacate the frequency.

Where the user of a radio frequency has a change of assignment within the same band, usually to allow greater efficiency in the use of the spectrum, it may be termed in-band migration.

In some cases, a radio spectrum user may not only have the assignment changed in the same band, but could also have new spectrum allocated in a different band. This has occurred with respect to the balancing of spectrum assignments in the IMT2000 to IMT advance through to IMT2020 bands and may well become a feature of mobile broadband assignments in the future.

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