UMTS Forum: More Mobile Broadband Spectrum, Please

The World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-12) has started in Geneva, and the UMTS Forum already has presented arguments that additional spectrum “must be urgently identified and allocated to support growth in mobile data.”? ? 

In its most recent projections, the UMTS Forum calculated that mobile data traffic will grow by a factor of 33x during the decade to 2020. This growth is even more pronounced in Western Europe, where the same study forecasts that data traffic will leap by a factor of 67x in the same 10-year period.? ?

“Investment in new technologies and network density alone cannot address this dramatic increase in demand that is widely echoed by numerous other industry forecasts,” the Forum says. “To sustainably deliver the full socio-economic promise of mobile broadband, it is therefore clear that advances in technology and investment must be complemented by timely availability of harmonized radio spectrum to support new services and more users.”? 

To address this challenge, proposes the UMTS Forum, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) can exercise its global leadership position by putting IMT spectrum high on the agenda at the next WRC in 2015. In a new white paper, the UMTS Forum urges the ITU to examine spectrum requirements for IMT, prior to timely identification of further bands. Specifically, it is recommended that:

>> The WRC-12 should adopt an Agenda Item for the WRC-15, allowing the identification of additional IMT spectrum;
The ITU-R should conduct during the next study period (between WRC-12 and WRC-15) thorough studies on future IMT spectrum requirements; and
>> The ITU should urge countries to coordinate their actions in order to harmonize IMT spectrum both before and during the WRC-15.

“Currently, there just isn’t enough spectrum to support the projected growth of mobile data”, states UMTS Forum Chairman Jean-Pierre Bienaimé. “The continuing growth of mobile broadband clearly relies on the identification of additional IMT spectrum”.? ?“The ITU has a unique leadership role to play in identifying this urgently needed spectrum and securing its timely harmonization”, continues Bienaimé. “The UMTS Forum thus appeals to ITU leadership to exercise its mandate and ensure a robust study structure that will support this ambitious but vital task.”? ?

To read the new UMTS Forum white paper, Spectrum for future development of IMT-2000 and IMT-Advanced, click here. ?