TO SELF MANAGE OR NOT TO SELF MANAGE?

This paper was jointly presented at the MRUA Conference by Adrian A. Grilli CEng MIMechE MIEE, Managing Director, JRC Limited, UK and David S Tripp, CEng MIEE, Consultant, Telecommunications Advisory Committee, UK. The MRUA Conference was held on the 14-16 April 1997 at the Exeter College, Oxford, UK.

SUMMARY

The recent Government White Paper on Radio Spectrum Management commends the 'already considerable private sector participation in technical assignment' and says that 'more will be encouraged'. The Radiocommunications Agency also frequently invites users to co-operate to propose new self-management arrangements. The utilities are have some of the longest pedigrees in user self management; the paper draws on this experience to explain what is involved in self management, the costs and benefits to users, and speculates on reasons why more users have not opted for self-management. It concludes with an assessment of what measures might be taken to translate rhetoric into reality.

BIOGRAPHIES

Adrian Grilli is a Chartered Engineer currently Managing Director of the Joint Radio Company Ltd. Prior to joining JRC in February 1996, he spent 20 years in the Civil Service, primarily in the Department of Trade and Industry. Originally, he was employed in the motor industry where he trained as an R&D technician.

David Tripp, is currently Technical Director of Communications Support Services providing Communications Consultancy and Support on Fixed and Mobile Communications. He is Chairman of the Spectrum Management Group and a member the Telecommunications Advisory Committee (TAC) for the UK Water Industry, dealing with mobile and radio telemetry issues.

Prior to joining Communications Support Services he spent 7 years as the National Communications Manager for the National Rivers Authority (NRA), and was responsible for the design and implementation of the National Voice and Data networks, with additional responsibility for Telemetry and Mobile communications. Prior to this, he spent 6 years with Wessex Water and before joining the Water Industry he founded and spent 9 years with Datacall Ltd, designing and manufacturing telemetry systems.

DEFINITION

User self management can best be defined widely, applying to those organisations which do not simply approach the Radiocommunications Agency (RA) or RA's agents for a licence, but carry out some tasks potentially attributable to RA themselves or via a third party. The authors represent two user self management organisations, namely the Joint Radio Company Ltd which manages blocks of spectrum on behalf of the fuel and power industries, and the Telecommunications Advisory Committee which manages spectrum on behalf of the water industry.

There are a number of organisations which could be termed self management organisations, extending perhaps from the Ministry of Defence who have responsibility for almost half the spectrum, through British Telecom and Mercury Communications, the cellular operators and personal communications network operators, Department of National Heritage, Independent Television Commission, Radio Authority, BBC, Civil Aviation Authority, Department of Health/National Health Service, Home Office, and more conventionally thought of self management organisations, the Broadcasters Joint Frequency Management Group (BJFMG), and the Association of Service Providers Frequency Management Company Ltd (ASPFM).

BACKGROUND

Gas & Electricity

The Joint Radio Company Ltd (JRC) was established in 1994 as a joint venture between the electricity and gas industries in order to manage their allocation of radio spectrum to ensure access to vital communications facilities for both industries.

JRC dates back some 35 years to the former Joint Radio Committee of the fuel and power industries who were given blocks of radio spectrum to manage themselves in order to provide their essential telecommunications facilities. As Western Society becomes more dependent on the provision of the services by utilities for maintenance of standards of living and overall welfare, the services provided by utilities have to be increasingly responsive to customer needs. Maintenance of services also have significant safety implications in that disruption of high power electrical cables is a major safety hazard and may have profound complications in loss of service to vital organisations such as hospitals. Uncontrolled escapes of gas are likewise extremely dangerous and statutory requirements mandate a rapid response. JRC Ltd is a joint venture owned equally by BG plc and the Electricity Association (EA). Membership of the EA is shown in Figure 1.

Radio services provided by JRC for its members fall into four broad categories:

1. Mobile Services for vehicles and personnel on large sites. Increasingly, this extends beyond simple voice communications to data transmission and in the future, automatic vehicle location.
2. Telemetry Links to provide remote monitoring, status and condition of networks together with remote switching to reconfigure or control networks and plant from central control centres.
3. Remote Meter Reading for monitoring usage of resources. With the increasing attention to domestic consumers, there are major issues surrounding the remote meter reading for potentially 20 million consumers for each utility.
4. Microwave links used as part of the infrastructure either to link elements of the mobile radio network or scanning telemetry systems, or to provide trunk telecommunications within the area of the utility. Application for such links may be made directly to the regulatory authority, but utilities have the option of routing applications through their SMO where this is more convenient or they wish to avail themselves of additional technical resources.

Water

The water industry Telecommunications Advisory Committee (TAC) and its subsidiary Spectrum Management Group (SMG) carry out a similar role to JRC in spectrum management for the water industry and provide an industry voice on radiocommunications matters. Following privatisation the water industry invested resources in formalising its own self management status with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and individual companies so as to clarify its role and the service that would be provided. There are many similarities in the requirements of the members of JRC and TAC, but the development paths that each has followed is somewhat different.

The need for reliable and resilient communications is equally essential for the water industry which also has a number of statutory duties to meet. When everything else going wrong, communications must keep going. Lives can be at risk if communications fail at a critical time. Private Business Radio (PBR) is not the simple choice, and it is not necessarily the cheapest option, but the Utilities have been prepared to invest significant sums in mobile communications needs to provide the necessary resilience.

The trigger for this investment by the Water Industry was the "encouragement" by RA to make more efficient use of spectrum at a time when preparations for the privatisation of the Water Industry were under way. The privatisation process resulted in the ownership of systems passing to the major user but with a right of access to other previous users.

To safeguard the interests of all members of TAC a set of guidelines and standards were produced and used to form the basis of the Manual of Spectrum Allocation and System Management. The principles laid down in the Manual were agreed and endorsed by Senior Executives of the Industry. This gave the process the credibility necessary for many different organisations to work together for the common good.

As the investment by the industry was going to be considerable it was essential the relationship between TAC and RA should also be put on a formal and legal basis. RA were very supportive throughout this process which resulted in an agreement which has stood the test of time.

Membership of TAC

The current membership is drawn from:

• 10 Water Service companies in England and Wales
• 20 Water Supply companies in England and Wales
• 3 Water Authorities in Scotland
• Water Service in Northern Ireland
• Environment Agency in England and Wales using 10 of the main systems

Local Management Groups

In the coverage area of any PBR system there may be up to 7 different organisations which have an interest in the radio spectrum. To provide a forum for these interests Local Management Groups have been set up for each of the 11 main systems. A number of Water Supply companies and the Environment Agency have shared the capital cost of the infrastructure with the Water Service companies. Local discussions, planning and negotiations take within these groups and any difficulties which cannot be resolved are passed to the SMG for consideration, with TAC acting as the final arbiter for those problems which cannot be resolved locally.

There are 11 main systems, using equipment provided by three different manufacturers, plus a number of smaller non-trunked systems. These support in excess of 20,000 mobiles operating in VHF Low Band.

WHAT DOES SELF MANAGEMENT INVOLVE?

Self management organisations carry out all or some of the following functions:

Planning

SMOs may plan the spectrum within which they operate in accordance with national or international agreements to provide the level of service required by their members. In the case of JRC and TAC, national cellular plans have been devised with appropriate planning criteria in order to ensure coverage of the whole of the geographic area of the United Kingdom to a required level of service for their members for mobile radio and scanning telemetry.

Frequency Assignment

The SMOs are responsible for either making frequency assignments, or making recommendations to RA on frequency assignment for their members. This frequently requires significant investment in appropriate frequency assignment tools. Most of the current frequency assignment software can be traced back to a user self management organisation which has commissioned or developed such systems themselves. BT's Peacemaker software which they use for their fixed links bands, NTL who have used their Aspect software for broadcasting planning, and Defence Research Agency's Crumpet software have all come from a self management pedigree. In the gas and electricity industries, EA Technology have produced the RF Designer series of software specifically tailored for utility use of microwave fixed links, scanning telemetry and private mobile radio. These investments in frequency management systems have been extremely expensive but are essential if the spectrum is to be managed efficiently and confidence gained in assignments.

Management

SMOs may be responsible for interference resolution between their members, monitoring use of their own spectrum, resolving disputes between members and re-arrangement of their spectrum plans to accommodate changes in operational conditions or increase capacity. This is one of the greatest areas of benefit to users in that it is tacitly accepted that all members will be prepared to accommodate changes to their systems if required for the overall benefit of all users. A further area of management extends to technical development. The SMO has more commercial power in terms of development of trunking scenarios, equipment procurement facilitation and development of protocols, specifications and standards. The SMO may not engage in these activities directly, but by co-ordinating industry views, manufacturers have confidence that a greater market will exist and users can promote standardisation to both reduce costs and facilitate interchange of equipment.

Licensing

In some cases, JRC for example, the SMO conducts the planning and assignment, but RA continues to issue the licences. In other cases, such as TAC, the SMO takes national channels from RA and then sub-divides them amongst their members.

Revenue Collection

In the case where the SMO distributes licenses on behalf of the RA, the SMO would normally also collect fees from its members and remit them directly to the RA.

Representation

Most SMOs as well as managing blocks of spectrum on behalf of their membership represent and promote their interests both directly to government and international organisations, and frequently attending specification and standardisation committees in addition. In this process, they may draw on their constituent members to ensure that there is a direct industry link into the committees but with a stronger voice.

SELF MANAGEMENT IN THE WATER INDUSTRY

To work effectively Self Management requires a clear management structure working within a framework which will ensure that the most effective use of the spectrum is made in a fair and equitable manner for all members. This management function is provided by the Telecommunications Advisory Committee. TAC members deal with the more strategic, policy and financial issues of mobile radio, scanning telemetry, licencing and regulatory issues.

The detailed general management of the various process are undertaken by the Spectrum Management Group - SMG which also deals with all technical matters related to communications and handles liaison with external organisations. It also manages the support contract with WRC.

Private Business Radio

The day to day frequency planning, coverage prediction, interference testing and assignments are undertaken through a support contract with the Water Research Centre (WRC) at Swindon who work closely with SMG and TAC members. A sophisticated graphical database has been built for PBR and Scanning Telemetry by WRC. The calibration of the modelling tools has been fine tuned as a result practical testing. The use of VHF Low Band does require a considerable element of practical experience, especially in areas of user congestion. As the usage density becomes higher the spectrum management and allocation becomes more complex.

As the channels are self managed the recommended assignments are sent to RA for verification and then issued. Under the current arrangements the actual issuing of a licence cannot be delegated by the RA.

The channels assigned to the Water Industry provide national coverage and are paid for on a national channel licence basis. The licence costs which are shared by the members are collected once per year and paid to RA in a single payment. This approach considerably reduces the management overhead to RA.

If interference occurs it is initially dealt with by Water Industry or WRC staff. It is only after it is confirmed that the interference is not being generated by the Water Industry that it will be passed to the Radio Investigation Service.

Scanning Telemetry

The Scanning Telemetry systems used by the Water Industry share a block of UHF spectrum with the Gas and Electricity Industries allocated throughout the country by an Adaptive Cellular Plan. The Water Industry has in excess of 6000 outstations in use. The assignments for these are handled by the WRC through the support contract. Although this is not a formal self management arrangement it is only one step removed.

Remote Meter Reading

WRC and JRC, together with RA, other members of the Utilities Industry, and manufacturers are working on a proposal for the use and management of the Remote Meter Reading Spectrum. This is an area where self management by a Spectrum Management Organisation may be appropriate.

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS?

Self management brings greater control of spectrum used by its members and greater flexibility in the way in which assignments may be made. The spectrum can be distributed in the most effective manner to meet the need of users, and will not be based on others' interpretation of those needs.

Interference criteria can be developed and modified to provide an acceptable level of interference while providing as high a density of coverage as possible, and maintaining the minimum re-use distance. Aerial engineering can be employed to tailor coverage in specific geographic areas. This is possible because the members become, in effect, a closed user group working for the common good. Interference levels within the membership may be set slightly higher to provide sufficient coverage for all users, but interference from external users should be lower and would normally only be caused by faulty equipment or weather conditions.

National channel licence fees can apply but the savings do not cover the cost of self management.

By necessity the membership work closely together and can act with single voice with representation to external bodies and regulatory authorities.

WHAT ARE THE DISADVANTAGES?

The primary disadvantage is cost.

The actual amount is dependant upon factors such as:

1. The number of different organisations being represented by the self management process.
2. The number of systems in use by the membership; this is particularly relevant when you have a large number of small system users who do not take a service from the large trunked systems but are allocated spectrum under the self management process.
3. The number of different manufacturers' equipment and systems in use.
4. The cost of managing a small system will be disproportionately high, but the overall process must be equitable.
5. The cost overhead of the self management process.
6. The capital investment in hardware and planning tools.
7. The production, population and maintenance of a complete database of all base station sites and frequency allocations.

If it is the responsibility of the Spectrum Management Organisation to pay the licence fee to RA for the self managed channels, the apportioned fees must be collected from the membership. If for any reason there is a short fall it has to made up in order to make the overall payment to RA.

The SMO arrangements require the user not only to manage the spectrum on behalf of their members, but potentially also to do so for those who do not contribute to the running costs.

All members must work to a set of clearly defined standards under which they may have to fund moves and frequency changes for the common good. This is especially true where the spectrum is limited and changes have to be made to the location and distribution of spectrum for the benefit of all members.

A management structure must be in place which protects the interests of the small as well as large users.

Users may change to a different technology or withdraw from the management process.

Government legislation may cause the licence fee to change to a point where the process becomes less cost effective.

Once an SMO has obtained a block allocation from RA to meet its requirements, it can be difficult to obtain further spectrum if those requirements increase over a period of time. The RA assumption is that the user community will accommodate any increased demands within its own spectrum block. Those outside the block simply return to RA for further assignments.

RA are making increasing requirements of the SMOs in terms of reporting on their use of spectrum and efficiency with which they manage the spectrum. This has administrative and cost implications for the SMO.

With the current trend towards outsourcing facilities management, there may be future problems regarding who may be the holder of individual licences and the incentive for them to co-operate with the SMO. If a member outsources his radio systems, there may well not be an incentive on the facilities manager to co-operate with the SMO, and having once outsourced its telecomm requirements, the main user company may not wish to become involved in additional expenditure simply for the benefit of their fellow members of the SMO.

There is a need to define what self management will encompass. A package of services have been developed for the Water Industry, all related to mobile communications with self management forming part of that process. The actual frequency band being used and the amount of spectrum available has a major effect on the management of the spectrum. Limited spectrum and no parking channels makes self management a much more complex and therefore expensive process.

FUTURE OPTIONS

RA are pursuing more carefully crafted legal contracts with their SMOs which bring further costs in terms of the legal advice in preparation and execution of these contracts, associated with potential increased liabilities and obligations on behalf of the SMO.

RA say they wish to increase the extent of coverage of user self management, but there is a lack of incentives so to do. The requirements on the SMOs become more onerous and as industries become more competitive, the attraction of cutting costs by withdrawing from an SMO and simply taking the free rider solution becomes more attractive.

As requirements to use spectrum more efficiently increase, the investment required in appropriate frequency management tools also increases. This extends not only to the hardware platforms and the software to conduct the frequency management, but terrain clutter databases which have to become ever more sophisticated. There is an argument that the falling cost of IT outweighs the requirement for increasing complexity, but this is by no means certain.

RA are likely to require ever increasing amounts of information from the SMOs and for them to take on more licensing and revenue collection activities, which not only ships the administrative burden onto the SMO but also the potential financial liability should members default on their payments or contravene the requirements for their licence. It is unclear how a user SMO can enforce compliance under the WT Act if a notice is served upon them to rectify problems with one of their members' radio systems.

There are opportunities for self management organisations but RA will have to consider the complexities of the process and reflect this in any new pricing structure, and there are opportunities for organisations such as TAC and JRC to work together to investigate the potential for self management now and into the 21st Century.

CONCLUSIONS

If RA is really committed to user self management, then it has to address the hurdles which have prevented wider uptake. In the process it needs to look at the incentives for users to club together and manage spectrum themselves. One obvious solution is to offer users self management discounts whereby members of recognised spectrum management organisations will receive a discount on the statutory licence fee when working through that organisation, those not being members of the organisation routing their applications through RA and paying the standard fee. RA can then forward the application to the SMO, paying them the reduced fee and retaining the surplus to contribute to RA's own costs. Financial incentives are the way in which Government has responded to other policy areas where it seeks to enforce a change of culture, e.g. privatisation.

If the industry is committed to user self management, then it has to come forward with proposals for extending the existing arrangements to other industries and broader areas. For private business radio (PBR), for those users not currently covered by user self management organisations, would the MRUA come forward with a proposal to manage the PBR spectrum for the benefit of the rest of the industry? If the industry believes that it could manage spectrum more efficiently and more effectively than RA, is it prepared to put its money where its mouth is?

This raises one final issue in respect of what has happened in the broadcasting industry. There, the authorised UK broadcasters had their own user self management organisation, BJFMG, with the remainder of the industry procuring their licences through ASPFM, a commercial SMO. RA has recently terminated these two arrangements and replaced them with a single commercial SMO covering the whole of the ancillary services to broadcasting sector, the contract being awarded through competitive tender. This raises the spectre for user self management organisations in that should they come together, organise their sector and implement a unified self management arrangement, does that simply create a pathway whereby RA will then subsequently award a commercial contract, undermining the investment made by the industry in their own spectrum management organisation and requiring the industry to pay not only the costs of managing their spectrum but also generating a commercial profit for the organisation to whom the contract is ultimately awarded?

25 March 1997