The GSMA today announced that it welcomes an initiative driven by the Serbian Ministry of Telecommunications and Information Society to develop a unified approach to the allocation of ‘digital dividend’ spectrum – the spectrum that will be freed up by the switchover from analogue to digital TV – in South East Europe. The Ministry today hosted a Ministerial Summit on the digital dividend in Belgrade attended by regulatory bodies and government delegations from states in South Eastern Europe including Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Slovenia and Turkey.

“The region of South East Europe lies on the borders of the European Union and achieving harmonised use of spectrum is important to the growth of the telecoms market and the wider economic well-being of the countries in it,” said Martin Whitehead, Director of GSMA Europe. “A cohesive regional approach from EU member states and their neighbours in South East Europe will maximise the affordability of telecommunications services in the area. We are delighted that Minister Matic and the Serbian Ministry have taken a lead on this issue by bringing together key nations from across the region to discuss and encourage a unified approach to spectrum harmonisation.”

“South Eastern Europe holds countries with wide economic and cultural variety,” said Minister Jasna Matic of the Serbian Ministry of Telecommunications and Information Society. “Our corner of the world also holds EU member states, candidate states and other potential members of the European Union. It is vital that we work together to ensure our citizens have the best possible access to communications services. As we move into the next decade, the digital dividend forms a vital opportunity to give more affordable access to more people, and lower the digital divide.”

The objective of the meeting was to discuss how best to maximise the economic and social benefits promised by the digital dividend in South East Europe. Allocating some of the digital dividend to Mobile Broadband will increase Internet penetration and have a significant positive economic impact by driving innovation, job creation, productivity and competitiveness. However, harmonisation of the spectrum on a regional basis is needed to drive down handset and network equipment costs and make Mobile Broadband affordable to consumers.

Background
The characteristics of the low-frequency digital dividend spectrum in the 790-862MHz band mean that it is ideally suited to the roll out of Mobile Broadband in rural areas. This is of core importance in South East Europe where population density is typically lower than in other parts of Europe. The region’s position on the borders of the EU also makes coordination between states more complex and the high number of multiple border issues threatens to complicate coordination further.

Harmonisation of digital dividend spectrum throughout Europe is an important element in the greater spectrum debate, as the mobile industry currently faces an urgent need for more spectrum to accommodate significant increases in Mobile Broadband usage. Extending coverage to rural areas and ensuring that the ‘digital divide’ between town and country is lowered is also a vital element of EU policy. Work on the digital dividend must continue to ensure universal connectivity.

Digital Dividend in Serbia Research
The summit in Serbia also saw the release of a new piece of research from analysts Europe Economics, which estimated the potential value of the digital dividend that will become available to Serbia when it ceases the transmission of analogue TV signals. The research found that if digital dividend spectrum is allocated to uses other than broadcasting, such as Mobile Broadband deployment, the net present value could increase by between €572 million and €950 million.

The full report can be found at www.gsmworld.com/digitaldividend.

About the GSMA
The GSMA represents the interests of the worldwide mobile communications industry. Spanning 219 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 is focused on innovating, incubating and creating new opportunities for its membership, all with the end goal of driving the growth of the mobile communications industry.

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

GSMA
Paul Nolan
+44 7717 723 440
[email protected]