DTI CONSULTATION ON THIRD GENERATION MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS

Here follows the JRC response to the Government consultation document regarding Third Generation Mobile Communications.

1. JRC Ltd is a joint venture company owned by BG plc Transco and the Electricity Association and is tasked with managing radio spectrum allocations on behalf of the fuel and power industries in the UK. These comments represent the considered views of those industries which account for about 5% of GDP in total.

2. The gas and electricity industries welcome the opportunity to comment on the consultative document. Since it is focused mainly on public telecommunications networks, it is not of major significance to our industries. They might expect to be users of these systems, though it is not at this stage clear whether the coverage and availability would be such as to be suitable for operational requirements of these two sectors. Third generation systems would however, be used extensively for routine business communications within these industries and as such, they welcome the UK taking a forward looking approach to this subject..

3. Although our members would be users of the public telecommunications systems, this should not preclude the allocation of spectrum for private business systems where required by our industries. The operational requirements of the fuel and power industries are such that they require high levels of coverage and availability beyond that which most commercial operators are prepared to guarantee. These networks need to be especially resilient to loss of electricity supply, and provide guaranteed access in times of crises. The only way in which the supply of essential services can be maintained is for the UK government to retain discrete allocations for private systems where there is a clear commercial or operational requirement for such.

4. JRC, on behalf of the gas and electricity industries will wish to keep a watching brief on the subject, but at this stage does not see a rationale for bidding for a seat on the newly formed UK Third Generation Advisory Group (UKTAG).

Adrian Grilli
Managing Director
23 May 1997

Joint Radio Company Ltd.

Independent Radio Spectrum Management for the UK Energy Industry