Delightful to see so many friends again and spend a few days talking about spectrum. It is a huge credit to Dan and everyone at Forum Europe for keeping this tight community together in these strangest of times through their virtual events.
Many of the debates were comfortably familiar: a new RSPP/WRC-23 planning, UHF (how much and when), sharing (we all like it, in theory at least), the progress in technology and the split between fiber/mobile/WiFi/broadcast/satellite.
My own three questions to ponder over the coming months are:
- For operators, would new bands, like upper 6 GHz, simply move investment away from the deployment of existing bands such as 3.5 GHz) and the refarming of traditional mobile bands? I do think a pause for reflection rather than the reflexive demand for ‘the next bands’ would be helpful. At some stage new spectrum (even if relatively cheap) is simply an invitation for new competitors and demands yet more network investment. Happy vendors and unhappy operators perhaps?
- For the Commission and national regulators, the desire to link spectrum policy to wider policy objectives makes complete sense. We must not squander this opportunity to use the insights and lessons from the pandemic to tackle deep-seated issues around inequality, education, health and climate change. There are rarely straight lines between spectrum decisions and such wider policy outcomes, but ‘joining the dots’ to learn what we can within Europe and around the world seems to me to be more important now than ever.
- For Governments, the war in Ukraine should remind everyone of the importance of spectrum in defence and security. The need for secure and resilient communications and systems requires different technologies to work together. I hope the current crisis doesn’t stop the excellent collaboration between defence and other sectors around spectrum sharing. Finding creative and innovative solutions requires openness and trust, and I wonder what we can all do to support that….