Rollout of cognitive radio applications could be left to individual countries but research and standards should be coordinated at European level, the Radio Spectrum Policy Group (RSPG) said in a 10 February opinion addressing the possible spectrum policy implications arising from cognitive technologies. The report drew mixed reactions from broadcasters… Read more...

While a decision by Ofcom to allow the programme making and special events (PMSE) sector to use the 2010 to 2025 MHz band up to and during the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games has been welcomed, the regulator’s proposal that the band then be auctioned off has been met… Read more...

Europe must set common spectrum policy goals and priorities as early as possible in order to have a stronger voice at the 2012 World Radiocommunications Conference (WRC-12), the Radio Spectrum Policy Group (RSPG) said this month. Among its top recommendations is keeping the digital dividend 800 MHz band clear for… Read more...

Syria has set a reserve price of €90 million for the mobile licence it expects to auction later this year. Read more...

When the Coalition government took office in the UK last May and Ed Vaizey was appointed communications minister, PolicyTracker was quickly on the phone to his office requesting an interview on the government’s spectrum policies – assuming it had any. He is still too busy to talk to us in… Read more...

US president Barack Obama hopes to raise nearly $28 billion through spectrum incentive auctions and to spend $3 billion of it on research and development of emerging wireless technologies and applications. But will his plan to give 98 per cent of Americans 4G high-speed wireless access within five years succeed? Read more...

This year Costa Rica will become one of the last countries in Latin America to open its telecoms market to foreign competition. Two of the region’s largest mobile operators have been awarded licences. Read more...

The European Commission continues to search for a solution to the soaring voice and data roaming fees that continue to plague mobile phone users. One idea is for a pan-European wireless broadband area that relies on spectrum white spaces and sharing. Read more...

In a move that suggests Turkmenistan could get up to three new mobile operators, the country's president Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow has said local firms and state-owned operator Altyn Asyr should form joint ventures with “leading communications companies worldwide”. Read more...

Belgian Institute for Postal Services and Telecommunication (BIPT) Read more...