TELEVISION WHITE SPACES (TVWS) GUIDELINES

ABBREVIATIONS

INTRODUCTION

The Zambia Information and Communications Technology Authority (Authority) is provided for under section 4 of the Information and Communication Technologies Act No.  15 of 2009 (hereinafter referred to as “the Act”).
Section 6 of the Act empowers the Authority to regulate the provision of electronic communication services and products and monitor the performance of the sector, including the levels of investment and the availability, quality, cost, and standards of the electronic communication services.
Further, under Parts IV and VI of the Act, the Authority regulates the establishment and operation of a radio station or provision of radio communication services in the  Republic and is empowered to prescribe the manner of application for assignment of scarce resources as well as prescribing standard terms and conditions of such assignments.
The Authority is under Section 7 of the Act, empowered to make guidelines for the better carrying out of its mandate. Pursuant to the mandate referred to above, the Authority hereby issues these guidelines.

SCOPE

These guidelines regulate the use and operation of data radio devices in the UHF spectrum band 470-690 MHz band in order to support access to, and uptake of, affordable broadband services in the underserved and unserved areas on a license-exempt basis.

STATUS OF THE GUIDELINES

These guidelines shall be read as one with the ICT Act, license terms and conditions, and any other relevant law.

DEFINITIONS

In these guidelines, unless the context otherwise requires —
“Act” means the Information and Communication Technologies Act No. 15 of 2009;
“Client White Space Device “means a fixed, mobile or nomadic white space device that is capable of communicating with a master WSD in order to obtain technical parameters.
“Digital Terrestrial Television” means the digital terrestrial broadcasting technologies and platforms for delivery of TV content in the UHF band;
“ETSI EN 301 598” means the ETSI Harmonised European Standard for “White Space Devices and Wireless Access Systems operating in the 470 MHz – 690 MHz TV broadcast band;
“Fixed device” means a TVWS device that transmits and/or receives communications at a specified fixed location and obtains information on available channels from a geo-location database;
“Fixed White Space Device” means a device intended to operate in a fixed location only;
“Geo-location” means the capability of a TVWS device to determine and report the latitude, longitude, and altitude coordinates of its antenna;
“Geographical Location Database” means a database that stores geographical locations with permissible frequencies and technical parameters for WSD. It controls the utilization of the TV spectrum by WSD within a determined geographical location;
“IEEE802.11AF” means a standard for white space spectrum sharing;
“Master White Space Device” means a device that is able to communicate with and obtain parameters directly from a geo-location database;
“Licensee” means a holder of a network or service license;
“Nomadic White Space Device” means a movable device intended to operate within a limited coverage area;
“Television White Space” means the unused portions of frequency within the 470 MHz to 690 MHz bands allocated for a broadcasting service at a given time in a given  geographical area;
“White Space Device” means radio equipment or apparatus that operates in the TVWS of the UHF TV band;
‘Television White Space Database Administrator” means a licensee authorized by the Authority to control the TV spectrum utilization by WSD within a specified geographical  area; and
“Ultra-High Frequency” means a TV band in the frequency range of 470 — 690 MHz.

OBJECTIVES

The objects of these guidelines are to
5.1 define the use of the TVWS spectrum in the Republic;
5.2 provide guidance on how the TVWS spectrum shall be regulated for provision of broadband services in the underserved and unserved areas only in order to support access  and bridge the digital divide in these areas; and
5.3 establish the conditions in which TVWS services shall be provided.

ACCESS TO TVWS RADIO FREQUENCY SPECTRUM

6.1 | TVWS shall be managed by a TVWSDA who shall be authorized to operate a GLDB by the Authority.
6.2. A TVWSDA shall demonstrate the capability of the database to reliably provide information on the availability of TYWS to the WSDs.
6.3 A TVWSDA shall provide access to TVWS to a person while protecting incumbent broadcasting services.
6.4 A TVWSDA who has been assigned a spectrum in the TVWS band shall operate according to the technical and operational parameters stated in these guidelines.
6.5 A person who intends to provide a service using TVWS shall enter into an agreement with a TVWSDA after obtaining clearance from the Authority.
6.6 The TVWSDA shall ensure that the GLDBs have sufficient security measures to prevent unauthorized WSDs from accessing the GLDBs.
6.7. The TVWSDA shall ensure that WSDs are registered and authenticated by a TVWSDA before they can operate.
6.8 Apperson intending to access the GLDB shall meet the cost of operation.

TVWDA QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS

7.1. A person who intends to operate a GLDB shall apply to the Authority for approval.
7.2. The Authority shall only approve an application to a licensee who is technically competent to operate TVWS.
7.3. A person who intends to operate a TVWSDA shall submit a technical proposal with the following minimum requirements:
i. TWWS network configuration;
ii. coverage;
it. interference management;
iv. network security; and
Vv. technologies comply with the technical requirements stipulated in these guidelines.

OBLIGATIONS OF A TVWSDA

A TWSDA shall
8.1 maintain a database that contains information about the incumbent Broadcasting licensees to be protected including operating frequencies, antenna height, effective radiated  power, and geographical location;
8.2 administer master WSD and establish a process for registration of master WSD;
8.3 provide accurate information regarding permissible frequencies of operation and maximum transmit power available to a master WSD based on the information provided by  the device;
8.4 establish a process for acquiring and storing information in the GLDB;
8.5 adhere to IEEE802.11AF and ETSI EN 301 598 standards in administering the GLDB; and
8.6 ensure that the GLDB has adequate security features that restrict access to the GLDB available channels and power to registered WSDs only.

OPERATION OF THE GLDB

9.1 A person intending to access a GLDB shall —
i. engage any TVWSDA approved by the Authority; and
ii. submit parameters describing its location, operational, and device parameters to the TVWSDA.
9.2. The TVWDA shall cause the GLDB to supply details of the frequency channels and power levels to a WSD.
9.3. The parameters set in clause 5 (2) shall only be valid for a short period of time and the WSD shall query the database on a regular basis in order to ensure that it can  transmit in accordance with valid operational parameters automatically,
9.4 A TVWSDA shall –
i. maintain a register of all WSDs that have access to the GLDB; and ii. make available to the Authority information of the WSDs for the purposes of resolving any interference cases that may occur as well as ensure that a person using TVWS in the GLDB match those that are registered with the Authority.
9.5 The Authority may withdraw the approval granted to a TWWSDA to operate
a GLDB where —
i. the TVWSDA fails to comply with these guidelines; or
ii. where TVWS services can no longer be provided due to the increase in demand by the incumbent service.

PERMITTED CHANNELS OF OPERATION

10.1 The 470-690 MHz band is allocated on a primary basis to Television Broadcasting Services.
10.2 A TVWSDA shall ensure that WSD operates in the UHF TV band ranging from 470-690 MHz on a secondary basis.
10.3 The use of this band for WSDs is subject to the interference protection requirements set forth in these guidelines.
10.4 WSDs shall operate on available frequencies that will be accessed from the GLDB.
10.5 A GLDB shall not operate on a co-channel basis with broadcast television stations in the same region if the GLDB indicates that the channel is not available for use in that broadcasting area.
10.6 The following technical requirements shall be adhered to manage co- existence with the broadcasting services:

| REQUIREMENT| LIMIT

---|---|---
1| Maximum transmit powers provided by the database (EIRP) in 8MHz channel| 40dBm
2| Energy spectral density measured in the first 100KHz out of band| 19dB below the
maximum EIRP
3| emission limits specification| ETSI EN 301 598
4| out-of-band emission| ETSI’s Emission Classes 1-5

TRANSMISSION COMPLIANCE OF WSD

11.1 Operational parameters:
11.1.1 The WSD shall transmit in DTT channels that are in the list of available channels provided by TVWSDA.
11.1.2The WSD RF EIRP in each DTT channel shall not exceed the maximum specified by the relevant GLDB.
11.1.3 The WSD RF EIRP spectral density in each DTT channel shall not exceed the maximum EIRP spectral density specified by the relevant GLDB.
11.1.4 The Total Nominal Channel Bandwidth used by the WSD shall not exceed the Maximum total Nominal Channel Bandwidth specified by a GLDB.
11.1.5A nomadic WSD must first power on, and at any time after it has been relocated 100m or more perform a location update.
11.1.6 The maximum permitted transmit antenna height of a Master WSD shall not exceed 80 m above ground level (AGL).

11.2 General Requirements
11.2.1 A master WSD shall not transmit in the UHF TV band unless it has received operational parameters from a GLDB.
11.2.2 A TVWSDA shall ensure that –
i. the Geo-location coordinates and geo-location uncertainty of
Master WSD antenna is determined automatically;
ii. a-client WSD does not transmit in the UHF TV band unless it has received operational parameters from a master WSD; and
iii. a client WSD only transmit in accordance with the operational parameters received from a master WSD.
11.2.3 Communication between two client WSD is permitted provided that each WSD is operating in accordance with operational parameters given by its serving master WSD.

INTERFERENCE PROTECTION MECHANISMS

12.1 Geo-location Capabilities Requirements
A TVWSDA shall ensure that the WSD rely on a geo-location capability and GLDB access mechanism to protect broadcast television and other primary authorised operations in the 470 – 690 MHz portion of the UHF frequency bands.
12.2 Geo-location Confidence Level Requirements
A TVWSDA shall ensure that —
i. a fixed WSD and a master WSD that incorporate a geo-location capability determine their location and geo-location uncertainty (in meters), with a confidence level of 95%;  and
ii. all geographic coordinates are referenced to World Geodetic System 1984 (WGS 84), last revised in 2004.
12.3 Requirements for Fixed WSD
A TVWWSDA shall ensure that -—
i. the geographic coordinates and antenna height above ground level of a fixed WSD is determined at the time of installation and first activation from a power off condition by either incorporated geo-location capability or a professional installer. This information shall be stored internally in the WSD.
ii, | Registration with the GLDB is based on the device’s new coordinates and antenna height above ground level.
iii. Each fixed WSD shall access GLDB which determines the available channels and the corresponding maximum permitted power for each available channel and its geographic coordinates.
iv. Operation is permitted only on channels that are indicated by the GLDB as being available for the WSD and at a radiated power level is no greater than the radiated power limit. Operation on a channel must cease immediately or power must be reduced to a permissible level if the database indicates that the channel is no longer available at the current radiated power level.
v. Each fixed WSD shall access the database at least once a day, directly or through another fixed WSD, to verify that the operating channels and operating power levels continue to remain available.

SPECIAL TECHNICAL AND OPERATIONAL CONDITIONS

The Authority shall issue the following special technical and operational conditions.
13.1 A WSD shall either be fixed or nomadic in nature.
13.2 The operation of WSD in the TVWS is permitted on a non-interference basis to the incumbent television broadcasting radio communication services.
13.3 A single channel for TVWS shall be not more than 8MHz.
13.4 The GLDB shall store permissible channels and other operating parameters for use by WSD per geographical area.
13.5 A person having access to the GLDB shall ensure that the WSDs cease transmissions when the GLDB database informs them to stop.
13.6 WSD Operations near International Borders must operate in a manner that will not cause harmful interference to broadcast and other services in neighboring countries.
13.7 all GLDB and WSD must be type approved by the Authority prior to importation and/or deployment in compliance with the Information and Communication Technologies (Type Approval) Regulations SI No 6 of 2011.
13.8 The Authority shall, where it deems necessary, carry out inspections of equipment and installations to assess technical and operational compliance to the Act.
13.9 The use of these bands does not preclude the user from complying with the requirements of the Civil Aviation Authority (CM), Zambia Environment Management Agency (ZEMA), Local Authority, and any other applicable regulatory entities with regard to all aspects of the radio communication masts or towers.
13.10 WSDs shall be subject to the following technical requirements and applicable standards.

PERMITTED AREAS OF OPERATION

13.11 A TVWSDA shall only be authorized to deploy TVWS in the underserved and unserved areas in order to promote universal access and enhance the provision of affordable internet access.
13.12 TVWS shall not be deployed in urban areas.

TVWS FEES

The use of this band shall be on a license fee-exempt basis in order to promote access of broadband in rural areas.
For further information contact:
The Director General
Zambia Information and Communications Technology Authority
P.O. Box 36871
LUSAKA ZAMBIA

Telephone: +260211241236
Fax: +260211246701

Documents / Resources

| ZICTA Television White Spaces Guidlines [pdf] User Manual
Television White Spaces Guidlines
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