06/02/2012

Digital revolution 3.0 needs more radio spectrum
For a 200 billion Euro market of services

By Per Heister, Swedish Press Adviser

The wireless explosion

A second or third wave of the digital revolution is on its way and central this time are wireless waves, named radio spectrums or frequencies.

Estimates show that in less than 8 years, by 2020, 50 billion wireless units will be simultaneously online.

Already today more than half of all connections to the net are wireless and 2014 prognoses predicted this will be up to 80 percent.

A European market of services

This explosion in new technology also drives fast development of online services of all kinds - notice only all the services provided via apps since the iPhone was first marketed - which in turn increases the expansion of mobile broadband traffic.

This explosion has so far, and it is still an early stage of development, created a European market of services depending on radio spectrum of about 200 billion Euros annually.

Apart from consumer products we use on daily basis, such as iPhones and the GPS system, radio spectrum is essential for new services for smart energy usage, digital health services and minimising pollution from the transport sector.

Making more radio spectrum available for broadband

As the inventions of the Industrial revolution created growth and an increase in living standards for citizens, so Internet and new technologies have changed the framework as well as preconditions for progress and wealth in our time.

Making more radio spectrum available for broadband injects new possibilities for growth in this time of crisis, says MEP Gunnar Hökmark.

The EPP Group Vice-Chairman is responsible for taking a proposal from the Commission on radio spectrum through the decision-making process, including negotiations with governments of the EU Member States.

"I am happy that we not only managed to find agreements on the Commission proposal but actually took it a few steps further towards achieving a real internal, single market for Telecom services," he underlines.

Achievements in a new spectrum programme

The new spectrum programme dedicates the 800 Mhz band all over our continent to mobile broadband services and includes a goal of a substantial increase in capacity by dedicating in total 1200 MHz for mobile data. This will create not only preconditions for growth but also for Europe to retake the global leadership in wireless communications.

This important decision, rearranging and aligning frequencies, will furthermore increase the use of local WIFI spots at airports, hospitals, schools and more.

"To be competitive with the huge US and Chinese markets we have to get our act together and create a single market for broadband communication also in Europe. I want the digital revolution to have its home and basis in Europe rather than in Shanghai and Silicon Valley," concludes MEP Hökmark.