E-Band and V-Band - Survey on status of worldwide regulation
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Designation/dedication (to a radio application):
The specific use of a band or portion of band for one
radio application within the allocated service (e.g. some fixed service bands are
“designated/dedicated” to point-to-point only, point-to-multipoint systems cannot obtain access, and
vice versa).
Access to the frequency bands
There are two major methodologies for giving access to the spectrum:
Authorization regimes
Block assignment/auction regimes
Authorization regime
The administration decides, band by band and by radio application which type of licence is required for
operating a radio; Figure 1 (reprinted from [25]) summarizes the types of licensing generally used by
administrations.
Figure 1: Generic subdivision of authorization and licence regimes
Individual licensing
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- this is the conventional link-by-link coordination, usually made under an
administration’s responsibility; sometimes, the administration delegates this task to the operators, but it
keeps control of the national and cross-border interference situation. This is currently the most used
method for point-to-point (P-P) link networks.
Light licensing -
The most common understanding, when fixed P-P links are concerned, refers to a link-
by-link coordination, under users’ responsibility, reflected in the definition given by ECC Report 80 [25]
as: “A ‘light licensing regime’ is a combination of licence-exempt use and protection of users of
spectrum. This model has a ’first come first served’ feature where the user notifies the regulator with
the position and characteristics of the stations. The database of installed stations containing appropriate
technical parameters is publicly available and should thus be consulted before installing new stations.”
From the spectrum usage point of view, this method is, in principle, equivalent to individual licensing.
The potential risks of errors or misuses in the coordination process might be higher because of the
number of actors involved, some of them also not sufficiently technically skilled.
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Sometimes also referred to as “traditional licensing”
