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Latest News
27/01/2012 Major Event Apply Online
21/12/2011 Temporary Postal Address
06/12/2011 JFMG Christmas Party / Holiday Period Opening Hours
17/11/2011 Out of Hours Service and Last Minute Bookings
01/08/2011 JFMG welcomes Freddie Cook
05/07/2011 JFMG gearing up for summer 2012
21/06/2011 JFMG secures five year PMSE contract
14/06/2011 Annual licences in Channel 61-69 reminder
16/05/2011 Wireless microphone spectrum availability from 2012 onwards
05/05/2011 Ofcom call for input on the long term demand for spectrum in the range 470 to 790MHz
07/04/2011 Ofcom Publishes Annual Plan for 2011/2012
06/04/2011 Wireless Cameras - Facing further pressure on bands below 5GHz
04/04/2011 JFMG Welcomes Antonios Maillis
01/04/2011 Major Event - President Obama to make state visit to the UK
28/03/2011 JFMG Welcomes Tristan Cairns
23/03/2011 Combined award of the 800 MHz and 2.6 GHz spectrum
28/02/2011 Government authorises PMSE funding payments to begin
16/02/2011 Ofcom announces decision to release 2010-2025 MHz
10/02/2011 Please send JFMG your spectrum requirements for the Royal Wedding by 25 February 2011
27/01/2011 Please remember to use our Ch38 look-up tool to check availability at your location
20/01/2011 JFMG to continue to deliver PMSE spectrum licensing
13/01/2011 Major Events Programme 2011
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JFMG’s annual Christmas party will be held next Tuesday 13th
December and the office will be closed from 12:30pm for the
rest of the day, where we will operate our usual out of
hours service for emergencies only. December 2011
- January 2012
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Open
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14:00
Closed
Xmas Eve
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9:00 – 14:00
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Closed
NY Day
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Open normal hours
onwards
JFMG provide an out of hours service between the hours of 5pm and 9am, to cover emergency applications when the office is closed. To ensure customers understand the out of hours service fully, JFMG would like to explain more about our emergency out of hours service and the premium fee. All applications that come in after 5pm need to go through the emergency coordinator by phone as emails will not be answered out of office hours. The out of hours number is 07866 423 619. This service will be charged at a one off premium fee of £55 per application, in addition to the licence fee (where applicable). Customers have the opportunity to opt out of this fee if the application could be processed the next working day from 9am before the event. The emergency coordinator will always discuss and confirm this fee with you verbally before proceeding. Last minute applications that come in between 4:30pm and 5pm (or earlier for larger applications and tours) may not be finalised if the application is not able to be completed before the office closes at 5pm. If an application comes in before 5pm and it cannot be completed before the office closes, it will then be passed to the emergency coordinator who will call you to discuss the application with you and confirm that you are happy for the premium fee to be charged. The coordinator will then complete the application for you. We would encourage customers to send in applications with as much notice as possible, and to be especially mindful to ensure last minute applications towards the end of the day are submitted to JFMG with enough time to process before the office closes. This is to ensure we can always provide you with the quickest and most economical service available, which is during office hours. Following on from the recent contract award for the management of PMSE spectrum for Ofcom, JFMG will be making a slight alteration to its banking and trading details. From the 1st November JFMG will become a trading name of its parent company Arqiva Ltd and therefore will lose the ‘Ltd’ part of the title. This does mean there will be a slight change to the way that we can accept payments.
Our bank account number will remain the same so bank transfers should not be affected, however our bank name will now become “Arqiva Limited re JFMG” so this will affect customers paying by cheque. If you are paying by cheque you should now make these payable to “Arqiva Limited re JFMG”. We will do everything we can to ensure the transition period goes smoothly, however there may be a short period of time where cheque payments may not be accepted by our bank. We will contact you in the event that this might happen.
Our new application forms are available on the website and have been updated to reflect this change, and customers should use these from now on to make applications to JFMG.
Should you have any questions regarding this change, please email us at admin@jfmg.co.uk so we can be of assistance.
Over the coming months you will see some changes to the
JFMG website. We have taken feedback on from our customers
and made some significant additions to the current website
and also the ways that you communicate with JFMG.
To start this process of change, JFMG have created a
Twitter account. We thought you might like to know some of
the goings on within JFMG such as...
- Where is our roving Blogster Paddy O'Reilly and what
has he been up to;
- What events are we keeping a close eye on; - What
policy changes are we tracking;
- Consultation document updates;
- Who and what are the new staff up to.
Following us on Twitter will give you the chance to also
make comments using one of the most popular Social Networks
and generally just keep tabs on what your friendly
neighbourhood spectrum team are up to!
You can follow us on Twitter by clicking on the link
below and "following" us!
http://twitter.com/#!/JFMG1
Keep watching for further developments coming very soon!
Freddie joins JFMG as a Frontline Administrator to
support the build up to the Olympics in 2012. Freddie will
be dealing with the day to day applications and booking
enquiries and providing support to the PMSE Spectrum
Planners.
Freddie has a BSc (Hons) in Media Technology which had
great focus on Studio and OB Systems, Studio Production and
Streaming Media for Broadcasting.
The 2012 Games will take place between 27 July and 9
September 2012. They will be staged at various locations
around the UK; concentrating on the Olympic Park in East
London. Wireless services will play an important role both
in the build up to and during the Games. There are two types
of stakeholders that JFMG will be working with during the
2012 Games and build up to, in order to meet broadcasting
requirements.
Non Accredited, Non Rights Holder Broadcasters (NRHBs)
are media representatives that will be broadcasting around
London during the 2012 Games time and utilising the London
Media Centre as set up by London and Partners. There is a
registration process for these media representatives and
information can be found on their website
http://www.londonandpartners.com/media-centre/london-2012/london-media-centre Licence applications for NRHBs will be carried out by
JFMG and the process and coordination methods are currently
being reviewed. Further updates on this process will be
provided after the registration process opens for the London
Media Centre. Non Olympic related stakeholders (business as usual) will
continue to be managed on a day to day basis by JFMG and
standard application processes apply. Due to the extremely
high demand for spectrum JFMG recognise that there will be
some impact on day to day activities for PMSE users, but
JFMG and Ofcom are committed to supporting the continuity of
business as usual activities. In order to meet these high
demands some customers may need to be flexible in their
requirements to allow the most efficient use of spectrum.
In October 2009 Ofcom released its statement on the
Spectrum Plan for the London 2012 Games. In October 2010
Ofcom published its
statement update which gave an indication of the
additional planning that Ofcom had been undertaking in order
to meet accredited broadcaster requirements. Ofcom has
explained that a further update will be released in early
2012. Special arrangements have been put in place to cope
with the extremely high demand for spectrum including a
dedicated licensing service for Accredited Rights-Holding
Media and Broadcasters operated by LOCOG (The London
Organising Committee for the Olympic Games). Accredited
Rights-Holders must apply for a special licence through this
route in order to operate equipment within Olympic venues.
Contact can be made via email to
spectrum@london2012.com or fax +44 (0) 203 2012 001.
JFMG will not be able to accept application requests or
queries connected to Accredited Rights Holders and any
questions should be directed to LOCOG direct.
JFMG will continue to update customers on the progress on
these matters and welcome feedback and questions to
admin@jfmg.co.uk
JFMG is pleased to announce that it has won the contract
from Ofcom to manage Programme Making & Special Events
frequencies for another five years.
On the 14th July 2010 Ofcom published its intention to
re-tender for the delivery of licensing services to the PMSE
community, the service having been undertaken by JFMG since
1997.
After much preparatory work, initial contract bidding
started in July 2010 and JFMG, with its parent company
Arqiva, submitted their response in September 2010.
Preferred bidder status was announced in January 2011 and on
the 27th May 2011 the contract was signed by both parties.
The new contract will commence on 1st July 2011 .
JFMG and Arqiva are very proud to be able to provide a
service to both the PMSE community and to Ofcom and look
forward to playing a part in the support of PMSE
requirements in the years ahead.
From 1st July 2012 to the 1st October 2012 access to TV
Channels 61 – 69 will only be available in London, North
East England and Northern Ireland*. From the 1st October
2012 access to Channels 61 – 69 will cease completely.
However, the availability of these channels will be reviewed
in the Autumn of 2011 and access may be extended to 31st
December 2012 at the latest.
Until such time as the dates above are confirmed annual
licences within Channels 61 – 69 will continue to be issued.
If an annual licence is issued with an expiry date after 1st
July 2012 (or 1st October 2012 in London, North East England
and Northern Ireland) and access to Channels 61 – 69 ends on
1st July 2012 (or 1st October 2012 in London, North East
England and Northern Ireland) then the licence will be
revoked in accordance with Ofcom’s Wireless Telegraphy
General Licence Conditions, specifically Paragraph 1.2 (e).
[for reasons related to the management of the radio
spectrum]
If access to Channels 61 – 69 is extended to 31st
December 2012 then all annual licences will expire on their
due date, but no later than 31st December 2012. Therefore,
any licences issued after 1st January 2012 will be for the
remainder of 2012 and will expire on 31st December 2012.
Licence fees for annual assignments are based on a fees
cap of 4 X 48 hour periods so there are no financial
penalties on the licensee nor will there be any refund
payments as a result of a licence revocation as described
above.
*London, North East England and Northern Ireland refer to
the TV regions, London, Tyne Tees and UTV respectively.
Many of you already use our online ‘UHF Mic/IEM Planner’
to find out spectrum availability for wireless microphones
across the UK. With Digital Switchover (DSO) the TV network
has been changing over the past two years and we have been
constantly revising the spectrum availability data used by
the tool to be sure you have the most accurate and up to
date information. What we haven’t been able to provide is
comprehensive spectrum availability after DSO is completed
at the end of 2012. Those of you with assignments that
will need to change as a result of DSO have already been
notified but we haven’t been able to give full and reliable
information about the alternative options. The plan for the
final DSO network has only recently been finalised, so we
are now able to provide you with the future geographical
spectrum availability information for wireless microphones
and monitors after 2012 by means of another similar online
lookup tool. To produce the post DSO availability data we are using
the same proven methods and tools that we currently use.
Broadly the spectrum availability is very good, particularly
for indoor use. The overriding condition that has to be met
for PMSE to share with TV broadcasting is to ensure that TV
reception remains protected. This can be achieved whilst
maintaining good spectrum availability for PMSE but within
the new tool we have introduced additional guidance on the
relative ‘quality’ of the available spectrum. For indoor use of wireless microphones there is a quality
indicator for each TV channel which rates the relative level
of DTT interference that could limit the performance of your
equipment. Depending on factors such as the construction of
your building or how you rig, it may be possible to coexist
with quite high levels of DTT interference, but we can’t
make these assumptions for you. Instead we aim to give you
the maximum choice of spectrum along with a guide to the
potential level of DTT interference in each TV channel. Four
green bars represents the least potential for incoming
interference through to one green bar which predicts high
levels of interference. Further details can be found on the
web tool. We still expect some minor changes to the DSO network
plan but these should have minimal impact on the total
spectrum availability. If you have questions, please contact
us. The existing ‘UHF Mic/IEM Planner’ will continue to be
reliable for assignments in the short term but please check
the new post DSO tool if you are looking further ahead for
guidance on future assignments after 2012, including for
areas where DSO has already completed. Ofcom have today published its
statement “Future access to interleaved
spectrum for programme making and special events” which
outlines a summary of the revised assessment and the
technical assumptions used in preparation and delivery of
this tool. On Wednesday 20 April, Ofcom published a call for input
on “Developing a framework for the long term future use of
UHF spectrum bands IV and V”
With Digital Switchover (DSO) making its way around the
country Ofcom are aware of the developments that are
beginning to pose questions about the long term use of the
UHF spectrum. Therefore, Ofcom are seeking initial views
from stakeholders to help develop a better understanding of
the future demands on this spectrum for different services. In particular, Ofcom are seeking input on the themes
provided below: • Demand and supply of services that are based on UHF
spectrum
• Technological developments that will influence UHF
spectrum usage
• International developments • Potential costs and
benefits to citizens and consumers from different uses of
UHF spectrum • Timescales associated with any possible future
adjustment to the use of UHF spectrum This will be of great interest to
PMSE stakeholders as the changes that are occurring within
the UHF bands are already generating a lot of views about
the future of PMSE spectrum. To read the call for input in
full
click here. On Monday 4th April, Ofcom published its Annual Plan for
2011/2012. This plan covers Ofcom’s priorities for 2011/2012
which are:
• To promote effective and sustainable competition
• To promote the efficient use of public assets
• To help communications markets to work for consumers
• To provide appropriate assurances on standards
• To contribute to and implement public policy defined by
Parliament
27/01/2012 Major Event Apply Online
Today we have added a new feature to our website making it possible to apply for frequencies at a Major Event via our online system.
To properly manage spectrum at a Major Event (e.g. Royal Wedding, British Grand Prix etc.) our spectrum Planners prevent online bookings close to the location and only accept manual applications. If you’ve ever tried to book online and been faced with a sea of red X’s this is possibly what was going on!
To ease the application process, if you now try to book near a Major Event you will be see a warning appear and be able to send in an event application for frequencies using similar tools to that of the current booking process.
Here are some brief instructions on how to use it, as usual if you have any questions please give us a call.
12/01/2012 Ofcom publishes decision to extend access to 790 – 862 MHz for PMSE (Channel 61 to Channel 69) until the end of 2012
Ofcom have published the second consultation on the 800 MHz & 2.6 GHz award today.
http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/consultations/944166/summary/combined-award-2.pdf
Paragraphs 3.8 - 3.9 (p16) of the consultation provide information on the decision to extend the use of 790 – 862 MHz for PMSE (Channel 61 to Channel 69) until the end of 2012.
Access to the 14 shared UHF UK channels in Channel 69 and coordinated frequencies in the band 790 – 862 will continue until 31st December 2012.
21/12/2011 Temporary Postal Address
Due to postal delays JFMG are receiving post intermittently
and would recommend that any correspondence be carried out
by email where possible.
If post is the only way you can contact JFMG, please use an
alternative address below temporarily over the busy postal
period to ensure your post gets to us.
UK House, 4th floor
180 Oxford Street
London,
W1D 1NN
06/12/2011 JFMG Christmas Party / Holiday Period Opening Hours
This can be reached by calling 07866 423 619.
JFMG would also like to communicate our opening hours for
the holiday period in advance.
The office will be closed for the bank holidays on Monday
26th / Tuesday 27th December 2011, and Monday 2nd January
2012.
JFMG will operate reduced opening hours from 9:00-14:00 on
Friday 23rd, Wednesday 28th, Thursday 29th, & Friday 30th
December.
We will continue to operate our out of hours emergency
service 24 hours a day throughout the holiday period, which
can be reached by calling 07866 423 619 for emergencies out
of office hours.
17/11/2011 Out of Hours Service and Last Minute Bookings
02/11/2011 Change to JFMG Ltd
02/08/2011 Twitter me this...
01/08/2011
JFMG welcomes Freddie Cook
05/07/2011 JFMG
gearing up for summer 2012
21/06/2011
JFMG secures five year PMSE contract
14/06/2011 Annual licences in Channel 61-69 reminder
16/05/2011
Wireless microphone spectrum availability from 2012 onwards
05/05/2011 Ofcom call for input on the long term demand for
spectrum in the range 470 to 790MHz
07/04/2011 Ofcom Publishes Annual Plan for 2011/2012
06/04/2011 Wireless Cameras - Facing further pressure on bands below 5GHz
The UK Government has published
proposals
3400-3600MHz
Within this band JFMG manages access to
120MHz for PMSE users mainly for wireless cameras. MOD
notified programme makers in 2008 that they were taking the
necessary steps to enable this band to be released. MOD
have recently completed this process and are expected to
announce their decision on the release later this year.
2310-2390MHz
Although there is no permanent
allocation to PMSE in this band, JFMG frequently borrows
spectrum from MOD and government users to meet the excess
demand for wireless cameras at some major events or to
facilitate requests from visiting broadcasters. If the
spectrum is taken up for mobile broadband or similar
applications it is unlikely that PMSE will continue to be
able to secure temporary access.
The timetable is not yet clear
but Government is expecting both these bands to be released
before 2015.
These changes follow the imminent
loss of other wireless camera spectrum including 190MHz at
2500-2690MHz which will be auctioned later this year and the
recent
announcement that 2010-2025MHz will also now be
auctioned.
04/04/2011 JFMG Welcomes Antonios Maillis
Today JFMG welcome another new recruit, Antonios Maillis, who will be joining us as a Trainee PMSE Spectrum Planner.
Antonios will be joining the Operations team and working alongside existing PMSE Spectrum Planners in the day to day licensing activities for various types of events. Antonios brings with him some fantastic educational experience and has a Masters Degree in Satellite Communications and Space Systems and a Degree in Electronic Engineering.01/04/2011 Major Event - President Obama to make state visit to the UK
On invitation from the Queen, US President Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle, will be coming to the UK on a state visit from Tuesday 24 May to Thursday 26 May 2011. The couple will be staying at Buckingham Palace and the President is expected to hold talks with Prime Minister David Cameron.
We anticipate a significant demand for frequencies during the visit and will be treating it as a Major Event to ensure the most efficient and equitable use of spectrum. As a result, we have temporarily suspended first-come, first-served assignments for Talkback and wireless cameras in the 2GHz, 2.5GHz and 3 GHz bands at Buckingham Palace, Westminster, Downing Street (with a 2km exclusion zone) and at Heathrow Airport (with a 5km exclusion zone). Please send us your requirements directly, either by email or fax, and we will endeavour to accommodate your request.
All other frequency ranges in these locations continue to be available online.
28/03/2011 JFMG Welcomes Tristan Cairns
Today JFMG welcomes our newest recruit Tristan Cairns into the role of Operations Supervisor.
Tristan joins JFMG from a varied background most recently being a freelance sound engineer so is very familiar with the industry. Tristan will be providing support and direction for the Operations team in continuing to focus on the day to day licensing activities and also the on going focus on customer service.
23/03/2011 Combined award of the 800 MHz and 2.6 GHz spectrum
Yesterday, Ofcom published the first consultation on the award of the 800 MHz and 2.6 GHz spectrum. The purpose of this award is to provide additional spectrum for mobile services in the UK which is necessary to accommodate the UK's rapid increase in mobile traffic. The consultation sets out the competition assessment and the proposals for how to award the available spectrum. For PMSE users, paragraphs 4.10 to 4.13 are particularly relevant as they cover Ofcom's position on the timings for the clearance of Channel 69. Paragraph 4.47 is also relevant as it covers PMSE use of 2.6 GHz and when the three months' notice period will be triggered.
The closing date for this consultation is 31 May 2011. Subject to the results of this consultation and subsequent consultations on the preparation of the award, Ofcom intends to begin the auction in the first quarter of 2012 with the submission of applications by potential bidders.
You can find out more and read the consultation in full here.
28/02/2011 Government authorises PMSE funding payments to begin
Ofcom has confirmed that the Government has now given the go-ahead to begin making the funding payments to PMSE users to support the migration from Channel 69 to Channel 38.
If you have applied for funding but not yet provided proof of ownership details to Equiniti, the funding scheme administrator, please do so as soon as possible. Once this proof of ownership stage is complete, you will be asked to surrender your equipment in line with the surrender dates that you chose during the registration process. If you would like to change this date, you can do so through Equiniti.
The Government announced that it would provide a funding package to PMSE users to support the migration from Channel 69 to Channel 38 on 28 July 2010. Since the launch of the scheme on 23 September 2010 more than 66% of eligible licensees have registered claims for a contribution towards the cost of either modifying existing equipment or buying new equipment. After receiving a report on the registration phase of the scheme, the Government has agreed for payments to start being made to registered claimants.
16/02/2011 Ofcom announces decision to release 2010-2025 MHz
Ofcom has today published a statement on the release of the 2010-2025 MHz band which confirms its intention to award the spectrum through a competitive process.
This decision has been made following the consultation in May 2010 on the best way to release the spectrum for use. Ofcom will be consulting on the details of the award in due course with the earliest date for an award being in Q1 2012. In the meantime, the band has been made available for temporary PMSE use on a three-month rolling notice period. The band has also been reserved for the use of wireless cameras in specifc locations for the duration of the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.
You can already buy licences to access 2010-2025 MHz for temporary PMSE use from JFMG. Please contact us in the usual way.
10/02/2011 Please send JFMG your spectrum requirements for the Royal Wedding by 25 February 2011
Here at JFMG,
preparation has begun in earnest for the upcoming Royal
Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton which will take
place on Friday 29 April 2011 at Westminster Abbey in
London.
We are treating the Royal Wedding as a Major Event. This means that our event planning procedures come into play so that, instead of frequencies being assigned as soon as possible after requests are received, applications will be held until the overall demand is clear. We will then develop a frequency plan for the event that endeavours to accommodate everyone’s requests with minimum interference.
We are keen to get
working on the plan as soon as possible.
Please send us your requirements directly, either by email
or fax, before 25 February 2011 by downloading and
completing the bespoke
Royal Wedding Application Form. To
see an example of how to complete the application form,
click here.
If you are planning to operate in and around Central London during the week of the Royal Wedding but not in relation to the wedding itself, please note that we are likely to need to coordinate your assignments in terms of timings, and, in exceptional cases, in terms of frequencies, with rehearsals and preparations for the wedding. To help us manage this efficiently, please send in your requests as early as you can.
27/01/2011 Please remember to use our Ch38 look-up tool to check availability at your location
As a result of Ofcom's decision to clear the 800MHz band, PMSE users are moving out of Ch69 and into replacement spectrum in Ch38. However, Ch38 will not be fully available UK wide until 2012 and to help the transition temporary access has been given to frequencies in channels 39 and 40 where Ch38 is not available. JFMG's Ch38 look-up tool helps users to book the correct frequencies at their location and, in turn, prevents users from causing interference to one another.
To use the Ch38 look-up tool, all you need to do is simply select the location where you are planning to operate your equipment by typing in your location name, postcode or national grid reference. The tool will then display which of the four channels are available at your location. The tool is continuously updated to reflect the improved availability of Ch38 as DSO progresses across the country.
Please note that it is unlawful under a UK Wireless Microphone Licence to use frequencies within a location that are shown to be unavailable on the tool and doing so will lead to enforcement action by Ofcom. If you would like any further information, please contact us in the usual way and we will be happy to help.
20/01/2011 JFMG to continue to deliver PMSE spectrum licensing
JFMG is pleased to announce that the contract for the licensing of spectrum to the Programme Making and Special Events (PMSE) sector has been awarded by Ofcom to JFMG's parent company Arqiva. This decision was made following a tender process and is subject to terms and conditions. As a result, JFMG will be continuing to issue licences for PMSE.
13/01/2011 Major Events Programme 2011
At the start of every year we identify certain upcoming events where the demand for frequencies is likely to be very high. We treat these events as Major Events. This means that rather than allocating frequencies on the usual first-come, first-served basis, we assign specific event coordinators to each event and encourage our customers to send in requests for frequencies in advance. Once we receive applications we produce a spectrum plan that aims to meet all of our customer's requirements.p>
The 2011 Major Events List has now been finalised and is published on our website. Further details on each event will be available soon so please visit again in a couple of weeks to find out more.
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