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Europe Telecom Insider / Vol. 1, No 5, Edition 7 - Spectrum Refarming for 3G: A Low-Cost Boost for Mobile Broadband
Pyramid Research, Inc., July 2009, Pages: 15
Spectrum refarming, one of the most significant Europe-wide regulatory changes to affect the mobile industry in the past 20 years, will benefit operators by increasing network capacity and improving the availability and quality of existing services, according to this latest report.
Spectrum Refarming for 3G: A Low-Cost Boost for Mobile Broadband analyzes the advantages of refarming 900MHz spectrum for UMTS, looking at data usage, mobile broadband computing, frequency characteristics, capex, 3G coverage, and competition. This 15-page report draws on the refarming experience in three key countries, Finland, Switzerland, and the U.K., to discuss different regulatory considerations and evaluate strategies.
Since 3G data cards were introduced across Europe in late 2007 and 2008, the number of data card subscriptions has grown at an amazing pace, notes Andrei Tchadliev, analyst at Pyramid Research and author of the report. 'At the end of 2008, there were more than 22 million such subscriptions across Europe, and we expect this number to exceed 100 million in 2014,' he says. 'Healthy competition, meanwhile, has meant that operators continue to expand usage allowances and lower prices while pushing network capacity to the limit,' he adds. Due to this, national regulators across Europe have begun consultations on refarming 900MHz-band spectrum previously allocated to GSM services. This spectrum is instead to be used for the next generation of mobile communications, namely 3G-UMTS.
'Spectrum refarming is one of the most significant regulatory changes to affect the mobile industry in the past 20 years, however, those with 900MHz assets see refarming as a threat to their competitive advantage as well as to the quality of their networks,' Tchadliev says. 'Although operators may feel threatened by the prospect of losing their existing spectrum assets, the opportunity to expand coverage and reduce costs outweighs any hesitation they may have about service deterioration or loss of market share from reduced spectrum holdings,' he explains.
'But the move to provide 3G over the 900MHz spectrum is by no means the end game; operators must begin examining opportunities to deploy 4G services over the digital dividend frequencies when they become available,' Tchadliev says.
Key findings
- Refarming presents both technical and financial opportunities for operators across Europe. The use of low-frequency spectrum to deliver 3G services will ensure greater coverage and network capacity at a pivotal point in the market. With the number of 3G handset subscriptions set to increase exponentially through 2014, moving 3G service to the 900MHz spectrum will provide a solution to the inevitable growth in data usage and network traffic.
- Overall, UMTS-900 is better suited than the existing 2.1GHz configuration to meeting the growing demands of mobile broadband. Although operators may feel threatened by the prospect of losing their existing spectrum assets, the opportunity to expand coverage and reduce costs outweighs any hesitation they may have about service deterioration or loss of market share from reduced spectrum holdings.
- With mobile broadband already replacing fixed-line service, the expanded 3G coverage and eventual price reductions of UMTS-900 pose a real threat to fixed-line operators. In the more competitive market that can result from a reshuffling of spectrum, mobile operators will exert pressure on fixed-line service providers to expedite their network rollouts and improve connection speeds in order to make sure subscribers do not start replacing their cables with dongles.
Spectrum Refarming for 3G: A Low-Cost Boost for Mobile Broadband is part of our Europe Telecom Insider report series.
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