TV is now almost entirely digital: in Europe and the USA, traditional terrestrial broadcasting is in the final stages of switchover from analogue to digital, and across the world, platforms such as satellite, cable and increasingly IPTV are offering high-quality digital image and sound.
The Asia–Pacific region is in the midst of this transition: pay-TV platforms are steadily increasing their penetration in the general population, spectrum regulators are busy negotiating the frequencies they will use for digital terrestrial TV (DTT), and governments have launched massive awareness-raising campaigns to inform their citizens that some time in the next ten years, and maybe as soon as 2015, they will need to upgrade their TV sets or purchase a digital TV set-top box in order to keep watching TV.
A critically important benefit of the transition to DTT is the amount of spectrum that can be made available, for a range of uses, once existing terrestrial TV channels have been digitised. This spectrum is potentially extremely valuable: because it is located in the so-called UHF bands IV/V, below 1GHz, it combines good propagation characteristics (one transmitter can cover a large geographical area), good capacity (the effective amount of information that can be transmitted over 1MHz of spectrum is fairly high compared to lower-frequency bands) and can be used with receivers that have very small antennas.
Unsurprisingly, therefore, a wide range of potential users are interested in gaining access to this spectrum. Broadcasters are keen to expand their terrestrial platform, so as to mount a real challenge to satellite, cable and IPTV players, and in some cases to enter the pay-TV market themselves through the terrestrial platform. Emergency services users and equipment vendors see this spectrum as an opportunity to develop broadband applications for public protection and disaster relief. Mobile operators see this spectrum as the perfect medium through which to bring mobile broadband, and in particular the next generation of services, to areas that cannot currently be served economically with higher-frequency spectrum.
The switchover to digital presents a tremendous opportunity for Asia-Pacific, a region which displays the starkest blend of extremes, with fibre optics poised to deliver very high bandwidth to a large proportion of urbanites while the vast majority of small towns, rural and remote areas only have access to basic telephony through mobile cellular networks. Ensuring that this "digital dividend" spectrum is distributed in the optimal way among different types of service will be critical in enabling the next generation of wireless services, be it for TV, mobile Internet or emergency services, to reach the many as opposed to the few.
The extensive analytical work that Analysys Mason has undertaken around the world has supported policy decisions across Europe and more recently in the Asia-Pacific. Our analytical rigour, world-class track record, and recognised independence and impartiality make us the advisors of choice for governments and regulators seeking to develop spectrum policy that will support economic development, growth and social inclusion.
Our insight into the economics of radio spectrum also enables us to provide unrivalled insight to spectrum users regarding the value they can derive from different bands, and we have supported a wide range of operators throughout the region (for example, in Hong Kong, Indonesia and Malaysia over the last 18 months) in designing their spectrum strategy and achieving their objectives during both administrative processes and auction.
If you have any enquiries about our spectrum management and strategy services, please contact David Abecassis, Senior Manager, at david.abecassis@analysysmason.com