Written question asked by Mike Weatherley (Conservative) on Monday, 9 January 2012, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Friday, 20 January 2012. It was answered by Lord Vaizey of Didcot (Conservative) on Friday, 20 January 2012 on behalf of the Ofcom.

Ofcom

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what discussions he has had with Ofcom on the use of white space devices; and if he will make a statement.

Answer: The matter raised is an operational one for the independent regulator, the Office of Communications (Ofcom). Accordingly, my officials spoke to Ofcom, who advised:"““Ofcom is in the process of developing regulations to enable white space devices to operate in the Ultra-High Frequency (UHF) TV band without causing harmful interference to existing services. Existing services include digital terrestrial television and wireless microphones used in the programme making and special events. Ofcom is working with stakeholders to finalise the necessary regulations which we aim to be in place by the end of 2012.””"

Secondary information