On November 9, 2009, was held the Seminar on Spectrum Requirements for Broadband Deployment in Washington, DC, United States. At this Seminar, the following topics were discussed:

• Status of mobile broadband deployments: A current market update will be provided on North, Central and South America networks as well as a worldwide snapshot.

• Mobile broadband spectrum requirements: The seminar presenters will discuss how the increasing demand for mobile broadband applications and the great variety of powerful mobile devices require a quick response from the wireless operators that will need to maximize the spectrum available. Seminar presenters will also discuss the spectrum requirements and recommendations for the near future found in ITU-R Report M.2078, “Estimated spectrum bandwidth requirements for the future development of IMT-2000 and IMT-Advanced”.

• Market Analysis: We will study the effects of spectrum policy and regulations including spectrum licensing, the spectrum caps impact, the effects of regulations on innovation and technical efficiency of networks and some spectrum practices outside the Americas.

The conclusions of the Seminar were:

1. We are about the enter the decade of 2010 with a new mobile reality; mobile voice networks in 2G have evolved toward voice + data networks in 3G; the number of users is now a factor that is less decisive for spectrum requirements than the number of added-value and broadband services required by each one of them.

2. It is important to draw up a master plan of frequencies on the basis of a detailed spectrum inventory of mobile bands recommended by ITU and CITEL to find, to the extent possible, contiguous spectrum and avoid assigning fragmented spectrum. On the basis of this master plan, the regulatory agencies should publish a future spectrum assignment plan in various phases:

a. Short term: Award for years 2010-2011

b. Medium term: Award for years 2012-2013

c. Long term: Award for years 2014-2015

3. Need to harmonize the spectrum for mobile services in the Americas to facilitate roaming of services and take advantage of economies of scale that shall exert an impact on the operating costs of services providers and the end user.

4. Revision of policies to increase the amount of spectrum operators may hold may be necessary to ensure sufficient spectrum to deploy broadband services; greater flexibility in this aspect is required to adapt to the new mobile reality of voice and data networks.

5. In the working groups of PCC.II in CITEL, continue and further promote the dialogue started in this seminar with the participation of the players of the mobile industry: regulatory agency, operator, technology provider, and industry associations.

Erasmo Rojas
Coordinator of the Seminar