WRC-23: For the benefit of billions

By the end of this year 5.5 billion people will be using mobile phones. For many of us, mobile has become central to our daily lives and businesses. And as 5G takes off around the world, we are beginning to see the true transformational value of this technology as different use cases come to life. From healthcare to education, from industrial connectivity to rural broadband, the possibilities seem endless.

But in order for all of this to materialise, we need to get things right when it comes to spectrum.

Spectrum is directly linked to the speed and quality of mobile, which is why next year will be a crucial one for our industry at the World Radiocommunication Conference 2023 (WRC-23).

Every four years, the ITU hosts the WRC, a space for UN member states to come together to harmonise the use of radio spectrum. For mobile, these conferences can provide the capacity to develop new generations of technology and services on a global scale, delivering a vast ecosystem and allowing devices to be sold and used seamlessly in different markets.

Increasing capacity for mobile at WRC-23 will lead to better services delivered from less dense, more affordable networks. More consumers will be able to use 5G, and fewer base stations also means lower carbon emissions. So a successful conference can create a virtuous cycle to deliver faster, more productive mobile services to more people, driving scale and further investment.

But there is a flipside.

Each WRC has the capability to create new uses for spectrum, but the assembled UN member states can also decide not to enable change. One year out from WRC-23, there is strong momentum behind the harmonisation and expansion of the 600 MHz, 3.5 GHz and 6 GHz mobile bands, but these are not guaranteed.

If states cannot reach an agreement, harmonisation will be lost, the potential for ecosystem scale will be reduced, and the spectrum capacity needed to deliver a cleaner, greener future for us all, will become fragmented. And the economic impact will be significant. Analysis shows that if spectrum is constrained to today’s levels, 40% of the economic impact of 5G may be lost by 2030.

Constrained access to spectrum will also affect our ability to close the usage gap.

At the end of 2021, 3.2 billion people, about 40% of the global population, were living in areas covered by mobile broadband, but were not using mobile internet. One of the main barriers to address is affordability. And spectrum harmonisation is key to unlocking this because increased harmonisation can help deliver better, more affordable networks for consumers, while increasing spectrum capacity reduces network capex for operators.

Spectrum can also help address the challenge of digital literacy, another barrier in closing the usage gap. Adequate spectrum helps provide the advanced infrastructure and services needed to address this challenge.

At the GSMA, our vision is to unleash the full power of connectivity so that people, industry and society thrive. And spectrum is key to unlocking this. So, while WRCs do not always attract global attention outside the regulatory circles that discuss them, it is clear that they have incredible potential to impact lives.

WRC-23 can put 5G services into the hands of more people across the world and ensure that no-one is left behind. In doing so, it has the opportunity to benefit billions.

For more information on what the GSMA is doing ahead of WRC-23 visit: https://www.gsma.com/spectrum/wrc-series/