BELLEVUE, WA--(Marketwire - July 23, 2009) - 3G Americas, a wireless industry trade
association representing the GSM family of technologies including HSPA and
LTE, today announced that it has published key recommendations for
utilizing non-standard spectrum bands in a white paper titled, "
3GPP Technology Approaches for Maximizing Fragmented Spectrum
Allocations." The paper discusses the emerging challenges for spectrum
stakeholders involving how to permit wider spectrum usage by operators
using various broadband technologies and current spectrum allocations.
These challenges are especially poignant in "fragmented" spectrum bands
(which depart from globally or regionally harmonized bands), such as the
AWS III band in the U.S., and in the potential for country specific
allocations of the 2.6 GHz IMT band and "Digital Dividend" spectrum outside
of the U.S.
"Policymakers have an important and challenging role in obtaining
additional spectrum and bringing it to the market to serve society and meet
the growing demands of consumers," stated Chris Pearson, President of 3G
Americas. "Smartphones and mobile Internet devices are moving from the
headlines, out of the shops and into the hands of customers who are quickly
exploring a wide variety of productive services and applications for
education, healthcare and safety."
Various analyses have demonstrated the singular importance of spectrum
harmonization in meeting emerging mobile broadband. Among the most serious
impacts of spectrum fragmentation are the cost and performance of mobile
devices. Handset size constraints and component costs place limits on the
number of bands and technologies that wireless devices can efficiently
incorporate. As a result, support for fragmented spectrum allocations is
frequently minimized in favor of more common regional and global brands
that leverage economies of scale as well as the capabilities for
international roaming.
3G Americas emphasizes the criticality of spectrum harmonization. At the
same time, it supports the efforts of standards bodies and industry players
in developing techniques to put fragmented spectrum bands to use, while
promoting service provider coexistence. In particular, the Third Generation
Partnership Project (3GPP) continues to develop technical approaches,
including various carrier aggregation techniques (permitting the asymmetric
pairing of radio channels), to address existing and potential spectrum
fragmentation challenges. These approaches are showcased in the paper.
The white paper also reviews steps taken internationally by policymakers to
maximize the use of spectrum by diverse parties while concurrently
minimizing the potential for harmful inter-system interference. The report
summarizes the important considerations for policymakers, which need to be
factored hand-in-hand with the technical approaches. Conclusions of the
white paper include:
-- Spectrum should be harmonized and coordinated to the maximum extent
feasible
-- New spectrum should facilitate access by new technologies of all
stripes
-- Appropriate protections should be established for incumbent and/or
adjacent service providers to protect against interference
-- Spectrum policy should foster, as far as possible, the efficient use
of spectrum
-- Rules covering the allocation, auction and deployment of spectrum
should be predicable and transparent, prior to auctions
"Spectrum is a limited resource and yet it is a key ingredient to the
success of mobile broadband in the Americas," Pearson added. "The challenge
and opportunity for countries throughout the Americas is to properly
inventory and identify new spectrum for the wireless industry."
The white paper, "3GPP Technology Approaches for Maximizing Fragmented
Spectrum Allocations," was written collaboratively by members of 3G
Americas and is available for free download on the 3G Americas website at
www.3gamericas.org.
About 3G Americas: Unifying the Americas through Wireless Technology
3G Americas is an industry trade organization composed of
telecommunications service providers and manufacturers. The organization's
mission is to promote, facilitate and advocate for the deployment of the
GSM family of technologies including LTE throughout the Americas. 3G
Americas has contributed to the successful commercial rollout of GSM across
the Americas and its place as the number one technology in the region, as
well as the global adoption of EDGE. The organization aims to develop the
expansive wireless ecosystem of networks, devices, and applications enabled
by GSM and its evolution to LTE. 3G Americas is headquartered in Bellevue,
Washington, with an office for Latin America and the Caribbean in Dallas,
Texas. More information is available at
www.3gamericas.org.
3G Americas' Board of Governor members include Alcatel-Lucent, América
Móvil, Andrew Solutions, AT&T, Cable & Wireless, Ericsson, Gemalto, Huawei,
HP, Motorola, Nokia Siemens Networks, Nortel, Openwave, Research in Motion
(RIM), Rogers, T-Mobile USA and Telefónica.
Contact Information: Contact:
Vicki Livingston
+1 262 242 3458