By Telecom Lead Team: Sanjay Kapoor, CEO – India &
South Asia of Bharti Airtel has urged the India government to release spectrum
for data usage.
Lack of spectrum is affecting the 3G services and will
affect LTE in future. India is yet to decide about the LTE 4G spectrum though
the government has released BWA spectrum which will be used by operators to
launch TD-LTE services this year.
Though 3G was launched more than 18 months ago, the third
generation service is not finding enough takers primarily because of lack of
quality of service and availability.
The data revolution will play a pivotal role in driving
fundamental societal changes – especially in India. The continuing increase in
demand for data, we need more spectrum to meet the needs of our customers now
and in the future, according to said Sanjay Kapoor, CEO – India & South
Asia of Bharti Airtel.
Alongside the GSMA, we are happy to work with industry
leaders and government to overcome the spectrum challenge and enable the future
growth of Mobile Broadband services for the benefit of consumers in India,”
Kapoor added.
The GSMA said that International Telecommunications Union
(ITU) is working towards identifying additional spectrum requirements for the
deployment of International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT) Mobile
Broadband globally.
In a press release, mobile industry association GSMA
announced that governments representing more than 150 countries attending the
World Radio communication Conference 2012 (WRC-12) in Geneva recognized
the vital role of Spectrum in bringing the enabling power of Mobile Broadband
to citizens globally.
The ITU has also ensured that future spectrum allocation
is on the agenda at WRC-15. It will soon launch a concentrated multi-year work
programme to study options for additional IMT spectrum that will be presented
and discussed at WRC-15.
By taking action now to secure more spectrum, mobile
operators will be better positioned to meet the mobile data needs of billions
of consumers well into the future. We look forward to working with governments
and regulators over the next three years to identify the spectrum needed to deliver
the vision of providing low cost, ubiquitous broadband all over the world,”
said Anne Bouverot, director general of the GSMA.
Under the leadership of Chairman Tariq Al Awadhi, delegates
from around the world affirmed their commitment to ensuring that citizens
have ready access to the resources and tools they will need to
live and work in the twenty-first century.
Last year, the
GSMA, in association with the Qtel Group and Qualcomm, unveiled the GSMA Mobile
Health University Challenge 2011/12, a global competition to highlight key
mobile health initiatives taking place within the university community.
