England sports fans were delighted over the weekend, as the England’s Red Roses – our national women’s rugby union team – came out victorious in the final of the Women’s Rugby World Cup.
The final, which took place at Twickenham Stadium, saw England defeat Canada 33-13, rounding off a hugely successful tournament as host nation.
And while spectators’ focus was rightly on what unfolded on the pitch, there was plenty of work going on behind the scenes to help make sure the final – along with the rest of the tournament – went smoothly. This is where Ofcom’s spectrum experts played a vital role.
For many major sports and entertainment events like the weekend’s final, our spectrum planning and assurance colleagues work extensively before and during the event, making sure radio spectrum is being used safely and securely.
At these events, a wide range of equipment depends on spectrum to operate – this equipment can include walkie-talkies and monitors, and broadcaster equipment like cameras and microphones walkie-talkies.
And as each piece of equipment uses its own radio frequency, it needs to be licensed and checked, to make sure that these frequencies don’t interfere with each other, or with other communications equipment being used nearby.
Our team worked at a number of venues used for the Women’s Rugby World Cup – including at the opening ceremony and first match at Sunderland’s Stadium of Light – to make sure things went according to plan.
The work of our team is testament to their expertise and experience in their field. They regularly work at high-profile events, such as the Glastonbury Festival and Euro 2020, and were asked to help make sure the Paris Olympic Games also went smoothly from a spectrum perspective.
What is spectrum?
You can’t see or feel radio spectrum. But any device that communicates wirelessly needs spectrum – such as televisions, car key fobs, baby monitors, wireless microphones and satellites. Mobile phones use spectrum to connect to a local mast so people can make calls and access the internet.
Why does Ofcom manage spectrum use?
Only a limited amount of spectrum is available, so it needs to be managed carefully. Certain bands of spectrum are also used for different purposes. For example, mobile companies use different parts of the spectrum to TV companies. So, it needs to be managed to prevent services interfering and causing disruption to people and businesses.