The
International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) called for governments and regulators
to accelerate efforts to allocate and assign adequate spectrum to support the
ever-increasing demand for mobile broadband.

In
a discussion paper developed by the ICC Task Force on Internet and Telecoms
Infrastructure and Services (IT IS), ICC expressed concern about the strain on
spectrum supply to meet the demand created by the growing number of subscribers
and machine-to-machine technologies, and by the increasing consumption of voice
minutes and data capacity.

ICC
http://www.iccwbo.org
emphasized that it does not attach a greater importance to the use of spectrum
for one particular mobile technology over another, and said that mobile
broadband spectrum policy must co-exist with other critical societal priorities
such as broadcast services.

The
ICC paper calls on governments and regulators to recognize the following key
factors:

• Globally
  harmonizing spectrum reduces equipment costs and facilitates roaming,
  saving consumers money and promoting the deployment of new technologies
  and services.
• Licensing
  regimes that include mobile network operators that manage scarce spectrum,
  as well as mobile resale licenses, will encourage competition, a
  technology-neutral approach and the efficient use of the spectrum.

“Given
the enormous contribution of mobile broadband to innovation, competition, and
job and economic growth in developed and developing countries, it is crucial
that the unprecedented potential of mobile broadband is not stifled by a lack
of adequate spectrum,” said Eric Loeb, chair of IT IS.

“The
skyrocketing uptake of 3G services and mobile devices is already putting
tremendous pressure on the current spectrum allocations. As 4G adoption kicks
in widely, that pressure will substantially increase. This entirely predictable
spectrum shortage needs to be tackled as a priority today,” added Loeb

The
ICC paper cites a recent Ovum study that has demonstrated that annual
productivity gains in the US resulting from wirelessly enabling business
applications will grow to US$130 billion by 2016.

By
Telecomlead.com Team
[email protected]