Future transport communications are 'waiting to happen' concludes Plextek report for Ofcom

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Press Release

Future transport communications are 'waiting to happen' concludes Plextek report for Ofcom

Existing networks are ready and waiting for new developments

Issued 14/07/2008

A Plextek-led consortium has completed a ground-breaking, year long study for communications industry regulator Ofcom on the future of communications in the transport industry over the next 20 years. Ofcom commissioned the study as part of its R&D programme for 2007/08, an annual review into the future of communications technology. Ofcom's major aim was to examine particular sectors of society to accurately predict the likely evolution of communications technology and whether any regulatory actions are required to assist and stimulate development. Plextek's study concluded that whilst a good deal of the technology needed to deliver future transport applications has already been invented and is thus not a barrier to progress, demand for spectrum in transport will increase and a few applications will need new spectrum.

The transport sector features many future applications that can be deployed over existing types of network, such as wireless wide area or local area networks. These might include the provision of congestion and tolling information, automatic braking when the car in front stops unexpectedly or route planning across multiple types of public transport, including ticketing and real-time updates. The combination of these services will provide the consumer with the means to ensure their journey, however executed, meets their requirements in terms of cost, speed, safety and environmental impact. There is a significant challenge in collecting and bringing together information from the various transport systems in order to provide the citizen with an integrated, intermodal journey.

In terms of spectrum, the study concluded that transport applications will increase the use of RFID and Wi-Fi, in the UHF and 2.4/5GHz bands, and will also increase the use of machine to machine communications over public wide area networks, such as cellular or new networks at 2.6GHz in the years ahead. But in all these areas it is likely that other applications (e.g. multimedia entertainment) will provide greater spectrum demands, especially over the study's 20 year horizon.
But transport will need new spectrum in some specific cases:

Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS), specifically for road safety need spectrum at 5.9 GHz, at least partially harmonised globally.
Wireless corridor for rail, involving more spectrum at or below the GSM-R band for operational use, followed by commercial services at higher frequencies.
Broadband connectivity for air passengers may strain the available satellite spectrum and air to ground systems could use frequencies released from military bands between 4 and 17 GHz.

"Plextek has a long history of working with Ofcom and we were delighted to have been chosen to lead this study," said Steve Methley, a senior consultant at Plextek. "Unlike previous studies this one did not look at a specific technology or product, but at the industry as a whole which posed a new challenge for us. We are pleased that our conclusions have gained wide agreement within the UK's transport industry".

Plextek worked on the study with Cambridge based Quotient Associates, an international strategy, technology and economics consultancy specialising in all aspects of wireless communications. As part of the study Plextek spoke with the Department for Transport, Transport for London and numerous product manufacturers.

A link to the report can be found at: http://www.ofcom.org.uk/research/technology/overview/randd0708/