The digital dividend, i.e. the radio spectrum freed as a result of the switchover to digital television, and the manner in which it would be made available to the industry were the main topics debated today during the session on Mobile Broadband Wireless Access, organised by ANCOM within the 18th edition of Global Forum 2009, one of the most renowned IT&C forums in the world, taking place in Bucharest these days.
Communications experts from several countries were invited in Session 7, chaired by Mr. Catalin Marinescu, the ANCOM President, where they presented the standpoints of regulators, operators and manufacturers in the field. The participants debated over the impact and benefits of wireless broadband networks and technologies on the electronic communications sector – spectrum management to boost broadband, solutions for remote areas, network development, state-of-the-art technologies, the digital dividend, as well as the impact of regulation on the development of mobile broadband.
Access to mobile broadband is a priority at the European level, although, besides the geographic coverage, there are other hurdles to broadband development, such as the high cost of equipment, education level, computer literacy, according to the representative of the European Commission, Ruprecht Niepold, Adviser, DG INFSO. For 2010-2013, the European Commission has set the target of 100% broadband Internet coverage for the European citizens, as a measure included in the European Economic Recovery Plan. Thus, for the remote or sparsely populated areas lacking infrastructure, investments could boost the productivity potential and the employment opportunities in the local economy.
The current EU coverage of broadband Internet access services is deemed acceptable, but fragmentation persists, important differences being registered between the penetration rates of the Member States. As of January 2009, the penetration rate of fixed broadband connections at the EU level was 22.9%. In Romania, according to the data available to the National Authority for Management and Regulation in Communications, active mobile broadband connections upsurged in the first semester of 2009 by 58%, reaching 2.4 million, compared to 1.5 million at the end of 2008.
Finn Petersen, Deputy Director General of the National IT and Telecom Agency – NITA, Denmark, brought forward the example of broadband services in Denmark, where these are considered a key element for communications, connectivity and Information Society. Denmark was one of the first European countries that implemented broadband policies; therefore, these services are now available for 99% of the Danish citizens. As well, Denmark enjoys one of the highest broadband penetration rates in the world, 37.1%. Such success was built on fostering service- and infrastructure-based competition, the state only investing in e-government and e-skill education.
The equipment manufacturers’ representatives in the event, Pablo Brito, Vice Director EU Wireless Marketing, Huawei, Germany, Christoph Legutko, Wireless Standards and Regulations Manager, Intel Corporation and Mats Nilsson, VP and Head European Affairs Office, Ericsson, showed that, in the future, the number of mobile broadband connections will outstrip that of the fixed broadband connections. It is estimated that, by 2013, 80% of the connections will be mobile, and by 2020 there will be 50 billion devices connected to the Internet. These representatives presented various technologies able to offer access to wireless broadband Internet, while highlighting that the radio spectrum should be allocated under technological neutrality conditions.
In the section dedicated to the operators, the representatives of the Romanian industry, Costas Kapetanopoulos, Director Marketing & Communication, Cosmote Romania, Dorin Odiatiu, Marketing Director, Orange Romania, Ovidiu Ghiman, Chief Strategy & Business Development Officer, Romtelecom and Mihail Tarniceanu, Associate Director Regulatory Affairs in Vodafone Romania, approached their companies’ main challenges, from infrastructure to spectrum allocation and the necessity of allotting public funds for the purpose of covering remote communities, as well as the allocation of the digital dividend.
Details from Session 7 moderated by ANCOM are available here.