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Why is interest growing in 4.5 GHz for 5G?

Where China and Japan lead, others tend to follow. So what is drawing the two telecoms superpowers to take such an interest in the 4.4-4.9 GHz band? Other sub-6 GHz bands, such as 3.4-3.6 GHz, might be more in the 5G limelight but our new 4.5 GHz Research Note explains what is driving this new interest and which other countries might follow suit. Research Notes 4.5 GHz A number of…
Where China and Japan lead, others tend to follow. So what is drawing the two telecoms superpowers to take such an interest in the 4.4-4.9 GHz band? Other sub-6 GHz bands, such as 3.4-3.6 GHz, might be more in the 5G limelight but our new 4.5 GHz Research Note explains what is driving this new interest and which other countries might follow suit.

Research Notes

4.5 GHz

A number of countries are looking at 4.5 GHz as a possible 5G band. Japan, its most serious supporter, plans to allocate the frequencies in March 2019. Other interested countries include China, Korea, Myanmar and Taiwan. China has the most developed interest of the other countries.

Japan

Japan will be hosting the Olympic Games in 2020 and the country plans to use the event as a showcase for new technologies such as 5G. As a result, both its government and its operators are very active in testing the technology.

China

China’s government and its three mobile network operators (MNOs) are actively preparing for 5G. The MNOs expect to launch commercial services by 2020.

When should merging mobile operators be required to divest spectrum?

Talk of a merger between US carriers T-Mobile and Sprint came to nothing but stimulated lots of discussion about how much spectrum they would have to give up. This made us wonder: do merging operators always have to give up spectrum? How do competition authorities decide how much divestiture is needed?

News articles

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UK regulator eyes spectrum sharing in 3.8-4.2 GHz band

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Singapore sees the IoT as a key part of its “digital transformation”

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New US coalition pushes for more TVWS spectrum for rural broadband

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UK regulator says there is no need for change in licensing law for 5G

Ofcom said it was also planning to launch a consultation on sharing in the 3.8-4.2 GHz band later this year. The band was set aside for satellite at WRC-15 but Ofcom said last month that there was potential for “increased sharing for potential new innovative applications,” such as wideband IoT (Internet of Things) services for […]

Norway to consult mobile operators about LTE PPDR network on commercial spectrum

The request for information follows a joint call from the country’s spectrum regulator Nkom and the current network provider, which is operated by Motorola – one of the main partners in the UK’s LTE PPDR project. Senior European tech officials in Europe joked in early 2017 to PolicyTracker that the UK was pursuing a bizarre and […]

The story of 2017 in 5G quotes: episode 2

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The story of 2017 in 5G quotes: episode 1

For mobile operators, 2017 came full circle as it drew to a close. Just like last year, senior figures from the mobile industry are starting the winter by urging caution on the how 5G is sold. Johan Wibergh, chief technical officer at Vodafone, told a conference in London in November 2017 that 5G would eventually […]

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