GSMA Report Reveals Licensed Spectrum For Mobile Offers Best Possible Economic Benefit

"The GSMA commends efforts by regulators around the world to rapidly find a solution for the current spectrum crunch," said Tom Phillips, Chief Regulatory Officer, GSMA. "While sharing schemes could provide a complementary approach to ease rapidly growing demand for spectrum, exclusive access to spectrum for mobile use is the optimal regulatory approach, providing the necessary market certainty to stimulate investments in networks and services."

"The GSMA commends efforts by regulators around the world to rapidly find a solution for the current spectrum crunch," said Tom Phillips, Chief Regulatory Officer, GSMA. "While sharing schemes could provide a complementary approach to ease rapidly growing demand for spectrum, exclusive access to spectrum for mobile use is the optimal regulatory approach, providing the necessary market certainty to stimulate investments in networks and services."

The report is based on a model that assesses the prospective value of two potential Licensed Shared Access scenarios: the release of 50MHz in the European Union in the 2.3GHz band from 2020 and of 100MHz in the 3.5GHz band in the United States from 2016. The many variables involved and the additional risks, complexities and uncertainties involved with spectrum sharing mean that each sharing opportunity should ideally be evaluated on a case by case basis, making a generalised approach impossible. Findings from the report include:

European Union:

United States:

The report is released amidst continued rapid growth in mobile traffic and consumer demand for smartphones, tablets and other devices that provide access to communications and information services. The study further finds that the release of exclusive-access spectrum for mobile broadband offers wider socio-economic benefits for the United States and European Union over the period 2016-2030, including future job creation. It is estimated that the deployment of mobile broadband would generate approximately 2.1 million jobs in the US and nearly 1.6 million jobs in the EU across this period.

"Spectrum is the lifeblood of the mobile industry. To attract investment and reap the full economic benefits of mobile broadband, regulators need to provide access to a critical mass of spectrum," continued Phillips. "For the EU and US, this can be achieved through the harmonisation of bands, on similar contractual terms and conditions, as well as limited geographic and timing exclusions. For these reasons, shared spectrum is not a substitute for exclusive-access spectrum, and governments and regulators should not fully rely on shared spectrum for the provision of mobile broadband in the future."

To access the report please visit: http://www.gsma.com/spectrum/the-impact-of-licensed-shared-use-of-spectrum/

Note to Editors
(1) The report defines Licensed Shared Access as an individual licensed regime of a limited number of licensees in a frequency band, already allocated to one or more incumbent users. This type of spectrum sharing model involves a "vertical" sector, such as the military or broadcasters, selling, leasing or otherwise providing access to its underutilised licensed spectrum to a mobile operator in areas or at times when it is not being used.

About the GSMA
The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide. Spanning more than 220 countries, the GSMA unites nearly 800 of the world's mobile operators with 250 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset and device makers, software companies, equipment providers and Internet companies, as well as organisations in industry sectors such as financial services, healthcare, media, transport and utilities. The GSMA also produces industry-leading events such as Mobile World Congress and Mobile Asia Expo.

For more information, please visit the GSMA corporate website at www.gsma.com. Follow the GSMA on Twitter: @GSMA.