GOE RESPONDS TO SPECTRUM MANAGEMENT DEMARCHE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 CAIRO 000324 SIPDIS STATE FOR EB/CIP/MA COMMERCE FOR NTIA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECPS EG SUBJECT: GOE RESPONDS TO SPECTRUM MANAGEMENT DEMARCHE REF: 05 SECSTATE 225777 Econoff presented reftel questions to GOE telecoms officials on December 19, 2005. The GOE's National Telecom Regulatory Authority (NTRA) on January 15 submitted to Embassy Cairo its answers to reftel questionnaire on spectrum management practices in Egypt, as follows. Monetary values listed are all Egyptian pounds (LE); as of January 22, the exchange rate was USD 1 = LE 5.7. -------------- ¶1. Responsible Authority: Which organizations are involved in spectrum management in your country? To whom are they responsible - executive branch, legislative branch, military - or are they autonomous? NTRA, which operates based on the telecommunications law (Law No. 10 of 2003) through a board headed by the Minister of Communications and Information Technology, is the responsible authority. -------------- ¶2. Assignment Process: Please describe the mechanism(s) your country uses to assign spectrum (for example, auctions, lotteries, comparative hearings). To what services and/or bands are such mechanisms applied? A.) For private use (factories, companies, hotels, etc.), the assignment process utilizes a first come, first served strategy. B.) For large public services/projects, such as public mobile operators, the assignment process utilizes an auction and "beauty contest" (tender) strategy, and when two operators are equal in every category (financially and technically),a lottery strategy is applied. The aforementioned mechanisms apply to all services and bands. Item A is applicable for local area communications (small coverage area). Item B is applicable for metropolitan area communications (wide coverage area) with service-providing systems. -------------- ¶3. Licensing Regime: Please describe your spectrum licensing regime. Are licenses awarded for the provision of a specific service, or a specified technology or standard? Are licenses subject to renewal? Egypt uses a licensing regime. The procedure for getting a license is as follows: A.) Application is made for a license by filling out the appropriate forms for the type of license sought: - mobile service equipment license. - fixed service equipment license. - maritime service equipment license. 
 - aeronautical service equipment license. - satellite service equipment license. - amateur service equipment license. B.) The frequency committee then investigates the application. C.) License fees are paid. D.) The license is issued. Licenses are awarded for specific services and technologies, except for unlicensed services such as Wi-Fi, etc. They are subject to renewal every year. -------------- ¶4. Licensee Privileges: What flexibility do licensees have (e.g., secondary markets) to transfer their spectrum rights to other parties? May licensees aggregate licenses or subdivide them? May licensees make all or part of their spectrum available to other entities based on geography or time? May licensees accept payment in exchange for spectrum access? There are no secondary markets at present. Licensees may not aggregate or subdivide licenses, make all or part of their spectrum available to other entities, or accept payment in exchange for access. -------------- ¶5. Spectrum Fees: What types of fees are imposed on spectrum users? How are fees calculated? Which, if any, spectrum users are exempt from fees? The current system consists of two types of fees, equipment fees billing (EFB) and spectrum fees billing (SFB). The calculation of these fees differs according to the service type and the frequency band as follows: Case 1: HF Band: -------------- EFB per single device =250 50*NOC SFB per channel per site =27.825*CD Frequencies below 3 MHz are considered as Night Usage Frequencies (NUF),while frequencies above or equal to 5 MHz are considered Day Usage Frequencies (DUF). Any of the following options is considered as a single HF channel for which the above mentioned SFB is calculated: Single NUF. Single DUF. Pair of a single DUF plus a single NUF. NOC: No. Of Channels (as described) CD: Coverage Distance = 1200 KM for licensing an HF channel all over Egyptian territory. = 3000 KM for communication with any destination outside Egyptian territory. Case 2: VHF Band: -------------- EFB per single device =A 50*NOC SFB per single frequency per site =27.825*CD NOC: No. Of Channels (either duplex or simplex) A= 150 for devices operating under 5 Watts A= 250 otherwise CD: Coverage Distance =20 KM for handheld equipment without base station (Max power 5 W) =40 KM for base stations or portable equipment mounted on car Case 3: UHF Band: -------------- EFB per single device =250 50*NOC SFB per single frequency per site =27.825*CD NOC: No. Of Channels (either duplex or simplex) CD: Coverage Distance =20 KM for handheld equipment without base station =40 KM for base stations or equipment on car Case 4: Microwave Links: -------------- EFB per single device =250 50*NOC SFB per single link =27.825*CD*NOC NOC: No. Of Channels (based on the bandwidth) For Data and Voice NOC =15*BW in MHz (If NOC is not specified in equipment specs) For Video Transmission NOC =120*No. of Video channels (If BW is not specified in equipment specs) NOC =15*BW in MHz (otherwise) In all previous cases, the following rules apply: For Point-To-Multipoint PTP (using the same frequencies), SFB is calculated only once. In the case of MW links, CD is taken as the length of the longest link. For all other cases CD is taken as the distance between the two most distant sites. IF (real value of CD)