European Union paves way for region-wide mobile internet

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European Union paves way for region-wide mobile internet

By CAROLINE GABRIEL

Published: 28 July, 2009

READ MORE: Spectrum | Europe | GSM | UMTS

The European Union has made a significant breakthrough in freeing up spectrum across the region for mobile internet services, with approval of the GSM Directive, opening up the 900MHz GSM band for advanced data.

Some individual regulators, such as Finland's, have unilaterally cleared the refarming of GSM bands for 3G (or even future 4G) usage to support broader availability of broadband services, especially in rural areas, even without new auctions. But a region-wide agreement will set the stage for accelerated expansion of these data services, while protecting existing voice phone availability.

The Council of Ministers has approved an amended GSM Directive and the law will be published in September, after which national governments will have six months to implement. "This is a very important milestone for the further development of 3G and mobile broadband in Europe," commented Wassim Chourbaji, Qualcomm's director of government affairs in EMEA.

By updating the GSM Directive, the EU "has paved the way for a new generation of services and technologies where Europe can be a world leader", said information and media commissioner Viviane Reding.

Refarming makes it more cost effective to bring 3G services to rural areas because the low frequency supports large cells, and this will be important in making the broadband stimulus plans in many countries into a profitable reality for carriers. Nations like the UK are looking to cellcos to take a major role in achieving universal broadband, using HSPA for populations underserved by wired lines. The EU says the Directive should save mobile operators about €1.6bn in network costs associated with mobile internet delivery, and that it could help achieve a European target of growing the number of mobile internet users from about 92m now, to 500m within a few years.

Modifications to the original GSM Directive of 1987, allocating the 900MHz band to GSM services, were proposed last November, mainly to allow 3G and future advanced technologies to run in the frequencies. The proposal was approved by the European Parliament in May and yesterday saw the final endorsement by the 27 EU Telecoms Ministers. The updated Directive will signed by the presidents of the European Parliament and the Council of Ministers in September and published in the EU's Official Journal. At the same time, the Commission will adopt a Decision, setting out technical measures to allow for coexistence of 2G and 3G services. The 900MHz band can be opened to other systems in future once the technical parameters for coexistence with existing GSM services has been established.