BuddeComm Intelligence Report - Spectrum and White Spaces

Synopsis

Archived report. More spectrum is required if we want to make the most of all the new opportunities that mobile and wireless broadband technology have to offer our society and our economy. With the voice market saturated, the telcos attention has moved to mobile broadband which requires more spectrum; governments around the world are beginning to view the sale of spectrum as a viable revenue raising opportunity in a fragile economy. In 2013 there is increased interest in the re-use of white spaces and an interesting trial is taking place in the United Kingdom involving 18 participants. The trial will see white spaces tested for a range of potential uses that will have global implications on how white spaces may be used and tested in the future.

It is important to remember that spectrum is nothing more than infrastructure and, as we have seen in the fixed network, if infrastructure becomes monopolised some serious issues arise regarding the use of it.

This BuddeComm Intelligence Report provides BuddeComm’s insights into the increasingly important area of spectrum management and includes information on white space developments in USA, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, Africa and Singapore.

Latest developments:

Carriers are looking towards a future of mobile broadband services which will require increased capacity and LTE deployment – and spectrum allocation is the key to positioning in these new markets; Spectrum management needs to include the role that WiFi and other unlicensed technologies will have to play, as well as the role of optical fibre networks for the core and backhaul from the towers in the overall plan; The auction of 800MHz and 2.6GHz spectrum undertaken in the UK earlier in 2013 was considered crucial to the economic delivery of next-generation mobile broadband services in less densely populated areas.