The GSMA has welcomed the decisions taken at the World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-15) to identify critical new spectrum to secure the future of the mobile Internet. The outcome will advance the availability of three vital mobile bands in Europe and more widely: the 700MHz band, the L-band (1427-1518MHz) and the C-band (3.4-3.6/8GHz).
The agreement of conditions for use of the 700MHz band in Europe, the Arab States and Africa means the band can be adopted quickly to augment mobile broadband coverage, especially in rural areas. A band plan that is compatible with the approach used in Asia Pacific and Latin America has been agreed and will give end-users a wide choice of low cost smartphones.
The outcome of WRC-15 also paves the way for the use of the L-band (1427-1518MHz), which provides a useful mixture of mobile coverage and capacity (support for faster speeds and ability to carry more data). The conference harmonised this band worldwide thereby enabling economies of scale that will help drive the availability of low cost devices.
While the conference didn’t identify the 3.6-3.8GHz band for mobile broadband use, Europe is still likely to use this band for mobile services, as agreed ahead of WRC-15. This is especially important given Europe risks falling behind in the race to advance mobile services.
Finally, the decision to review the use of the 470-960MHz band at the WRC in 2023 is also positive for Europe. The evolution of broadcast television technology, coupled with changing video content consumption, paves the way for the use of the lower portion of the band to improve widespread mobile broadband coverage, which will support the delivery of video-on-demand.
Please see the GSMA’s full press release for more information on the outcome of the WRC-15.