The GSMA today urged government representatives at the World Radiocommunication Conference 2015 (WRC-15) to keep more spectrum for mobile broadband.

The ongoing WRC-15 conference will decide availability of spectrum for broadcast and satellite in addition to mobile services for the next 10 years.

GSMA has got the support of telecom network operators such as AT&T, Axiata, Etisalat, Ooredoo, Telefonica and TeliaSonera.

“To secure the full potential of mobile broadband, the delegates at WRC-15 should assign more spectrum for the mobile industry,” said Ralph de la Vega, chief executive officer, AT&T Mobile and Business Solutions.

Gsma urges governments to secure future of mobile internet at WRC-15 (Source: gsma.com)

“We hope governments will work quickly in releasing additional spectrum to ensure the economic benefits coming from mobile broadband can be realized in the countries we operate in,” said Jamaludin Ibrahim, chief executive officer, Axiata Group.

“The consequence of failing to secure enough spectrum for IMT at this WRC will inevitably result in materially limiting the availability and affordability of high capacity mobile broadband services to consumers,” said Ahmad Abdulkarim Julfar, chief executive officer, Etisalat Group.

“It is also important to bear in mind that in supporting digital inclusion, demand for spectrum will continue to grow, rising in parallel with demand for data and online services,” said Nasser Marafih, chief executive officer, Ooredoo.

“As governments meet to agree on changes to international spectrum allocations at WRC-15 this month, we urge them to call for significantly more spectrum for mobile to promote the future prosperity of their countries and enhance the lives of their citizens,” said Julio Linares Lopez, vice president, Telefonica.

“We want to continue to offer every citizen, wherever they may be, the opportunity to be a part of a digital society; this requires a forward looking approach from governments at WRC-15,” said Johan Dennelind, chief executive officer, TeliaSonera.

Cisco says global mobile data traffic will grow 10-fold from 2014 to 2019. Hence, global telecoms need additional spectrum to meet mobile data demands.

WRC-15 is expected to determine the availability spectrum for affordable, ubiquitous, high-speed mobile broadband services.

GSMA operator members agree that 600-800MHz of additional spectrum needs to be identified globally for mobile broadband to meet projected consumer demand by 2020.

WRC-15 is expected to move the 700MHz band from a regional to a globally harmonized band as ITU Region 1 (Europe, Middle East and Africa) appears set to agree to identify this band, alongside the existing identification in the Americas and Asia Pacific.

There is also nearly unanimous consensus for new globally harmonized spectrum for mobile in the L-band, starting at 1427MHz, as well as growing momentum for allocating a portion of the C-band, starting at 3.4GHz.

The GSMA wants support for a mobile allocation in the sub-700MHz UHF band, which already has support from a number of large markets in North and South America and the Middle East. Used for terrestrial TV broadcasting, this band could be freed up for mobile services to meet mobile data demand, especially for rural communities.

Telecomlead.com