Clause 148 - United Kingdom plan for frequency authorisation
Communications Bill
9:45 am
Mr Michael Fabricant (Lichfield, Conservative)
I have a series of questions on this. The clause appears to be straightforward: it basically says that Ofcom will publish,
''from time to time as they think fit . . . ''the United Kingdom Plan for Frequency Authorisation'' ''.
My first question is obvious: how often does the Minister think that it will be published? Will it be on an annual basis, or only when Ofcom thinks that the frequency plan might be changed?
My next question is, will the provision apply to all frequency usage in the UK? I assume that the answer to that is yes, but will it include the use of frequencies by the BBC? If that is the case, clause 149(1)(c) becomes relevant, as it talks about the demand that is likely to arise for use of spectrum for wireless telegraphy. Will the United Kingdom plan for frequency authorisation set out not only the matters that are addressed in subsections (2)(a) and (b) but the future possible plans that are outlined in the following clause?
It seems to me that there is a little tension between clauses 148 and 149 because clause 148 does not have a comparable provision to clause 149(1)(c). I did not bother to table an amendment as I hope that the Minister will be able to assure me that the plan will also include the future frequencies that Ofcom think might need to be made available.
Will the plan also address the problem of co-channel interference from transmissions from outside the UK? I remember visiting the television transmitter site at Rowridge on the Isle of Wight: the people there told me that they experienced considerable co-channel interference from the television transmissions of ORTF—Office de Radio-Téléfusion Fran¢aise—not just because of changes in the atmosphere, when local television transmissions can then go further because of the heavy side skip, but because the television transmission from France was not as stable as that from the UK and it was going off frequency. The French were not using a stable television transmission system; the transmitter was made by Thompson, and it was not as stable as it should have been, so there was co-channel interference. Will that sort of issue also be addressed?
The Minister talked about WARC—the World Administrative Radio Conference. Will the issues that it addresses be dealt with as well? Finally, the whole
issue of frequency spectrum applies not only to power and the frequency used, but to the range that the frequency is planning to achieve. The Radio Authority is to be applauded for the introduction of very low-power and small-scale temporary radio licences. Will that issue also be addressed?
I have a picture in my mind that the minimum requirement for clause 148 would be simply a spectrum chart. Can the Minister assure me that it will be far more than that, and that there will be a thorough discussion of the issues that I have just raised?