A new GSMA report released to coincide with the start of the World Radiocommunication Conference in Geneva has calculated that $440 million in economic benefits would be generated over the span of ten years by the use of additional C-band spectrum in London and Shenzhen, China.
The study, which focused on the potential use of C-band spectrum in the two cities, found that the use of C-band spectrum would provide large contiguous channels compatible with high data rates to support the massive growth in demand for mobile data traffic. The C-band spectrum reviewed in the study was in the 3400-4200 MHz range. That swath of spectrum is currently inhabited by a number of services, including Fixed Satellite Service (FSS) and Fixed Service (FS).
“C-band spectrum will better enable operators to provide consumers with high-speed mobile broadband in city centers,” said GSMA Asia Head Alasdair Grant. “We urge governments to seize the opportunity at WRC-15 and allocate this critical spectrum to safeguard the future of the mobile internet and deliver its undoubted benefits to citizens worldwide.”
According to the report, a sharing technique would allow mobile services and other users to coexist on the C-band. The report further found that “C-band small cells can successfully co-exist with satellite services, provided that an exclusion zone of a 5-kilometre radius is established around the satellite installations.”
Mobile growth estimates from Ofcom and Plum Consulting put the average annual growth in mobile data traffic in London and Shenzhen at around 35 percent over the next 15 years. Total data traffic in London is currently estimated to be around 7 petabytes per month. Without the use of C-band spectrum, the report estimates that a “capacity crunch” will occur in Shenzhen by 2020 and in London by 2022, if not sooner depending on data traffic growth rates.
Filed Under: Telecommunications (spectrums)
