Although not necessarily as lucrative as some previous mobile generations, 4G has successfully put the smartphone into the center of everyday life in the industrialised world. Watches, torches, taxis, cameras and even cash appear to have entered the dustbin of history during the 2010s. But as we turn over to… Read more...

The mobile industry often congratulates itself for creating a unified standard for 5G that is defined by 3GPP. This drives economies of scale and avoids the technology fragmentation that undermined previous generations of mobile technology. But when it comes to spectrum strategies, the initial approaches of leading operators were quite… Read more...

In the past few months, we have tried to explain how spectrum management and policy has evolved in the past 100 years, why some approaches have become dominant and set out today's "hot button" policy issues. The result is our new e-book: Spectrum management and policy which is now available for download. It… Read more...

The 5G section of our research service now focusses on possible new 5G bands, rather than those which are already in use or already assigned, such as 26 GHz or 28 GHz, which now appear in the current mobile bands section. The possible 5G bands are listed below and there… Read more...

Radio spectrum policy makers get the opportunity to change the Radio Regulations, the rulebook for the international use of spectrum, every three or four years at World Radiocommunication Conferences (WRC). The next WRC, WRC-19, will be held at the Egyptian beach resort of Sharm El-Sheikh, for four weeks beginning this… Read more...

Our country Research Notes have been updated and now include population density maps. Population density is a crucial factor for most wireless services: it determines how many people can receive them and so the economic viability of a product or the cost of reaching most of the population. The population density maps,… Read more...

Spectrum availability is a key factor among countries wishing to "win" the race to 5G. All of the major economies are planning spectrum awards, and the choice of band and auction design is unique to each situation. While some countries emphasise speed to market, others emphasise competition between mobile operators,… Read more...

For the past three years we have published the leading resource for sector professionals seeking to understand future directions in 4G and 5G spectrum. The new edition has been updated for 2019 and is now available for purchase. For the first time it includes an analysis of the satellite sector,… Read more...

Our Research Notes on 5G spectrum have been updated here, covering the developments of the past year and progress for IMT identifications in mmWave bands at the ITU November WRC-19 Inter-Regional Workshop. Read more...

The satellite industry may be economically smaller than its mobile counterpart but it is becoming increasingly important in discussions of spectrum policy. One example is the tens of thousands of new non-geostationary satellites that operators are launching to target new or underserved markets. The ITU-R Director-elect, Mario Maniewicz, told us in… Read more...