Industry experts call for increased mobile spectrum

“The negotiations at WRC-15 will be a significant factor determining whether operators will be able to support the mobile broadband access goals set by governments around the world and meet the bandwidth demands for next-gen mobile networks and applications,” said Iain Stanbridge, Principal Network Architect, EE, and CW Mobile Broadband SIG (Special Interest Group) Champion, addressing delegates at the conference.

The benefits of mobile broadband and the urgent need to address spectrum issues were highlighted by Janette Stewart, Principal, Analysys Mason, who presented the results of a recent study completed with the GSMA and Huawei. “We found that the number of 3G and 4G mobile broadband connections is forecast to reach 3bn in Asia-Pacific by 2020 and consume more than 50,000PB of data per year,” said Stewart. “These figures reflect similar growth in other parts of the world driven by services such as video streaming, location-based apps and the IoT.  Mobile operators can support growing data demand through deploying technologies such as LTE-A, or by making networks more dense using LTE small cells or WiFi, but adding more spectrum is the most cost effective way to enhance capacity.”

With regard to the study, ‘Today, Tomorrow and the Future - Managing Data Demand in Asia-Pacific’, Peter Montgomery, Director of Partnerships, GSMA commented: “The negotiations at WRC-15 next November provide a unique opportunity for leaders in the Asia Pacific region to support next-gen mobile networks and services. We urge governments to make a clear and strong call for significantly more spectrum for mobile, to promote the future growth of their countries’ digital economies and to enhance the lives of their citizens through widespread access to digital services and, hence, greater social inclusion.”

George Grayland, Senior Wireless Solutions Manager, Nokia Networks, presented examples from world-leading 4G nations. “4G LTE is already the dominant mobile broadband technology in Korea with a 66% LTE subscriber penetration, followed by Singapore, Japan, Australia, Hong Kong and the USA - all offering advanced services and capabilities beyond the experience of most consumers in the UK,” said Grayland. “While the UK is still leading many other European countries and perhaps the global gap is narrowing, the recent momentum needs to be maintained,” he added.