Summary of Meeting of the Radio Regulatory Council (No. 906)

Date and Time

May 17, 2006 (Wednesday)
15:03 to 16:54

Location

Meeting room of MIC (Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications)
(Meeting room No. 1002 on the 10^th floor)

Attendees (Honorifics omitted)

(1)	Members of the Radio Regulatory Council
	Mitsutoshi Hatori (Chairperson), Junichi Hamada, Koshiko Kodate
(2)	Hearing Examiner of the Radio Regulatory Council
	Syuichi Tanaka
(3)	Secretary
	Ikko Mitsui (Deputy Director of the General Affairs Division, Telecommunications Bureau)
(4)	MIC (Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications)
	Sakurai (Director-General of Radio Department), Shimizu (Policy Coordinating Officer), Kouno (Deputy Director-General of the Minister’s Secretariat), and others

Minutes of the Meeting

(1) Draft for MIC ordinance to amend respective portions of Regulations for Enforcement of the Radio Law, Regulations for Procedure for Obtaining a Radio Station License, Regulations for Radio Equipment and Ordinance Concerning Technical Regulations Conformity Certification, etc. of Specified Radio Equipment (Consultation No. 3 of March 15, 2006)
	The council deliberated on the partial amendment of the MIC ordinance draft mentioned in the title, based on submissions from the hearing examiner, who presided over the opinion hearing procedure. The draft pertains to the introduction of the Ka-band VSAT system, upgrading of the INMARSAT F System, and abolition of the INMARSAT E system. The hearing examiner submitted written opinions and written statements (cf. No. 411: Written Opinion from Hearing on Opinions from the Radio Regulatory Council). The council summarily accepted the contents of the draft and submitted a report, but added the opinion that it is appropriate to make an amendment that accurately reflects the report from the Information and Communications Council regarding the stipulation on the modulation system for the Ka-band VSAT system.
(2) Draft for MIC ordinance to amend respective portions of the Regulations for Enforcement of the Radio Law, Regulations for Radio Equipment, and Ordinance Concerning Technical Regulations Conformity Certification, etc. of Specified Radio Equipment (Consultation No. 11)
	As this case is related to Consultation No. 12, the MIC explained the case and a Q&A session took place, together with Consultation 12.
(3) Draft for amendments to parts of the Frequency Assignment Plan – Change pertaining to the introduction of the Ultra Wide Band (UWB) Radio System, which uses the microwave band for telecommunication purposes (Consultation No. 12)
	As this case is related to Consultation No. 11, the MIC explained the case and a Q&A session took place, together with Consultation 11. As the Radio Law stipulates the hearing of opinions in regard to Consultation No. 11, and since it was judged appropriate to hear opinions on Consultation No. 12, together with opinions on Consultation No. 11, the hearing was held on the same occasion. Syuichi Tanaka was designated as the hearing examiner to preside over the opinion hearing procedure.
a. Explanation by MIC
	This consultation is concerning revision of technical standards, etc. necessary to introduce the Ultra Wide Band (UWB) system that will enable high-speed transmission. The features of this system are the utilization of an extremely wide spectrum of bandwidths that are mostly in the range of 500 MHz or over, and the achievement of high-speed information transmission of a few hundred Mbps over short distances. The system transmits radio waves with frequencies over an extremely wide spectrum; yet the electrical power at each frequency is extremely small. Since this system enables multiple uses of radio waves, and was developed as a system that can coexist with other radio telecommunication systems, it is gathering attention. Examples of possible application of this system are transmissions between personal computer peripherals, and wireless information transmission from home servers to displays and speakers. The major contents of the MIC ordinance for revision shall be as follows. The first point shall be a revision in the Regulations for Enforcement of the Radio Law. It will become necessary to define the UWB system and stipulate its radio stations as radio stations that will not require a license, since they are low-power radio stations of 10 mW or below. The second point shall be a change in the Regulations for Radio Equipment that stipulates frequencies and technical standards for each frequency -- the technical standards regulate specifications such as electrical power levels. The third point is to position the system as specified radio equipment, and define the equipment as equipment to which Technical Regulations Conformity Certification can be applied. Details of the definition shall be as follows. The main use of the system shall be for data transmission; the required frequency bandwidth of the radio station shall be 450 MHz or more; the system shall be used indoors; the system shall use frequencies in the 3.4 to 4.8 GHz band or the 7.25 to 10.25 GHz band; and antenna power shall be 1 mW or less. Electrical power of 1 mW or less is extremely low. Since it does not exceed 10 mW, it will not require a license and it is 1/100 to 1/1000 of the antenna power used for 3rd generation mobile phones and wireless LAN systems. The power level was stipulated to achieve parallel use with existing radio systems and set to the maximum permissible power level to be emitted from the UWB system. The UWB system shall utilize frequencies within a low band from 3.4 to 4.8 GHz and a high band from 7.25 to 10.25 GHz The power level at the low band frequencies will change depending on whether it incorporates technology to alleviate interference. This implies that when using low band frequencies for the UWB system, it is necessary to apply interference alleviation technology. However, interference alleviation technology is still immature, and there are no plans to introduce the technology into this system in the immediate future. Nevertheless, frequencies in the 4.2 to 4.8 GHz band do not interfere with existing radio systems. The problem will not occur until the introduction of 4^th generation systems. Based on the judgment that interference alleviation technology will not be necessary until that point, it has been decided that the use of the UWB system will be permitted, even without interference alleviation technology. A reprieve will be granted on the stipulation that requires established interference alleviation technology until December of 2008. Meanwhile, for the high band frequencies, the problem of interference does not exist between the system and existing radio systems, and thus interference alleviation technology is not necessary. The main amendment to the technical standards is the limitation of use to indoors. This is because in Japan, the requirements for use of this system were mostly indoors. Additionally, if this system is to be used outdoors, conditions to prevent interference by radio waves from existing systems using the same frequencies will become increasingly severe. Therefore, it has been decided that this system will be used indoors, for the immediate future. Discussion is underway concerning a review of the technical requirements internationally and within the Information and Communications Technology Sub-Council; and there is still strong concern over the influence on existing radio systems. Internationally and domestically, standards will be provisional, and when the actual UWB system equipment is developed, the effects will be assessed by experiments. Alternatively, preconditions for discussing interference may change if the popularity of the UWB radio system becomes larger than expected. Moreover, in Europe, technical requirements are planned to be reviewed after three years. Thus, in Japan also, this issue will be reviewed after three years. In regard to the draft for amendments to parts of the Frequency Assignment Plan, the following has been taken into consideration. Internationally, the frequency for the UWB system is not incorporated into the frequency allocation table, and it is positioned as “usage outside allocation.” This is because the system uses frequencies over an extremely wide spectrum that have already been allocated to various radio telecommunications operations. Normally, frequency usage would be stipulated in Table 2 of the Frequency Allocation Table in the Frequency Assignment Plan. However, it is very difficult to refer to the status of the radio telecommunications and the purpose of the radio stations over such a broad spectrum. Therefore a new frequency table is planned for Ultra Wide Band radio systems to regulate the allocation of frequencies. Conditions for frequency assignment are stipulated in the note, which says that “These stations must not cause harmful interference to other radio stations,” “These stations may not make a demand for protection when affected by interference” and “Use of these stations shall be limited to indoors.”
b. Main contents of the Q&A session
	- The council asked what concrete methods will be introduced to develop the said functions necessary to reduce interference. The MIC explained that there are basically two systems that are being suggested. One of the systems is the DAA (Detect And Avoid) system that degrades power when other radio waves are detected; and the other is a system that reduces the influence on other systems by emitting radio waves with a LDC (Low Duty Cycle) in short intervals. The MIC answered that although interference alleviation technology has not yet been established, and is still going through trial-and-error testing, there is a good prospect that the technology will be established in about two years. - The council asked about the note, which is included in the draft for amendments to parts of the Frequency Assignment Plan. It was about the stipulation saying that “These stations may not make a demand for protection when affected by interference.” The question was on whether such stipulation has been introduced in the past. The MIC explained that for “usage outside the allocation,” regulations are required to note that harmful interference to other radio stations is forbidden and that protection when affected by interference cannot be demanded. The MIC also added that this is a relatively common regulation pertaining to radio wave usage, and that such conditions are also adopted by countries other than Japan, that have introduced the UWB system.
(4) Draft for amendments to parts of the Frequency Assignment Plan – Change pertaining to introduction of the Multi-Functional Transport Satellite (MTSAT) Aeronautical Mission (Communications) (Consultation No. 13)
	MIC gave the explanation below on the draft for amendments to parts of the Frequency Assignment Plan pertaining to introduction of the MTSAT Aeronautical Mission. The council deliberated on the draft, and reported the draft as appropriate.
- Explanation by MIC
	This consultation is concerning amendments to parts of the Frequency Assignment Plan to make changes pertaining to introduction of the Multi-Functional Transport Satellite (MTSAT) Aeronautical Mission. At present, off shore air area communication between aircraft owned by air transportation companies and air traffic control organizations is mainly carried out by voice communication in the high frequency band. However, telecommunications using the high frequency band can become unstable depending on conditions in the ionosphere. The new system that communicates via MTSAT, an artificial satellite, is not affected by the ionosphere, and provides high-quality and stable telecommunications. Operation of this system is planned for around July of 2006. In this draft for amendments to parts of the Frequency Assignment Plan, three points will be revised to enable the MTSAT Aeronautical Mission radio stations to use frequencies in the 1.6 GHz band. The first point is about the purpose of radio stations. Originally, the purpose of radio stations was limited to public operations. Nevertheless to enable communication between aircraft owned by air transportation companies and air traffic control organizations, “general operations” shall be added to their purpose. The second point is to make the 1.6 GHz aeronautical earth stations available for the MTSAT system. Up to the present, the use of earth stations was limited to the INMARSAT system. Necessary changes shall be made to the regulations, such as replacing the Annex that regulates the conditions for using frequencies. The third point involves changes to the footnotes in the Frequency Assignment Plan. The footnotes for frequencies in the 1,544 to 1,545 MHz and 1,645 to 1,646.5 MHz bands shall be changed and added, to reflect the content of the footnotes on international allocation – the use of these bands shall be limited to telecommunications related to distress and safety.
(5) Cancellation of accreditation of the plan to establish specified base stations using frequencies in the 1.7 GHz band (Consultation No. 14)
	In regard to cancellation of the accreditation of BB Mobile Corp.’s (hereinafter referred to as BB Mobile) establishment plan, the MIC gave the following explanation, and a Q&A session took place. Article 99-12-(1) of the Radio Law stipulates the hearing of opinions concerning this issue. Syuichi Tanaka was assigned as the hearing examiner to preside over the opinion hearing procedure.
a. Explanation by MIC
	On August 11, 2005, guidelines on the plan to establish specific base stations for 3rd generation mobile phones were decided. For the Nationwide Band in the 1.7 GHz band, the guidelines made frequency bands available for a maximum of two new operators to enter. Initially, it was decided to allocate each a bandwidth of 5 MHz. Based on this establishment plan, BB Mobile and EMOBILE Ltd. applied, and their establishment plans were certified. Although BB Mobile was preparing to enter the business in compliance with the certified plan, an acquisition scheme emerged. BB Mobile decided to acquire Vodafone Japan (hereinafter referred to as Vodafone); and on April 27, 2006, procedures for acquisition were completed for Vodafone. Consequently, on April 28, 2006, a day after the acquisition, BB Mobile offered to return the accreditation of their establishment plan in the 1.7 GHz band to the MIC, since the preconditions on the point of establishment plan accreditation have changed. In response to the offer, since BB Mobile had not applied for a radio station license pertaining to the specified base station, and since BB Mobile had offered to return the establishment plan accreditation, the MIC judged that there was no possibility for BB Mobile to establish specified base stations based on their establishment plan in the future. According to Article 27-15 of the Radio Law, when the MIC judges that an entity is not establishing the base stations specified in their accredited plan, in accordance with the said accredited plan, the Minister of Internal Affairs and Communication may cancel the accreditation based on an opinion from the Radio Regulatory Council. The frequency spectrum in the 1.7 GHz band, in which BB Mobile’s establishment plan was permitted, cannot be utilized under these circumstances. The MIC intends to cancel the accreditation to promote effective use of the frequency. After cancelling the accreditation for the establishment plan, the frequency spectrum is planned to be handled as follows. The establishment guidelines stipulate that accreditation is permitted for a maximum of two new operators to enter. Yet, the guidelines also stipulate that when there is only one applicant that conforms to the requirements, the said applicant will be assigned a 5 MHz bandwidth, and the remaining frequencies will be assigned to the said applicant in accordance with the increase in the number of subscribers. Therefore, the frequencies that BB Mobile have offered to return will be reserved for the meantime to respond to any increase in new users. The MIC will not receive new applications for accreditation of establishment plans.
b. Main contents of the Q&A session
	- Although the frequency spectrum allocated to BB Mobile was 1,844.9 MHz and above, it has been referred to as being in the 1.7 GHz band. The council questioned if this was an international rule. The MIC explained that since these guidelines are for establishing base stations, the document refers to frequencies belonging only to the 1.8 GHz band. Nevertheless, in practical terms, frequencies in the 1.7 GHz band, and frequencies in the 1.8 GHz band that are used for base stations are classified under the same name. Internationally, they are referred to as being in the 1.7 GHz band.
(6) Approval to abolish broadcasting station attached to the University of the Air Foundation (Consultation No. 15)
	This consultation is regarding approval to abolish the Sendagaya station attached to the University of the Air Foundation, The council deliberated on the abolition, and reported the draft as appropriate.
a. Explanation by MIC
	The Sendagaya station is a broadcasting station that was established in 1990 as a means to solve reception difficulties caused by the GSK building. At present, it has become clear that the GSK building will no longer be able to receive radio waves from Tokyo Tower, since the Tokyo Midtown Project will construct a building with a height of approx. 250m on land in Roppongi that was originally used by the Defense Agency. Accordingly, the area of poor reception caused by the GSK building in Sendagaya will be incorporated into the area of poor reception affected by the Tokyo Midtown Project. Consequently, all households that used to receive radio waves via the Sendagaya station will be accommodated within that group. All households within the broadcasting area of the Sendagaya station totals 39,756, and among them, 1,900 households were viewing programs via the Sendagaya station. Measures have been taken regarding these 1,900 households, and they have become subscribers to its communications Inc., a cable T.V. operator, or Opticast Inc., which broadcasts using a telecommunications service; or have changed their receiving station. Currently, there are no households receiving programs via the Sendagaya station. The approval standards for abolishing NHK broadcasting stations are applied mutatis mutandis to the abolition of the broadcasting station attached to the University of the Air Foundation, The following four requirements must be met. The number of households within the broadcasting area receiving their broadcasts via the said station shall be zero; a stable alternative means, such as a commonly used reception facility, shall be available for the future; new households moving into the area must be able to use the alternative means, such as the commonly used reception facility; and confirmation that there are no protests from local residents concerning the abolition. Based on the examination result, the MIC judges that all requirements for approval have been met.
b. Main contents of the Q&A session
	- One of the examination items requires a stable alternative means, such as a commonly used reception facility to be available for the future. The council asked if the management status, etc. of operators of CATV facilities, and the like had been examined. MIC explained that in this case, a viewer can choose its communications Inc. or Opticast Inc., and the MIC does not see any problems pertaining to these operators. The MIC answered that, even if a problem should occur on the operator’s side, the MIC expects the Tokyo Midland Project, the cause of the poor reception, to take the appropriate measures. - The council asked if the current radio signals from Tokyo Tower are analog or digital. The MIC answered that in 1990, when the Sendagaya station was built, there was only analog broadcasting, and the station built to solve the poor reception problems transmitted only analog signals. Nevertheless, since all broadcasting will shift from analog to digital, as a matter of course, Tokyo Tower will no longer transmit analog signals.
(The Radio Regulatory Council Secretariat is responsible for the wording of this document)