Blog / Network design

Two building blocks for community mobile: reach and shared infrastructure

Community mobile networks face two very different barriers. Reaching people needs suitable spectrum, while serving them reliably needs complex core infrastructure. Lodestar is exploring one proposal for each problem.

CNF is at the feasibility-study stage.

Published: 12 September 2026
Category: Network design
Written by: Lodestar Networks

Community networks cannot improve coverage with software alone, and access to spectrum does not remove the need for a reliable core. Lodestar is therefore looking at two separate ideas that could work together in the future without pretending that either is ready today.

The first is a proposal for carefully controlled LTE Band 71 work around Coventry and a longer-term regional licensing route. The second is a feasibility study for a Community Network Federation, or CNF, in which eligible independent networks could share difficult control-plane systems while keeping meaningful local control.

Why look at 600 MHz?

Radio signals at lower frequencies can generally travel further and enter buildings more effectively than higher-frequency signals under comparable conditions. The UK Government's 2026 UHF study identifies possible rural, indoor and deployment-cost benefits if more low-band spectrum became available for mobile use.

That is a reason to investigate, not a coverage promise. Terrain, buildings, interference, equipment, antenna installation and permitted power all matter. A small low-band allocation can improve reach while still having limited capacity in a busy area.

LTE Band 71 is a paired band. The 3GPP arrangement published by ETSI uses 617 to 652 MHz from the base station to a device and 663 to 698 MHz in the return direction. These standardised ranges are not a UK spectrum assignment.

Lodestar's initial study idea uses one illustrative 5 MHz channel in each direction, centred on 635 MHz downlink and 681 MHz uplink. Those figures sit within the Band 71 arrangement, but they have not been established as available at a Coventry site. A current assignment review, interference work, measurements and Ofcom coordination could require different frequencies or rule a location out.

Existing television and production use comes first

The 470 to 694 MHz range currently supports digital terrestrial television and programme-making and special-events equipment, including wireless microphones and in-ear monitors. Availability changes by place and time. A television channel that looks quiet at one house is not evidence that nobody is authorised to use it.

The immediate proposal is therefore for Ofcom to assess a tightly bounded trial with agreed limits, controlled devices, monitoring, an interference contact and a rapid shutdown process. It is not a request to transmit without permission or to close Freeview.

Ofcom's innovation and trial licensing route is subject to availability and coordination. A trial is temporary and does not create a right to later commercial operation.

The longer-term licensing request

If evidence and wider policy decisions support mobile use of 600 MHz, Lodestar wants defined regional and local licences rather than a national licence class. Independent local networks should be able to apply directly to Ofcom instead of relying on voluntary permission from a national spectrum holder.

The requested framework would need transparent coordination, proportionate fees, investment-compatible terms and fair recovery of rights that remain unused. It should also examine beneficial ownership and effective control so that connected companies or aggregated holdings cannot recreate equivalent nationwide control through the back door. Genuinely independent local networks should still be able to cooperate.

Those safeguards are Lodestar's policy proposal. Ofcom has not adopted them.

What CNF is meant to solve

Running radio sites is only part of operating a mobile network. Subscriber authentication, mobility, policy, interconnection, security, billing records and the movement of traffic all require core systems and careful operations.

CNF explores whether eligible community operators could avoid duplicating every difficult control-plane function. A future member might retain or seek its own Ofcom-allocated mobile network code, forming its PLMN identity within a UK mobile country code. Shared, geographically resilient control-plane services could then support member networks, while user-plane gateway functions sit closer to each member for local internet breakout.

The distinction matters. Ofcom allocates an MNC, not a new MCC, and an allocation is not automatic. Mobile network codes are finite, so a shared-identity option may also need to be assessed if separate codes for many small members would not be justified or scalable.

Standards provide a route, not a finished implementation

3GPP TS 23.251 defines LTE network-sharing models, including multiple PLMN identities broadcast by a cell and a model where some core functions are shared. 3GPP TS 23.401 describes roaming with local breakout in the visited network.

Those standards establish that the building blocks exist. They do not confirm that Lodestar's current MME, HSS, policy systems, gateways or Baicells radios support the exact CNF design.

Area	What is established	What Lodestar still has to prove
Network identity	LTE supports shared cells advertising multiple PLMNs	Which radios and firmware support the required configuration, and how many identities are practical
Subscriber control	Standard interfaces can route by a subscriber's home realm	Whether current and in-progress Lodestar components provide secure multi-tenancy and correct routing
Local breakout	LTE standards describe visited-network local breakout	The gateway, policy, security and operational work needed for member-local user planes
Charging	Standards provide operator identifiers in relevant records	Reconciliation, settlement and member reporting processes
Mobility	Standard roaming and network-sharing mechanisms exist	Interoperability, agreements, identifiers and end-to-end testing across real member networks

The feasibility study will classify each part as present, partly present or missing. It will also identify build order and hard blockers before implementation begins.

What CNF does not announce

CNF is not live roaming. No member network, shared subscriber platform, commercial settlement system or nationwide resilient core is being announced. The current Lodestar network remains separate from this study.

Emergency communications are a material operational and regulatory requirement, not a feature that can be left until after launch. The federation study will not describe handset fallback or movement to another network as a substitute for completing every duty that applies to an eventual public service.

How the ideas fit together

Regional low-band access could make some local radio deployments more viable. Shared control-plane infrastructure could reduce the amount of complex machinery each independent operator has to build alone. One addresses reach and the other addresses duplication.

Both ideas depend on evidence, permission and implementation. Read the dedicated 600 MHz proposal and the separate Community Networks Federation build programme. Lodestar will publish progress in those terms and will not describe a proposal as coverage, a standard as a completed system or a trial as a permanent licence.