The A to Z of wireless

K is for Kip Meek

Kip Meek is chairman of the Broadband Stakeholder Group and the UK government's independent spectrum adviser.

Meek's role has been to broker agreement among the mobile operators over the reallocation of 2G spectrum so that Lord Carter's dreams of 2Mbps broadband for all Britons can be realised.

In his interim Digital Britain report, comms minister at the time, Stephen Carter, announced a Wireless Radio Spectrum Modernisation Programme - led by Meek - to resolve the future of 2G spectrum.

In the report, Carter states a preference for the mobile operators to agree to trade the spectrum among themselves, rather than government imposing "realignment".

In May Meek published a report into the spectrum measures needed to facilitate Digital Britain. His "preferred mechanisms" included capping ownership of spectrum among mobile operators so they could hold on to the spectrum they own but would need to sell it before buying any more: a give some, get some approach, if you will.

The report recommended holders of 800MHz spectrum could also be given regional coverage and access obligations to ensure nationwide coverage for the next generation mobile services.

The auctions for 2.6GHz spectrum should also be held at the same time as the 800MHz auction, in mid 2010, to help new entrants get into the market, according to Meek's report.

In addition, Meek has called for a slice of 2.6GHz spectrum suitable for WiMax to be auctioned off sooner, to give those operators a leg-up into a wireless world dominated by cellular players.

In its final Digital Britain report, the government says it "accepts the essentials" of Meek's report but does tinker with the size and structure of his capping mechanisms.

It is also further defers decisions on how much 900MHz spectrum holders will be required to give up in order to acquire 800MHz spectrum - seeking "guiding technical arbitration on the refarming of 900 spectrum before taking a final view on the ratio".

See S is for Spectrum for more.