Mobile broadband players eyeing 2.5GHz spectrum

Stuart Corner
Friday, 02 May 2008 16:46

IT Industry - Strategy

In the unending war of words between the rival mobile broadband camps - WiMAX and 3G/HSPA - an oft-repeated criticism levelled at the HSPA camp is that the spectrum available for the technology will not support the anticipated huge take-up of mobile broadband services. If the  HSPA camp gets its way - that could change.

Spectrum in the 2.5GHz band has been 'globally harmonised' for mobile broadband services beyond 3G (ie there is international agreement on what technologies and services should use these frequencies ) and Ericsson is lobbying for allocation of these frequencies in Australia to follow the global trend.

The frequencies in question are from 2.50-2.69GHz and are commonly referred to as the IMT-2000 extension band. According to Kursten Leins, strategic marketing manager – Multimedia, Ericsson Australia, "The 2.50-2.69GHz band is the largest new spectrum resource available for mobile broadband services in the foreseeable future. It is large enough to allow multiple operators to deploy technologies utilising wide channels, such as the 2x20MHz channels preferred for next generation LTE (Long Term Evolution) technology."

Leins says that LTE and HSPA, two of the preferred technologies for the 2.5GHz band, will "enable a superior, mass-market user experience, enhancing demanding applications such as mobile video, blogging, advanced games, rich multimedia telephony and professional services."

Plans to use this spectrum for mobile services in Europe and Asia are already well advanced: auctions have already started in some countries. According to Ericsson, in its home country, Sweden, "the winners of the 2.5GHz spectrum auction - the world's first auction to license according to the harmonised band arrangement decision by the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT) - will shortly be announced" and auctions of the 2.5GHz band in Austria, Netherlands, Italy and the UK are scheduled for 2008. "The allocation will facilitate economies of scale for operators and secure the availability of standardised terminals, allowing roaming between countries for users," Leins says.

He argues that Australia must follow the global allocation trend. "Spectrum needs to be globally harmonised to enable economies of scale to create a mass market that makes broadband affordable for everyone. International harmonisation delivers access to common services, a rich ecosystem providing interoperability, international roaming, and availability of affordable products... Australia's relatively small market size means that it must adopt spectrum allocation principles that are harmonised with larger markets."CONTINUED