Propagation model requirements for spectrum management in the 1990s

Telecommunications liberalisation has already had an impact on microwave spectrum management in the UK, and has made necessary the development of new interference propagation models to ensure an orderly co-existence between independent common carrier microwave networks. With the prospect of spectrum deregulation ahead, propagation model development will need to progress further if the potential for successful commercial exploitation of the spectrum is to be realised. The background to a new interference propagation prediction model under development by British Telecom (BT) is described. Designed to meet the future needs of microwave spectrum management in the common carrier bands, the model forms part of the BT PEACEMAKER spectrum management/planning software system, but the comments are equally relevant to other systems dealing with the management of microwave frequencies