MONTREAL – Spectrum refarming is expected to free up an average of 300 MHz per region by 2016, according to a new report by Maravedis-Rethink.
The report, The Digital Dividend and Refarming Policy: Comparative Study, examines the digital dividend (DD) and refarming concepts, technical issues, and policy and market implications.
While the additional spectrum made available after refarming and digitization is an opportunity to increase worldwide access to telecom services and applications, the digital dividend, per se, is not the answer to the spectrum shortage that the telecom world will continue to face in the future, according to the report. Hence, the implementation of refarming policies and the way the digital dividend is used and managed has a number of implications both in the regulatory arena and in the telecom market that can help optimize spectrum resources.
Region 1 (EMEA) will add 72 MHz of spectrum from the DD, as well as up to 220 MHz of refarmed 900 and 1800 MHz spectrum, according to the report, while region 2 (Americas) will add 164 MHz of spectrum from the DD and could refarm up to 190 MHz of the 2.6 GHz band. Region 3 (Asia) will also free 164 MHz spectrum from the DD, plus refarmed spectrum in the 1800 MHz band for up to 150 MHz.
Other key findings from the report include:
– Regional focus will continue to be a priority over global coordination;
– The mobile market worldwide is expected to continue growing and reach 7.7 billion subscriptions by 2016. However, how the market develops over the next few years will be heavily dependent on the availability of additional spectrum. Worst case scenarios show investments in the industry could fall up to 10.7% if DD spectrum availability is delayed;
– The lack of available spectrum could impact technological change and mobile broadband expansion; and
– Although the DD is not the final answer to the spectrum shortage, its efficient use and implementation can help lessen the impacts of spectrum scarcity.
