Iceland’s telecoms watchdog the Post and Telecom Administration (PTA) has extended Vodafone’s (Fjarskipti’s) concession to operate Multichannel Multipoint Distribution Service (MMDS) in the 2500MHz-2690MHz frequency band. According to a press release, the telco is now authorised to utilise all 23 channels, each with a bandwidth of 8MHz, for MMDS television services in the south and southwest of the country until 31 December 2016.
As previously reported by TeleGeography’s CommsUpdate, the PTA opened a public consultation on the topic in October 2013. The regulator pointed out that Vodafone Iceland, which is licensed to operate in the 2508MHz-2564MHz, 2572MHz-2644MHz and 2652MHz-2668MHz frequency bands until 27 June 2014, had requested an extension of its concession until 2020; the company had previously indicated that part of the 2.6GHz frequency band could be utilised for 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) mobile services. However, the PTA said that despite the rapid growth of 4G services, there is currently no shortage of suitable spectrum. That said, the responses of interested parties indicated that such shortages could arise ‘within few years’, hence PTA’s decision to extend Vodafone’s licence by just two years.