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Resources and Downloads

White Papers and Newsletters

The following papers were prepared by InterConnect consultants and are available for download or to read direct from our web site:

Wavelength Spring 2010 - Newsletter for Spectrum and Wireless Professionals

Wavelength is InterConnect's newsletter for Spectrum and Wireless professionals. Download the newsletter.

Refarming GSM Spectrum - Achieving Equity and Objectivity when Assessing Mobile Operator Allotments

This paper addresses the problem faced by many National Regulatory Authorities as they seek to re-farm the spectrum in the 900MHz and 1800MHz bands currently in use by mobile networks using the GSM standard in order that it may be usable for services using the IMT family of standards. Within this standards transition there are many complexities, both economic and legal. Existing mobile network operators with long-standing spectrum access rights may be reluctant to lose these rights without some compensatory allocation, and they certainly want to be assured that they were being treated equitably.

On the positive side, the problem can be modelled, and this paper discusses a model that makes use of subscriber and service data to generate traffic. It considers propagation and computes cell sizes, then brings the traffic and the propagation together to compute the number of sites needed considering various amounts of spectrum used. Ultimately it allows the NRA spectrum manager to evaluate an almost limitless set of scenarios such that their decision making might be suitably informed and objectively made. All IMT bands are considered though the focus is on 900MHz, 1800MHz and 2100MHz. The model is set up to work using the specifics of a single country, its landmass, population and demography. Download the full paper

Implementing Cost-Effective Number Portability in Small Jurisdictions: Alternative Solutions for Low-Volume Markets

It has long been recognised that Number Portability (NP) is a key enabler of a competitive telecommunications environment. Unless they are able to retain their existing number, some customers may prove unwilling to change service provider, regardless of other advantages to be gained by doing so. This is especially true amongst business users, where an easily-recognisable telephone number may be a key asset. Similarly, if customers are unable easily to change service provider without moving to a new telephone number, the resulting resistance to change may dissuade new service providers from entering the market.

Whilst the implementation and ongoing management of Number Portability presents challenges and costs for all regulators and service providers, launching NP in jurisdictions with a low customer base and/or low forecasted porting rates faces particular challenges in order to make the implementation viable, not least from a cost-efficiency perspective.

This paper focuses on those challenges and, based upon InterConnect’s experience in the field, sets out some appropriate solutions for smaller jurisdictions. Download the full paper

Specifying Spectrum Management Systems: Avoiding Pitfalls at System Acceptance

Spectrum resources need to be managed in order to make an optimal contribution to the national economy. The detailed approach taken to spectrum management tends to vary in line with prevailing economic and political forces but, regardless of their political flavour, all economies tend to rely on information and communications technology systems in order to implement an effective spectrum management regime.

Whilst underlying economic policy may affect the approach taken to spectrum management issues, neither has much bearing on the method of specification of the electric system used to effect day-to-day management. Failure to adequately understand, control or drive the development and implementation of a spectrum management system, however, can have serious ramifications for regulators, users and the economy in general.

This paper discusses how ICT-based spectrum management systems should be specified - whether by development or procurement processes - in order to lead to a high-quality outcome. It is appropriate for all spectrum managers, regardless of what sort of economic system they inhabit. Download the full paper

Digital Britain: Doing the Broadband Arithmetic

The final Digital Britain report has received mixed reviews, in part due to speculation that the impending departure from Government of the Report’s architect, Stephen Carter, may imply some dissatisfaction on his part with the scope or ambition of the policy proposals. So far as the Report’s funding recommendations are concerned, much interest has focused on the proposed redistribution of BBC licence revenues and the imposition of a new levy on landline telephone charges.

These arguments will undoubtedly be developed further as the proposals slowly evolve into legislative form. For the time being, the purpose of this brief analysis is to look at one of the unresolved questions from the Interim Report: has the government really embraced the idea of economic intervention in the broadband sector? If so, how does it reconcile this with past pronouncements that ‘the market will deliver’?

This paper therefore looks a little more closely at the broadband funding ideas contained in the Report – both the adequacy of the sums envisaged and how they are to be administered. Download the full paper

Next Generation Networks - Creating a Dedicated Cost Model

The advent of Next Generation Networks (NGNs) creates new challenges for network operators, service providers and regulators.

Without a detailed understanding of the costs of delivering services, businesses have no real idea about product or service profitability, and regulators then cannot impose appropriate rates for either retail or wholesale services (assuming always that it would be legitimate to do so given the level of competition and market conditions).

Such an understanding can be achieved through the use of a suitable NGN-focused cost model. The cost model also enables exploration of investment options, e.g. should incremental or “big bang” approaches be taken to investment (higher initial investment = lower unit costs = higher risks). This paper explores some of the issues involved and describes an NGN cost model developed by InterConnect Communications. Download the full paper

How Can Benchmarking Be Used to Set Interconnection Rates? - An Introduction to Practical Multi-Country Analysis

In order to support effective competition and allow new entrant operators to develop business plans based upon realistic cost projections, most developed markets require incumbent and other established operators to publish rates for a defined set of interconnection services.

Ideally, such rates should be calculated based on a thorough understanding of the costs of providing the services concerned. In many liberalising economies, however, existing operator systems may not be configured to produce an analysis of such costs, making the calculation of cost-based charges a lengthy exercise.

An interim method of determining interconnection charges whilst cost modelling is undertaken uses benchmarking of interconnection rates from other comparable countries. This paper introduces the underlying concepts in using benchmarking to set interconnection rates and discusses some of the techniques involved. Download the full paper

Risk as an Alternative to Price in Determining Access Spectrum Rights - Concepts for a New Approach

In capitalist economies we are well accustomed to using price to determine who gets what resources. In the background, though, we continually have that nagging doubt that price is not always the fairest way, this spawning the idea that resource should be apportioned first to those with the greatest need. But the all-time difficulties with this are election of the decision maker and determination of what ‘best use’ metric might he employ by which to decide who gets what.

This paper looks at a simple concept for making spectrum assignments and allotments, based on the proposition that, for each spectrum user, there is an associated chance that he will be able to derive the benefit he expects from his spectrum assignment or allotment. It introduces the concept that some higher authority cares and expects his users to have at least a given threshold of success, and goes on to show how the expected chance of success for each allocation might be reported, proposing a simple method of display compared to the engineering displays more common in the subject. Download the full paper

A Different Regulatory Emphasis For UK Broadband Development - Is There a Place for Public Sector Intervention?

Accepted regulatory doctrine clearly sets out that the option of public sector intervention (PSI) in the provision or operation of telecommunications services should only be entertained in demonstrable cases of market failure.

In recent months, a series of studies on the question of broadband development in the UK have opined that the case for major public sector intervention to encourage the rollout of broadband services and supporting Next Generation Access networks is not a strong one.

Yet there continue to be arguments both from within and outside the industry that some sort of impetus is necessary in order to encourage the provision of the facilities and services necessary to assure the widespread availability of high-bandwidth Internet to end users, not least those in geographically remote and/or economically disadvantaged areas.

In order to consider the issues and the future options open to regulators and policymakers, this paper examines the various arguments against PSI and also contrasts them with what appear to be rather more ambivalent attitudes towards local broadband initiatives. Download the full paper

Digital Subscriber Loop Technologies: Capabilities and Limitations

The growth in demand for Internet access by business and residential users has been increasing for a number of years, as has the complexity and sophistication of the applications and services available on-line. As Internet content and the applications required to access it continue to develop, however, then so do the demands for greater delivered bandwidths to maximise operational performance.

This paper explores the capabilities and limitations of Digital Subscriber Loop (DSL) technologies in delivering ever higher bandwidths to end users over existing networks. It also studies some of the implications of those limitations on end user access in the United Kingdom, not least with regard to the aspirations and objectives set out in the recent Digital Britain Interim Report. Download the full paper

Procurement of Spectrum Management and Monitoring Systems -
Considerations for Maximising Investment Return

With liberalisation and competition in the communications sector, the demands for access to radio spectrum have grown enormously in recent years. Spectrum is now a key resource in the implementation of networks, in the efficient and rapid delivery of services and it is THE essential ingredient in the provision of any service requiring mobility. Rapid changes in technologies affecting spectrum use challenge policy makers and regulators in achieving their objectives of ensuring allocation and use of spectrum in the public interest. At the same time, new regulatory approaches have impacted spectrum policy, efficiency of use being pursued through market-driven allocation processes, along with trading in spectrum.

This paper explores some of the key issues that spectrum managers are likely to face and provides an overview of the many skills they will need to be able to call upon when procuring these complex and multi-faceted systems. Download the full paper

Spectrum for WiMAX in Europe - The Search for a Home for the Next Generation of Wireless Broadband

The ubiquity and utility of WiFi hotspots in public spaces has led many to believe that a higher capacity, longer range, more flexible wireless broadband delivery technology is a critical step in delivering the Information Society objectives so favoured by policymakers and visionaries. To this end, companies and research establishments from around the world have been working to produce a next generation WiFi standard. The result is ‘Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access’ or WiMAX.

However, unlike WiFi which operates in spectrum which has been made licence exempt by many regulators, WiMAX is mainly intended to operate in spectrum which is licensed. Given the increasing demand for wireless services from many industrial sectors, licensed spectrum is at a premium with large sums being paid at auctions for access to the decreasing pool of this limited resource. This paper explores the spectrum being considered for the licensing of WiMAX services in Europe. Download the full paper

Radio Airspace Management - Safeguarding Quality of Spectrum

In recent years, the idea of ‘airspace’, more traditionally referred to as the radio spectrum, being an asset in a real estate portfolio has become more widely accepted. In places such as airports, office complexes, railway stations, shopping centres, hospitals and sports stadia, the radio spectrum is being seen as a valuable commodity and one which, if not carefully managed, can lead to significant inconvenience or even to safety and security issues. Whilst the landlords or managers of such venues have historically relied on national regulators to manage the radio spectrum, with the advent of an ever-increasing number of both licensed and unlicensed radio technologies being deployed for personal, private and public uses, there exists a growing possibility that interference between users will increase to such levels that it will have the potential to render some services unusable.

To obviate these difficulties, owners and managers of major commercial properties should seriously consider implementing a radio airspace management scheme. This paper considers some of the issues implicit in airspace management and describes in detail the steps which can be taken by property owners and managers can take local control of the radio spectrum and so ensure quality of service of radio systems for their tenants and themselves). Download the full paper

The Effect of Regulatory Obligations on the Incumbent Operator

This paper aims to explore some of the ways in which regulatory obligations can affect the competitive position of incumbent telecommunications operators and how incumbents can draw on external partnerships to respond to those challenges whilst assuring ongoing success in their chosen market sectors. Download the full paper

Local Loop Unbundling in the Enlarged European Union -
New Challenges for Established Operators

Local Loop Unbundling has been introduced, at various stages of development, in all EU Member States. This article gives a high level review of the technical issues regarding provision of unbundled access to loops and sub-loops in the copper access network operated by a typical national (incumbent) operator, and is intended to give an appreciation of the impact that the introduction of Local Loop and Sub-loop Unbundling will have on the planning and operation of such a network. Download the full paper