RRC06: ATDI HELPS ADMINISTRATIONS TO A SMOOTH APPROVAL PROCESS

ATDI’s customers get best-in-class results at RRC06 for the agreement of the new digital broadcast plan: more than 30% of the countries were supported by ATDI’s software suite and consulting services.

The context

The RRC06 gathered 119 out of the 189 member countries of the ITU

The ITU Regional Radiocommunication Conference (RRC 06) was held in Geneva from May 15th to June 16th. The objective was to establish a new spectrum plan in the VHF and UHF band (174-230 MHz and 470-862 MHz), to allow for a transition from analogue to digital broadcast. It included countries of Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Iran.

Such a plan binds all countries for a long period of time: the last plan for Europe and Africa were agreed to in Stockholm in 1961 and Geneva in 1989 respectively. Therefore, the new agreement had to be flexible and future proof, to guarantee the deployment of DVB-T and T-DAB for the coming decades and to facilitate the introduction of new services such as HDTV, mobile TV with DVB-H as well as other new technologies that will arise in the future.

The conference preparation

The first session of this conference was held two years ago (RRC 04). Since this date, administrations have been active in analysing their requirements. They had to consider:

• their current and future needs, taking into account the services that should eventually be offered in their country
• the needs of their neighbouring countries, bearing in mind the principle of equitable access to spectrum.

A software tool was used by the ITU to check the compatibility between the needs submitted by administrations. Unfortunately, this tool is the result of compromises between countries and it was constrained by the short time and limited costs allocated to its design and development. It offers only one statistical model for radio wave propagation and does not account for the terrain, a huge shortcoming. This tool was the reference for the planning exercises performed in preparation and during the RRC 06.

ATDI enhanced its existing tools, ICS telecom nG and ICS manager nG to integrate specific needs for the conference (e.g. the possibility to represent and model not only stations in the form of assignments but also allotments which are characterised by equivalent virtual networks over a given area). ATDI customers had a powerful software suite at their disposal to analyse precisely and reliably the compatibility of their needs with those of their neighbouring countries, and allowing them to adapt the submission of their requirements accordingly.

The conference

ATDI was actively present at the conference:

• As a consulting resource to Regulation Authorities who requested the assistance of ATDI’s experts in the field of spectrum planning and work hand in hand with their internal technical staff.
• To support the numerous administrations that used intensively our software tool during this period.

We are proud to highlight some successes that illustrate the added value of ATDI’s services:

Percentage of accepted needs for each iteration

• The Botswana Telecommunication Authority, assisted by ATDI, spearheaded the work of CNG3 (coordination and negotiation group gathering countries from Eastern and Southern Africa) allowing the setup of an efficient plan for the region. As early as the third iteration, 100% of Botswana needs were satisfied.
• In Europe, early users of ATDI’s solutions such as the UK, the French, or the Irish regulators relied on ICS telecom nG and ICS manager nG for the establishment of their needs. These tools were the key to find technical solutions to incompatibilities.
• Negotiations are known to be difficult in the Middle-East and Gulf Area. The majority of these administrations use ATDI software solution (Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, Syria, etc). ATDI’s technical expertise was a valued support to help find solutions acceptable for everybody. In particular, the Lebanese Authority, assisted by ATDI, achieved a 95.5% of satisfactory needs which was enough to make Lebanon a second to none between the region’s authorities.

The question of equitable access to ATDI's experts was raised among delegates!

Now that this plan has been agreed, its implementation becomes the next challenge for administrations. An important work in broadcast planning, coordination and notification to the ITU will have to be done. All countries want to provide the best coverage within their territories and ensure the compatibility with the agreement. At ATDI, the continuous development of our spectrum planning expertise is the key in our effort to assist regulation authorities and provide them with the most advanced tools to perform efficiently their tasks and defend their national interest.