Allocation of the 700MHz ‘Digital Dividend’ Band to Mobile Services Will Create New Jobs, Support Business Innovation and Generate Government Revenues

Asia Pacific is on the cusp of a significant opportunity to unlock US$1 trillion in GDP growth by 2020 through the harmonised adoption of the 700MHz spectrum band for mobile services, according to new research from the GSMA, in partnership with The Boston Consulting Group (BCG). As part of this economic growth, there is the potential to create 2.7 million new jobs, support 1.4 million new businesses1 and increase government revenues by US$171 billion.

“To realise this immense potential, it is imperative that the region works together to swiftly implement the harmonised 700MHz band plan for mobile services,” said Chris Perera, Senior Director, Spectrum Policy & Regulatory Affairs, GSMA. “Rapid adoption and alignment would generate huge cost efficiencies in both network technology and devices, and ultimately make mobile services more accessible and affordable for consumers.”

Since the plan was implemented in September 2010 by the Asia Pacific Telecommunity (APT), a number of countries across the region have either announced their commitment or have shown confidence including Australia, India, Japan, New Zealand and Thailand, with Japan and Papua New Guinea recently awarding licenses. Furthermore, at the 2012 World Radiocommunications Conference (WRC-12) in Geneva, telecoms regulators in other regions, including Africa, Latin America and the Middle East, have expressed an interest in the APT band plan.

For Asia Pacific to fully realise the US$1 trillion opportunity between 2014 and 2020, it is imperative there is no delay in spectrum allocation and deployment. Even a delay of one year, from 2014 to 2015, could result in a loss of more than US$40 billion of incremental GDP growth across the region, and a delay of two years from 2014 to 2016 could result in a loss of US$138 billion in GDP growth. A one-year or two-year delay could also result in up to 500,000 or 900,000 fewer jobs being created respectively.

Asia Pacific countries that do not follow the APT band plan will cause interference up to 100 kilometres on both sides of their borders, also limiting their neighbours’ ability to utilise their own spectrum to its maximum extent. Furthermore, this will increase the cost of mobile devices since these will need to be customised to work across differing spectrum bands.

According to the study, non-compliant countries would experience 5 per cent less economic gain, 30 per cent less job growth, 30 per cent less new business and 18 per cent less government revenue. Countries neighbouring non-compliant countries would also lose up to 3 per cent of GDP growth, up to 10 per cent of job creation, up to 11 per cent of new business growth and up to 12 per cent government revenue.

“The availability of the 700MHz band, as a result of the switchover from analogue to digital TV services, presents a unique opportunity for spectrum harmonisation across Asia Pacific,” said Vaishali Rastogi, partner at BCG. “It offers the potential to create a coherent ecosystem for LTE and allow manufacturers to quickly roll out standardised devices in multiple territories. This would lower prices and enable more people to access the benefits of the Internet more quickly.”

For further information on and a copy of the report please visit:
www.gsma.com/spectrum/spectrum-resources/BCG_spectrum_fragmentation_AP

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About the GSMA
The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide. Spanning more than 220 countries and territories, the GSMA unites nearly 800 of the world’s mobile operators, as well as more than 200 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset makers, software companies, equipment providers, Internet companies, and media and entertainment organisations. The GSMA also produces industry-leading events such as the Mobile World Congress and Mobile Asia Expo.

For more information, please visit the GSMA corporate website at www.gsma.com or Mobile World Live, the online portal for the mobile communications industry, at www.mobileworldlive.com

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