EXCLUSIVE: comreg to auction off wireless broadband data spectrum
blogging from the international wireless conference organised by investnet at the rds this morning. the news this morning is that comreg is to announce an auction process for its next allocation of spectrum. the spectrum is concerned is in the 400Mhz and 900Mhz bands and will be for what it calls "wideband digital mobile data services". it's believed there has been up to seven expressions of interest which is why comreg plans to move to an auction model rather than its "beauty contest" approach which has had mixed success in the past. three nationwide licences are going to be up for grabs when the proces is announced at lunchtime.
this spectrum has been auctioned in other european markets such as portugal and has been used for quite specific vertical applications such as vehicle tracking and other data services. the bandwidth is not optimised for voice but operators could use it to provide voice over ip. they are nationwide licences but they will only have capacity for hundreds of thousands of users rather than millions, so it's not a back door entry for a mainstream mobile provider.
the event is being attended by local mobile application developers, multinationals, financiers and a sprinkling of international players. comreg's david gunning put it up to the local industry to get more involved in the regulator's consultation processes which up to now only the large mobile operators and telcos have engaged with. he also showcased comreg's wireless test and trial scheme which is selling ireland on the international stage as a test-bed for mobile applications. ireland's relatively uncluttered spectrum and position on the edge of europe means this could be a very useful resource for the local industry. ericsson is already availing of the scheme to simulate european and us network conditons for handset testing at its dublin facility.
As an an interesting aside, I noticed your post this morning, but didn't hear anything about it until this afternoon when I got the press release and then it wasn't reported on the RTE site until this evening. Thought this was a good example of how blogging is impacting on the media.
Posted by: Piaras Kelly | October 20, 2005 at 08:12 PM
What's interesting I think is how blogging is impacting on my job as a tech journalist. I was sitting at the conference not expecting much from the ComReg presentation when David Gunning made the announcement about auctions which I knew was a significant change of policy. I rang the Irish Times to see if they wanted a news story. The editor I deal with wasn't available so while I was waiting I said why not blog it - after all I'm sitting there with a wireless broadband connection and my laptop. Does this mean I've scooped myself with the blog over the version in the Irish Times this morning?
It's all a long way from when I used to edit PC Live! and the magazine appeared every two months. The news is really becoming instant.
Posted by: john collins | October 21, 2005 at 12:15 PM