Mobile Telecommunications Adds $3 Trillion to Global Economy as Telcos Seek New Spectrum Bands

Discussions at the on-going World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-15) in Geneva, Switzerland as well as the Global Mobile Broadband Forum in Hong Kong has revealed that new spectrum bands would be harmonised globally just as it was revealed that mobile telecommunications has contributed $3 trillion to global economy.

Mobile operators under the aegis of GSM Association (GSMA) said governments across the world should allocate the spectrum required to drive continued global growth of mobile broadband, noting that each country has a role to play by identifying additional globally harmonised spectrum to support next generation mobile services.

The mobile industry is already making a profound contribution to economic growth and employment worldwide. In 2014 alone, mobile contributed $3 trillion to the world’s economy, equivalent to 3.8 per cent of global GDP. In the next five years, this is projected to increase to $3.9 trillion, or 4.2 per cent of expected GDP, with the mobile industry supporting 28.7 million jobs.

Future progress hinges on governments working with the mobile industry to provide a regulatory environment that encourages investment and innovation.

Based on ITU estimates, GSMA operator members agree that 600-800MHz of additional spectrum needs to be identified globally for mobile broadband to meet projected consumer demand by 2020.