While the 2.3GHz TDD spectrum band has been a major engine for LTE in some markets, notably India and other Asian countries, it has not been an option for European operators to add to their arsenals. Opening it up as a unified mobile band which could be shared would be worth €12bn to the mobile sector in the region, claims a study commissioned by Ericsson, NSN and Qualcomm.
Of course, anything that drives LTE expansion benefits these three firms, but their study, commissioned from Plum Consulting, chimes in with EU efforts to increase the mobile broadband capacity available, opening up previously neglected frequencies in a harmonized way to improve roaming and economies of scale.
The 2.3GHz spectrum is currently fragmented in Europe, and used for a wide range of applications including amateur services, government functions and PMSE (program making and special events). There is work ongoing to harmonize the band for mobile broadband, and to lay down procedures so regulators can allow shared access, which can encourage new players and services and improve economics.
But the process is likely to take several more years, and meanwhile, an opportunity is being wasted, argues Plum. ‘Additional mobile spectrum will be essential for meeting future demand for mobile broadband in Europe,’ the firm said in a statement. ‘Using the 2.3GHz band with LSA [licensed shared access] reduces operators’ deployment costs as mobile data traffic continues to increase and it also facilitates the introduction of new products and pricing options for mobile operators.’
CEO Tony Lavender calculates that the economic benefit enabled by shared 2.3GHz availability would be worth ‘well be in excess of €12nm’.
The 2.3GHz band is an official ITU band for TD-LTE and has already been assigned for this purpose in Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore and South Korea. According to the Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA), eight commercial networks use this spectrum, and there are 147 compatible devices, indicating that an ecosystem is starting to build up, into which European operators could tap. That will be stimulated further as Indian operators like Bharti Airtel and, soon, Reliance Jio start to roll out services in this spectrum.