Europe urged to reallocate broadcast spectrum

Loosening of L-band restrictions could result in better mobile broadband for business

Telecom regulators have been advised that allowing unused radio wave spectrum to be used for mobile broadband would benefit European economies by €54bn (£48bn) over the coming decade.

Harmonisation of the rules governing the 1.4GHz, or L-band, frequencies, enabling them to be used for mobile broadband, would improve the services on offer to business users and lower mobile costs across the board, according to a new report from telecoms analyst Plum Consulting.

Many European countries have restricted the use of 1.4GHz frequencies to broadcast, often for local digital radio services. However, the frequencies are often left unused.

Mobile operators could use the service to supplement their download capabilities, Phillipa Marks, a director at Plum, told Computing.

"There is a huge imbalance between the amount of data mobile users are downloading and uploading," she said.

According to Plum, about eight times more data is being downloaded than uploaded over mobile networks, and that figure is set to rise as smartphone use increases.

The 1.4GHz spectrum is ideal for downlink mobile services, as it can be deployed at power levels that let it penetrate buildings and reach rural areas.

If mobile operators are able to use the spectrum, they would gain much needed capacity and could potentially start to offer guaranteed quality of service packages to business users, said Marks.

In the UK, Ofcom auctioned off the 1.4Ghz spectrum in 2008. The auction was won by telecoms firms Qualcomm, which says it has been using the spectrum for researching and testing.