GENEVA-As WRC-2000 delegates prepare to pack their bags and head off for four grueling weeks of debates and technical deliberations in Istanbul, Turkey, Europe’s Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) lobby is gearing up for a battle to secure the right to additional third-generation (3G) mobile spectrum it says it will need to support advanced mobile data services by the end of the decade.
The UMTS Forum is focusing its efforts on the candidate extension band 2520 MHz to 2670 MHz, which it says could be reallocated relatively easily to mobile cellular services. This would neatly provide almost all of the 160 megahertz of additional spectrum the forum says will be the minimum requirement for UMTS services by 2010.
“We see this extended capacity as very important for the future of 3G services,” said Bernd Eylert, UMTS Forum chairman. “Our extensive studies based on projected traffic models showed a clear need for more spectrum-a need that was confirmed by the ITU at its IMT-2000 meeting in Fortaleza, Brazil, last March. So WRC-2000 is not about debating the need for more spectrum, but identifying where the additional allocation will come from.”
The proposal for a harmonized 3G extension band covering all three ITU-designated global regions will be tabled at WRC-2000 by the official European delegation to the conference, European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT), whose pre-WRC proposal nominates the bands 2500 MHz to 2690 MHz or 2700 MHz to 2900 MHz for IMT-2000 services.
The CEPT proposal also recommends the global identification of existing second-generation cellular bands 860 MHz to 960 MHz (GSM) and 1710 MHz to 1885 MHz (DECT, PCS and GSM 1800) for future 3G services-a move designed not to gain additional spectrum, but to facilitate a “coordinated global deployment” of 3G systems.
Services currently residing in the CEPT candidate bands include point-to-multipoint services and yet-to-be-deployed digital TV broadcasting. While no one is disputing the vital need of such services for adequate access to spectrum, the UMTS Forum maintains the spectrum could be reallocated relatively easily to more suitable bands without significant impact on systems currently in place.
European efforts to garner support for its push to gain additional 3G spectrum received a boost at a meeting in Tokyo in February, when the Asia Pacific Telecommunity Conference Preparatory Group (APG) agreed to support the extension of 3G service to the 2520 MHz to 2670 MHz band. While some influential delegations, including Australia, have yet to officially declare their hands on the matter, many have indicated in-principle support for an increased allocation to 3G services.
