The radio spectrum is a scarce resource. For its most efficient usage, each country needs a National Frequency Allocation Plan. This plan is a table that defines the distribution of frequency bands between radiocommunication services (mobile, broadcast, aeronautical radionavigation, etc.) and civil or military allocation.
The ARCEP of Burkina Faso, the national regulatory authority, wanted support from an expert consultant to update its plan. This work should consider the decisions from the last World Radiocommunication Conferences of the ITU, changes in the sector at national level (new stakeholders, market evolutions, etc.), technological prospects (4G-5G, IoT, digital dividend provided by the switchover to digital TV, etc.).
This task came within the scope of a broader assignment for the development of a manual for regulation and procedures for modern spectrum management.
ICEA, that were already involved in the last update in 2010, took charge of the project management as part of a contract given to LS telcom a spectrum management expert that publishes the software suite Spectra, used locally.
We analysed the national regulation and current practices and carried out an international benchmark. Based on this global assessment ICEA proposed updates to the legal and regulatory framework (amendments and new texts), including changes of tariffs for frequency assignments (application, monitoring and usage fees) and improvements in the organisations of relations with other national institutions and spectrum users. We then outlined the manual to make it a practical handbook for ARCEP’s technical staff in their spectrum management, frequencies monitoring and type approval tasks.
