International. The GSMA called for the commitment of governments and regulatory authorities around the world to support 5G needs in the run-up to the World Radiocommunication Conference 2019 (WRC-19). 5G technology can create a "hyper-connected" society and support the needs of a very diverse set of connections, from industrial machinery in factories to automated vehicles, as well as rapidly growing services such as the video-on-demand system.
"Although the mobile industry, academic institutions and international standardisation bodies are developing the fundamental technologies for 5G, success will largely depend on affordable access to the amount of spectrum needed," said John Giusti, Chief Regulatory Officer, GSMA. "It is essential that sufficient new mobile spectrum is made available, and that operators can reuse existing spectrum for 5G when needed. Governments have a central role in the WRC-19 process, to identify harmonized spectrum for 5G and incentivize the necessary investment in networks."
Ultrafast 5G services will require such an amount of spectrum that governments and regulatory authorities are already contemplating the use of significantly higher frequencies than those traditionally used in mobile services. While this work is critical, the GSMA has stressed that mobile spectrum must be identified quickly across three key frequency ranges, including traditional low-frequency bands, to provide widespread coverage and support in all use cases. The three ranges are: Sub-1 GHz, 1-6 GHz and above 6 GHz:
- Sub-1 GHz will support broad coverage in urban, suburban and rural areas, and help support Internet of Things (IoT) services.
- The 1-6 GHz range offers a good mix of coverage and capacity benefits, including spectrum within the 3.3-3.8 GHz range, which is expected to be the foundation of many of the initial 5G services.
- Above 6 GHz is needed to meet the ultra-fast broadband speeds predicted for 5G; the focus will be on bands above 24 GHz.
