Land Mobile Radio Licensing and Channel Statistics Report for 2000

Introduction

This Report has been produced in line with the Radiocommunications Agency's commitment to publish detailed statistics on spectrum usage in the land mobile radio bands.

The Report is the sixth in a series of annual statistical reports. It provides information on licensed Private Business Radio (PBR) services as at 31 December 1999, and the numbers of radios operating under these licences. It also provides details of the spectrum allocated to land mobile radio services.

The Report is split into two sections:

PART 1: PBR Business Statistics

Part 1 provides detailed statistics on PBR licences that were in force at the end of 1999. The tables provide a breakdown of licensing data by various licence and business use categories.

This edition of the statistics report is the first since the introduction of the new Radiocommunications Unified Licensing Executive System (RULES) which has been used for the licensing of PBR systems since July 1999. When RULES has been fully implemented it will encompass all licensing activity conducted within the Agency.

The new licensing system has resulted in substantial changes to the way in which mobile radio services are licensed. All licensees received new RULES licences to replace their old licence(s). The new format provided licensees with a separate licence for each individual system they were operating. This has had the effect of substantially increasing the number of licences compared with last year.

This is also the first report since the introduction of the PMR 446 service (licence exempt) into the UK in March 1999. This will eventually replace the Short Range Business Radio service (see the section titled 'Other Private Business Radio Licences')

PART 2: Breakdown of PBR Bands

Part 2 provides details of the spectrum available to PBR services in the land mobile radio bands and how it is used.

This section also provides similar information about Public Access Mobile Radio, Common Base Station, National Public Data Operator Services, Radio Paging (standard), Local Communications, Short Range Business Radio and Wide Area Paging.

PART 1: Private Business Radio Statistics

Wide Area Private Business Radio Licences

NUMBER OF LICENCES

MOBILE RADIO RANGES
LICENCE CATEGORY	Licences with 1 - 10 Mobiles	Licences with 11 - 25 Mobiles	Licences with 26 - 60 Mobiles	Licences with 61 - 100 Mobiles	Licences with 101 - 200 Mobiles	Licences with 201 - 500 Mobiles	Licences with 501 - 1000 Mobiles	Licences with 1000+ Mobiles	Total in Category
Wide Area Shared	3661	951	400	48	25	2	2	0	5089
UK General 1	2879	352	127	28	24	16	4	4	3434
Taxis & Private Car Hire	4916	1804	749	150	61	22	0	1	7703
Motor / Pedal Cycle Despatch	57	93	96	22	18	3	0	0	289
Local & Central Government	490	306	414	227	149	53	8	0	1647
Ambulance & General Medical	196	107	34	12	5	3	1	0	358
UTILITIES 1. Water 2	14	39	41	26	4	2	0	0	126
2. Gas/electricity/coal/nuclear	33	20	17	13	12	7	7	20	129
Bus & Coach Operators	3	7	11	12	19	8	4	3	67
Protected Service Users 3	120	85	19	15	10	4	1	2	256
‘Other’ Users	15	9	3	0	1	0	0	0	28
TOTAL	12384	3773	1911	553	328	120	27	30	19126

NUMBER OF MOBILES

MOBILE RADIO RANGES
LICENCE CATEGORY	Licences with 1 - 10 Mobiles	Licences with 11 - 25 Mobiles	Licences with 26 - 60 Mobiles	Licences with 61 - 100 Mobiles	Licences with 101 - 200 Mobiles	Licences with 201 - 500 Mobiles	Licences with 501 - 1000 Mobiles	Licences with 1000+ Mobiles	Total in Category
Wide Area Shared	25579	17504	16090	3795	3467	630	1250	0	68315
UK General 1	17632	6731	5201	2322	3585	4751	2649	6724	49595
Taxis & Private Car Hire	35707	37154	33106	12757	8978	5658	0	2500	135860
Motor / Pedal Cycle Despatch	461	1945	4355	1850	2685	840	0	0	12136
Local & Central Government	2994	5596	18094	18875	20339	15753	4585	0	86236
Ambulance & General Medical	1251	1767	1354	940	613	850	1000	0	7775
UTILITIES 1. Water 2	77	797	1851	2080	576	682	0	0	6063
2. Gas/electricity/coal/nuclear	125	342	684	1109	1726	2330	5696	29335	41347
Bus & Coach Operators	30	131	428	1057	2781	2240	3099	10284	20050
Protected Service Users 3	764	1623	797	1228	1455	1247	639	5281	13034
‘Other’ Users	93	143	123	0	168	0	0	0	527
TOTAL	84713	73733	82083	46013	46373	34981	18918	54124	440938

Notes
¹ UK General covers use of handportables/mobiles anywhere in the UK (no base stations except under exceptional circumstances).
² The water industry data covers shared channel licences and does not include services which operate on national exclusive channels.
³ 'Protected Service Users' licences do not fit into any of the other categories. These users operate services which are given a high degree of protection from co-channel interference (other categories in the table can also include licensees with protected services).
⁴ The tables exclude National Exclusive Channel Licensees. There is no mobiles data available for this category, but data on the number of licensees can be found in the section titled 'Other Private Business Radio Licences'

On-Site Private Business Radio Licences

NUMBER OF LICENCES

MOBILE RADIO RANGES
LICENCE CATEGORY	Licences with 1 - 10 Mobiles	Licences with 11 - 25 Mobiles	Licences with 26 - 60 Mobiles	Licences with 61 - 100 Mobiles	Licences with 101 - 200 Mobiles	Licences with 201 - 500 Mobiles	Licences with 501 - 1000 Mobiles	Licences with 1000+ Mobiles	Total in Category
On Site Dual Frequency	1845	1470	538	95	15	4	0	0	3967
On Site Single Frequency	15521	2096	397	31	9	6	0	0	18060
Local & Central Government	1329	228	63	9	2	1	0	0	1632
Ambulance & General Medical	666	137	23	0	1	0	0	0	827
UTILITIES 1. Water1	125	20	6	0	0	0	0	0	151
2. Gas/electricity/coal/nuclear	294	79	45	16	5	0	0	0	439
Protected Service Users2	479	59	13	1	0	0	1	1	554
‘Other’ Users	181	96	66	7	1	1	2	0	354
TOTAL	20440	4185	1151	159	33	12	3	0	25984

NUMBER OF MOBILES

MOBILE RADIO RANGES
LICENCE CATEGORY	Licences with 1 - 10 Mobiles	Licences with 11 - 25 Mobiles	Licences with 26 - 60 Mobiles	Licences with 61 - 100 Mobiles	Licences with 101 - 200 Mobiles	Licences with 201 - 500 Mobiles	Licences with 501 - 1000 Mobiles	Licences with 1000+ Mobiles	Total in Category
On Site Dual Frequency	12729	26873	20684	7553	2275	1245	0	0	71359
On Site Single Frequency	87728	35272	15089	2514	1283	1689	0	0	143575
Local & Central Government	7680	3815	2398	703	304	293	0	0	15193
Ambulance & General Medical	3632	2292	834	0	120	0	0	0	6878
UTILITIES 1. Water1	628	314	248	0	0	0	0	0	1190
2. Gas/electricity/coal/nuclear	1487	1280	1871	1219	798	0	0	0	6655
Protected Service Users2	2316	924	509	70	0	0	950	1567	6336
‘Other’ Users	1017	1673	2681	531	121	375	1350	0	7748
TOTAL	117217	72443	44314	12590	4901	3602	2300	1567	258934

Notes
¹ The water industry data covers shared channel licences and does not include services which operate on national exclusive channels.
²'Protected Service Users' licences do not fit into any of the other categories. These users operate services which are given a high degree of protection from CO-channel interference (other categories in the table can also include licensees with protected services).
³ The tables exclude National Exclusive Channel Licensees. There is no mobiles data available for this category, but data on the number of licensees can be found in the section titled 'Other Private Business Radio Licences')

Other Private Business Radio Licences

NATIONAL EXCLUSIVE PBR CHANNELS TOTAL NO. CHANNELS . . . . . . . . . .132 TOTAL NO. LICENCES . . . . . . . . . . . .13 (Licensees also have non-exclusive Channels)	EXCLUSIVE NATIONAL HEALTH SERVICE CHANNELS TOTAL NO. CHANNELS . . . . . . . . . . .32 TOTAL NO. LICENCES . . . . . . . . . . . .82 (mainly ambulance)
RADIO PAGING (STANDARD) TOTAL NO. LICENCES . . . . . . . . . . 10988	LOCAL COMMUNICATIONS TOTAL NO. LICENCES . . . . . . . . . .2095
SUPPLIERS LICENCE TOTAL NO. LICENCES...........522	ROAD CONSTRUCTION TOTAL NO. LICENCES . . . . . . . . . . . .20
SHORT RANGE BUSINESS RADIO TOTAL NO. SRBR LICENCES ..............................................12215 TOTAL NO. SRBR PAGING LICENCES...........................................32 Notes: The PMR 446 service was introduced into the United Kingdom in March 1999 and complies to a European Harmonised standard. PMR 446 is a handportable short range voice only communication system, which will eventually replace Short Range Business Radio (SRBR). As a result the Agency stopped issuing licences for SRBR speech channels from 30 September 1999. These channels will, however, continue to be available to existing licence holders until 31 December 2003. SRBR paging still requires a licence and will continue to be allowed until 31 December 2006. The Agency started issuing SRBR paging only licences from 1 October 1999.
WIDE AREA PAGING (PRIVATE SYSTEMS) TOTAL NO. LICENCES ............329	POLICE AND FIRE USE EACH INDIVIDUAL POLICE OR FIRE AUTHORITY IS ISSUED WITH A LICENCE TO COVER ITS USE OF MOBILE RADIO

PART 2: Spectrum Availability and Usage in the Land Mobile Radio Bands

1 Spectrum available for use by Private Business Radio (PBR) systems

Band I 55.75000 - 68.00000 MHz (See Section 2)

Low Band 68.08125 - 87.49375 MHz	Single	Dual
Wide area shared PBR (including data dominant and data only channels)	1	124
On-site shared PBR	8	0
PBR National channel users	3	77
PBR exclusive channel users	5	6
UK General	5	0
Short Term Hire / Parking & Demonstration	0	1
Parking & Demonstration	0	1
Road Construction	0	1
Unavailable at present	0	11
Reserved for particular uses	1	12
No assignments at present	11	61
Total channels:	34	294

Mid Band 139.51250 - 165.04375 MHz	Single	Dual
Wide area shared PBR1 (including data dominant and data only channels)	0	23
On-site shared PBR	10	0
PBR National channel users	7	86
UK General	2	0
Short Term Hire	0	8
Short Term Hire (construction only)	0	3
Parking & Demonstration	0	1
Road Construction	0	5
Reserved for particular uses	0	2
No assignments at present	4	10
Total channels:	23	138

Notes
¹ Includes 7 channels available to the wide area shared category in the London area only (CBS & Maritime services elsewhere)

High Band 165.04375 - 173.09375 MHz	Single	Dual
Wide area shared PBR	0	185
On-site shared PBR	31	5
PBR National channel users	11	45
UK General	5	0
Short Term Hire	4	0
Parking & Demonstration	0	1
Road Construction	0	1
Total channels:	51	237

BAND III Sub Bands 1 - 3	Single	Dual
Sub Band 1 177.20625 - 191.49375 MHz (some channels available to PBR users, subject to demand from PAMR operators)
Sub Band 2 193.20625 - 207.49375 MHz Private Operator Networks	0	95
Sub Band 3 209.20625 - 215.26875 MHz Reserved for Private Operators	0	40
Total channels:	0	135

UHF 1 425.00625 - 449.49375 MHz	Single	Dual
(only available in certain major conurbations - national channels excepted)
Wide area shared PBR	7	75
On-site shared PBR (10 of the singles available nationally)	43	61
PBR National channel users	1	9
PBR exclusive channel users	12	49
Parking & Demonstration	0	1
Reserved for particular uses	4	3
No assignments at present	27	12
Total channels:	94	210

UHF 2 453.00625 - 462.49375 MHz	Single	Dual
Wide area shared PBR	1	13
On-site shared PBR	52	25
PBR National channel users	0	42
PBR exclusive channel users	1	2
PBR exclusive channel users (available in London & SE only)	0	6
UK General	3	0
Short Term Hire	1	3
Parking & Demonstration	0	1
Short Range Business Radio	3	0
Limited availability channels (PBR use at airports only)	0	31
Split dual frequency channels1	0	23
Reserved for particular uses	6	38
No assignments at present	0	2
Total channels:	67	186

Notes
¹ The receive and transmit legs of the split duals are now used as single frequency channels and these have been counted in other categories (mainly the single frequency on-site category). No new dual frequency assignments are permitted.

  Top

2 Spectrum available for use by Public Access Mobile Radio (PAMR), Common Base Station (CBS) & National Public Data Operator systems

Band I 55.75000 - 68.00000 MHz	Single	Dual
(Band I channels will be made available to CBS & PBR services) No assignments at present	0	380
Total channels:	0	380

Low Band 68.08125 - 87.49375 MHZ	Single	Dual
Common Base Stations	0	45
Total channels:	0	45

Mid Band 139.51250 - 165.04375 MHz	Single	Dual
Common Base Stations	0	85
National Public Data Operators	1	25
Total channels:	1	110

High Band 165.04375 - 173.09375 MHz	Single	Dual
Common Base Stations	0	20
Total channels:	0	20

BAND III Sub Bands 1 - 3	Single	Dual
Sub Band 1 177.20625 - 191.49375 MHz (some channels available to PBR users, subject to demand from PAMR operators)
Public Operator Networks	0	382
National Public Data Operators	0	49
No assignments at present	0	63
Sub Band 2 193.20625 - 207.49375 MHz
Public Operator Networks	0	401
No assignments at present	0	7
Sub Band 3 209.20625 - 215.26875 MHz (channels will be made available to public and private radio systems)
Reserved for Common Base Stations	0	40
No assignments at present (6.25 kHz channels)	0	160
Total channels:	0	1102

UHF 1 425.00625 - 449.49375 MHz	Single	Dual
(only available in certain major conurbations - national channels excepted)
Common Base Stations	0	133
Common Base Stations (Reserved)	0	10
National Public Data Operators (includes 14 national channels)	0	21
Total channels:	0	164

UHF 2 453.00625 - 462.49375 MHz	Single	Dual
National Public Data Operators	0	15
National Public Data Operators (Reserved)	0	5
Total channels:	0	20

3 Spectrum available for use by Radio Paging (Standard & Short Term Hire), Local Communications, and Short Range Business Radio (Paging Service) systems

BANDS

HF
26. 22500 - 26. 93250 MHz	(25.0 kHz channels)
VHF
31. 71250 - 31. 78750 MHz	(25.0 kHz channels)
48. 96875 - 49. 49375 MHz
159. 63125 - 164. 20625 MHz	(used for return speech - paired with 31, 49 & 458/459 MHz frequencies)
UHF
458. 83750 - 459. 48750 MHz	(25 kHz channels)
461. 29375 - 461. 30625 MHz

Channel Category	Single	Dual
Radio Paging (Standard)	70	51
Radio Paging (Short Term Hire)	4	0
Local Communications	0	106
Short Range Business Radio (Paging Service)	1	0
Total channels:	75	157

4 Spectrum available for use by Wide Area Paging systems

BANDS

VHF	Single	Dual
137.96250 - 138.21250 MHz (25.0 kHz channels)
Public systems	4	0
No assignments at present	4	0
153.01250 - 153.48750 MHz (25.0 kHz channels)
Public systems	10	0
Private systems	6	0
No assignments at present (test & development use on one channel)	2	0
169.41250 - 169.81250 MHz (25.0 kHz channels)
Public systems	1	0
No assignments at present	15	0
UHF
449.09375 - 449.11875 MHz (25.0 kHz channels)
Public systems	1	0
454.01250 - 454.83750 MHz (25.0 kHz channels)
Public systems	4	0
Private systems	14	0
Shared channels (public & private systems)	2	0
Reserved for particular uses	2	0
No assignments at present (test & development use on one channel)	7	0
466.06250 - 466.08750 MHz (25.0 kHz channels)
Public Systems	1	0
Total channels (VHF & UHF):	73	0

5 Summary of Spectrum Available to Private Business Radio, Public Access Mobile Radio, Common Base Station & National Public Data Operator Systems

Band	Dual Frequency Channels	Single Frequency Channels	Total Spectrum (MHz)
Band I1	380	0	10.2500
Low Band2	339	34	8.8625
Mid Band	248	24	6.5000
High Band	257	51	7.0625
Band III3	1237	0	30.3500
UHF 1	374	94	10.5250
UHF 12 & 4	206	67	5.2625
TOTALS:	3041	270	78.8125

Notes
^1. Total spectrum includes 0.75 MHz which has not yet been planned in.
^2. Total spectrum adjusted to allow for use of some frequencies in multiple channel configurations.
^3. TotaI spectrum includes 2 x 0.7 MHz in Sub Band 3 which has not yet been planned in.
^4. Includes 18 channels which use UHF 1 & 2 frequencies. Both legs are counted in the UHF 2 Total Spectrum figure.

6 Summary of Spectrum Available to Radio Paging (Standard & Short Term Hire), Local Communications, and Short Range Business Radio (Paging Service)

Band	Total Spectrum (MHz)
HF	0.32501
VHF	0.81251
UHF	0.51251
TOTAL:	1.6500

Notes
^1. Adjusted to allow for use of some frequencies in multiple channel configurations, and use of frequency offset channels.

7 Summary of Spectrum Available to Wide Area Paging

Band	Total Spectrum (MHz)
VHF	1.05001
UHF	0.77501
TOTAL:	1.8250

Notes
^1. The frequency ranges quoted in this report are band edge to band edge. Spectrum within the ranges may also be allocated to services other than those covered by the report. The uses made of channels, and the number available, can be subject to change at any time.
^2. All channels are 12.5 kHz bandwidth unless otherwise stated.
^3. The Home Office manages about 17 MHz of spectrum not covered by this report (VHF & UHF). This spectrum is used to meet the needs of Police Forces, Fire Brigades and services such as the Prison Service, Home Defence Organisations & the Immigration Service.

If you have any queries concerning this report please contact:

Ray Wilson

RA2 / Private Business Systems Unit

Tel: 020 7211 0253

Fax: 020 7211 0252

E-mail: ray.wilson@ra.gsi.gov.uk

Further copies of the report can be obtained from the address / telephone number below:

Library & Information Service

Radiocommunications Agency

Wyndham House

189 Marsh Wall

London E14 9SX

 

Tel: 020 7211 0502 / 0505

Fax: 020 7211 0507

E-mail: library@ra.gsi.gov.uk

  Top

Land Mobile Radio Licensing and Channel Statistics Report for 2000