Qualcomm calls for sufficient mobile broadband spectrum
Governments in Southeast Asia need to ensure sufficient spectrum for mobile broadband service to accommodate increasing wireless penetration, says John Stefanac, Qualcomm's president for Southeast Asia and the Pacific region.
Mr Stefanac, who joined Qualcomm earlier this year, oversees the firm's operations in one of the world's fastest-growing mobile markets including Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.
He expects high-speed mobile network penetration in the region to keep increasing in the next two years, as governments in Thailand and Vietnam issue licences for 3G mobile services by the first quarter of next year.
However, he expressed concern that governments in the region were not releasing sufficient spectrum for the 3G networks, which could hinder growth in service penetration.
'For example, in Indonesia there are five 3G mobile operators, each of which can only have at least 5 megahertz for 3G services,' Mr Stefanac said. 'Such capacity is not sufficient for deploying a wide variety of 3G services.
'The 3G service now not only provides voice service, but also content and applications that need sufficient bandwidth.'
Jakarta had sold 45 MHz of 3G spectrum to operators such as Hutchison Whampoa, each getting 5 to 10 MHz of spectrum.
Mr Stefanac said the government should consider reallocating the 900 MHz spectrum given to mobile voice services to provide more capacity for 3G mobile broadband.
The industry has been debating the use of 3G technology on the 900 MHz spectrum, which is now used for 2G GSM mobile services in most Asian countries.
Mobile operators in the world normally use 3G mobile service on the higher-frequency, shorter range 2,100 MHz spectrum.
'What we need to see is whether the 3G service on the 900 MHz frequency can deliver the same quality of service as the 2,100 MHz frequency,' Mr Stefanac said.
Using 3G on the 900 MHz spectrum is the most essential plan for the telecommunications industry, as such a decision will affect internet penetration in countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.
'The penetration of fixed-line broadband service in Southeast Asia's rural areas is very low. The decision can give these regions access to internet infrastructure, where it is expensive for operators to pave the land line,' Mr Stefanac said.
'As the 3G service will provide rural coverage, the lower-frequency spectrum, on which the signal can be transmitted over a longer range, should enable mobile operators to enhance their networks at lower cost and better coverage.'
Take Indonesia for example, said Wireless Intelligence. Mobile broadband connections there reached 750,000 last month, compared with 300,000 for fixed-line broadband.
Mobile broadband connections in the country are estimated to reach 5.3 million by 2010 and 23.2 million by 2012. More than 22 million will link to the service in the next four years.
'A 1 percentage point increase in mobile penetration in developing countries correlates to 4.7 per cent rise in average per capita income,' Mr Stefanac said.
