NKOM publishes reports on the use of the 700MHz band for TV

Norwegian communications regulator Nkom, and national broadcasters NTV, NRK, and RiksTV, have brought out a report dealing with the technical consequences for the digital terrestrial TV network if the 700 MHz bands should be allocated in the future for mobile telecommunications services. In addition, Nexia has supplied Nkom with a report on the estimated cost of five different technical scenarios.

The first scenario is the status quo, which is predicted to cost approximately NOK 4.3 billion in the period 2015 to 2036. The second is that the digital terrestrial network would be removed from the 700 MHz bands, but would retain current technology in the form of DVB-T and H264. This is estimated to cost between NOK 4.0 billion and NOK 4.6 billion. The third is that the digital terrestrial TV grid would move out of the 700 MHz bands, and the new technologies DVB-T2 and H265 would be adopted.

This idea would be expected to cost between NOK 4.1 billion and NOK 4.7 billion, according to Nexia. The fourth scenario is identical to the third, but the terrestrial grid would get access to the VHF3 block in the 174-240 MHz band, too. This is predicted to cost between NOK 4.4 billion and NOK 5.0 billion. The fifth is that DVB-T would be phased out, and a network would be established based on mobile technology, specifically LTE Multicast/eMBMS, in the frequency spectrum 470-694 MHz. This would be the dearest alternative, at up to NOK 5.5 billion. The 700 MHz; band currently makes up 30 percent of the spectrum of the current digital TV network.

NTV has a permit to use the 470-790 MHz band for DTT until 02 June 2021. Any change of use to the 700 MHz bands, specifically, the frequencies 694-790 MHz, would pose challenges to the television network. No decision has yet been made in Norway as to whether the 700MHz bands will be allocated for mobile services in the country, or continue to be used for broadcasting.