Mobile Broadband Providers, Digital Broadcasters Eye Cooperation for More Efficient Spectrum Use
BRUSSELS -- Operators may need more spectrum for new wireless services but they also have to use what they already have more efficiently, speakers said Wednesday at a Forum Europe spectrum management conference. One growing area of interest is combining broadcast and mobile broadband services, they said. Shared access models, cognitive technologies and more standardization are also under consideration to help meet Europe’s goal of broadband for all, they said.
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Regulators also must ensure that spectrum is used more efficiently, said Chris Woolford, U.K. Office of Communications spectrum and international policy director. Regulators shouldn’t stand in the way on how spectrum is used, he said. They must also make decisions that are evidence-based and that take account of all relevant factors, he said. It’s not enough to focus on spectrum availability, he said; better compression techniques, the potential use of different platforms and other ideas shouldn’t be discounted. Europe’s regulatory framework has come a long way in the last five to ten years but “there’s more work to be done,” he said.
Much of the capacity problem could be solved by resolving issues around supplying video to end-users, said European Broadcasting Union Senior Engineer Darko Ratkaj. Mobile data traffic is expected to increase 26-fold, while spectrum supply can be boosted by a factor of two at best, he said. Operators can increase capacity in several ways that don’t require more spectrum, he said. Spectrum shortages are only occurring in dense urban areas where fixed infrastructure generally exists, he said. For rural areas, more investment, not more spectrum, is needed, he said.
An EBU study concluded that broadcasters want to use mobile broadband, Ratkaj said. Terrestrial TV and mobile broadband aren’t mutually exclusive because the latter alone isn’t enough to satisfy consumer demand for mobile data, he said. Broadcast networks, particularly digital terrestrial TV, complement mobile broadband and could compensate for some of its weaknesses, he said.
The idea that mobile broadband and digital broadcasting are complementary isn’t a backtrack on EBU opposition to giving more TV spectrum to wireless users, Ratkaj said in an interview. Broadcasters are looking for innovative ways to use existing infrastructure, he said. Digital terrestrial TV can do much more than deliver TV channels, he said; it can be used for “leaner” services. Broadcast networks can be a backhaul for certain kinds of mobile services, he said. Broadcasters are also wondering how to reach tablet devices, he said. Users want to watch TV on mobile devices but operators and broadcasters must cooperate, he said.
Ericsson is exploring cooperation between mobile broadband and broadcasting but it’s not easy, said Government and Industry Relations Director Lasse Wieweg. The question is how to extend capacity to more remote areas, he said; the home environment can be reached via picocells and Wi-Fi. Tests show that today’s TV services could be provided in LTE, allowing users to shift mobile phone content to TV screens and vice versa, he said.
Another potential way to stretch spectrum is by harmonizing the 1.4 GHz L-band for use as a supplemental link to deliver enhanced mobile multimedia and broadband services, said Plum Consulting Director Phillipa Marks. Her study for Qualm and Ericsson said the economic benefits of harmonization could reach 54 billion euros over 10 years. The band is allocated to digital broadcasting services, but is mostly unused across Europe, she said. The supplemental downlink uses unlinked spectrum to increase the downlink capability of mobile broadband networks by making the downloads much faster and supporting a much larger number of users, the report said.
The hunt for more spectrum for wireless broadband shouldn’t ignore the fact that other sectors need it, too, said Pearse O'Donohue, EC radio spectrum policy unit head. Disaster relief, wireless microphones, smart grids and other applications must also be considered, he said. Satellites must also be given their proper role in meeting EU broadband targets, he said. He called for a discussion on hybrid platforms to end the “boring” tussle between broadcasters and broadband providers.
"Embedded,” or machine-to-machine mobile applications, which are expected to grow significantly, have future implications for spectrum strategy, said Analysys Mason Partner Lee Sanders. The issue is that 90 percent of embedded mobile devices are 2G because that technology is cheaper than 3G, he said. But 2G modules raise the potential problems, among them that lower upfront costs don’t reflect the total cost of ownership, he said.
Operators are mulling options about running their networks, Sanders said. They could decommission their 2G networks and refarm the spectrum for 3G, or maintain their 2G networks, decommission the 3G and shift straight into 4G, he said. But they're not considering the question of embedded applications in these plans because they're a small part of revenue and traffic, he said.
Decisions made today could constrain future network strategy by creating legacy problems, Sanders said. Many embedded devices have long lifespans, so decommissioning a 2G network could be expensive, he said. A typical Western mobile operator may have to spend $150-$200 billion to shutter a 2G network in 2020, he said, but the opportunity cost of retaining 2G and acquiring additional 3G or 4G spectrum is even higher, he said.