Operators call for governments to secure 5G’s future at WRC-19

The GSMA Board, on behalf of the global mobile industry, has called on governments to support the identification of spectrum for mobile at WRC-19 in an open letter sent to ministers and heads of regulatory authorities in nearly 170 countries.

When governments convene in Egypt for the ITU’s World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-19) this November, their decisions on new radio spectrum for 5G services will determine whether – and when – the promise of 5G will be fully realised.

In the letter, the GSMA Board urges governments to identify spectrum in the 26, 40 and 66 GHz bands at WRC-19 for mobile. These bands enable key capabilities of 5G such as ultra-high capacity and ultra-high-speed services. Over the next 15 years, mmWave 5G will contribute US$565 billion to global GDP, and hundreds of millions more will be connected to voice, data and broadband.

The mobile industry has been actively involved at the ITU over the past four years in technical study of these frequencies. The analysis undertaken by governments and industry has demonstrated that mobile is a ‘good neighbour’ and can safely operate in these bands without causing harm to other spectrum-using services including weather sensing services using adjacent airwaves.

The GSMA warns governments against giving credence to those claiming a negative impact from 5G networks on weather forecasting data and instead for governments to base their decisions at WRC-19 on sound science.