At the recently held 6th MENA Spectrum Management Conference, regulators, experts, telecom companies, and other ICT players gathered together to explore the future of the 6GHz band in the Arab region, the outlook for development regarding the use of the C-band, and how emerging technologies meet the needs of existing users.
The conference was a precursor to the World Radiocommunication Conference 2023 (WRC-23) next year, whose programme includes an agenda item to study 6GHz targeting IMT identification of 6425-7125 MHz.
Held under the auspices of the ITU, the conference sought to establish a consistent spectrum blueprint across borders, which can facilitate global roaming, interoperability and a common global standard for telecom equipment. The conference also provided technical guidance to regulators on allocating spectrum as competing demands converge.
Mid-band 5G (3.5GHz – 6GHz) is particularly important to carriers because it helps them deliver on the promise of 5G as a truly breakthrough technology and keep up with demand as 5G use cases rise. Further, using advanced Massive MIMO technologies, 6GHz can achieve similar coverage as C-band, making 6GHz the ideal band for balancing the capacity and coverage necessary to meet future wide-area deployment requirements cost-effectively. 6GHz will also deliver optimal ROI and a smaller carbon footprint (less power consumption) when countries start to roll out 5.5G and pave the way for future 6G networks.
WRC-23 could not come at a more opportune time. Operators are under increased pressure to meet new customer demand. New services such as HD video, XR, and the metaverse raise the requirements for higher data rates such as 100 Mbps anytime, anywhere, and 1 Gbps in hotspots to support a ubiquitous digital user experience. Speaking at the conference, Fatima Karim, Chairwoman GSA ASMG Spectrum Team, observes that users also want to extend their experiences beyond the home. Therefore, operators must provide enough capacity to allow a seamless transition from home to malls, parks, campuses, transit networks, etc. Operators can only accomplish this task cost-efficiently with access to enough spectrum in mid bands.
Unlicensed spectrum (wireless) has traditionally played a complementary role in ICT evolution for telcos. Enabling users to offload bandwidth-intensive applications such as video to WiFi has saved networks from congestion and deteriorating quality of service. But emerging evidence reveals a diminished role for WiFi as 5G usage surges. Karim gave the example of South Korea, where offload from cellular networks to wireless has constantly decreased for the last two and half years, including during the pandemic. This demonstrates that in markets with enough capacity allocated to 5G networks, people are either reducing their offload to WiFi or completely stopped using wireless to take advantage of the superior quality of service over 5G.
This phenomenon raises important questions about the future of WiFi. The wireless industry governing body, the WiFi Alliance, is clamoring for the 6GHz band to power IoT and continue playing its complementary role to cellular networks. But the South Korean example demonstrates that 5G is the future of connectivity. Therefore, allocating the 6GHz band for WiFi will lead to an imbalance in mid-bands assignment to unlicensed versus licensed applications and represent a significant opportunity loss for 5G technologies and economies in the future. Further, such a decision would be practically irreversible even after global 6GHz standards are laid out.
Therefore, regulators must weigh the decisions carefully when allocating frequencies. Supporting IMT identification allows them to make the right decision after WRC-23, depending on their specific situation. The GSMA has also advocated for 6GHz as the primary band for the future of 5G and officially set up a 6GHz Supporting Group.
The Middle East is on the verge of momentous socio-economic transformation driven by technology. All efforts should be geared towards this goal, including optimal spectrum allocation. 5G and subsequent telecom evolutions are central to this progress and should be prioritised in ICT-related decision-making processes. Also speaking at the event, Jinane Karam, Senior Manager for Government Affairs at Qualcomm, said a new approach to spectrum management is needed to support innovation and ensure effective spectrum usage.
For MENA countries, 5G allows carriers to support national digital transformation goals by providing reliable, high capacity, low latency, and wide-area connectivity to consumers and industries.
