Currently, licence exempt devices including M2M can access spectrum in the 870-876MHz and 915-921MHz bands.
Ofcom says that the low data rates of IoT applications don’t require more spectrum.
Business radio licences will continue to be available until the new dedicated IoT/M2M licence product is launched later in 2016 which replaces BR licences.
“There was no evidence to suggest our existing BR licence products were unsuitable for M2M/IoT purposes,” says Ofcom, “however, we recognise that this may not be clear to stakeholders.”
“To address this issue we will be launching a new licence product later this year that will replace our existing BR products and make specific provision for M2M/IoT applications,” says Ofcom, “in concert with this measure we will also launch a dedicated information and application web page for those seeking spectrum access for the IoT. We believe these measures will clarify the wide range of spectrum which is currently available to facilitate IoT.”
“The technical parameters specified in the licences and our planning criteria for BR assignments adequately protect spectrum users and support sharing between other applications and IoT. We have therefore decided to retain these arrangements. However, we will consider specific changes to particular licences on a case-by-case basis as necessary.”