Benefit of 1.4GHz for Mobile Downlink

Significant benefits could flow from use of 1.4 GHz band for a supplemental mobile downlink for enhanced multi-media and broadband services, according to a study by Plum Consulting conducted for Ericsson and Qualcomm.

The study by Plum Consulting shows that using the 1.4 GHz band (i.e. 1452-1492 MHz also called 1.5 GHz by the European Parliament or the L-band by the CEPT) for terrestrial supplemental mobile downlink could generate a net present value for Europe of as much as EUR54 billion over a 10 year period.

The band is currently allocated for use by digital audio broadcasting (DAB) services in most European countries -- part of the band is allocated to terrestrial networks and part is allocated to satellite networks. None of these services have developed in the band. Rather in all countries in Europe the satellite part of the band is unused and this is also the case in the terrestrial component in most countries.

There could be up to eight times as much data being downloaded than is being uploaded in mobile networks. This imbalance is expected to grow, as rich mobile content is increasingly made available and as consumer demand continues to soar. The study found that the use of the 1.4 GHz band as a supplemental downlink band for mobile applications is shown to drastically ease capacity, to enable considerably higher user data rates, to substantially enhance the user experience and to provide significant economic benefits.

The value of releasing the 1.4 GHz band depends on whether other substitute spectrum may become available in the next 5 to 10 years. Starting from today, all countries in Europe have planned or are planning to release the 800 MHz and 2.6 GHz bands in the next two years. There is equipment available for use in both bands and services are already deployed in some countries.

Which other bands might be released over the next 10-15 years? Table 3-2 gives a number of candidate bands, ordered by the likely timing for release, including the 1.4 GHz band for completeness. In each case, we summarise the current status of the band, initiatives that suggest it might be a candidate for future release and our views on the possible timing of deployment based on the difficulty of clearing the band and the harmonisation/standardisation initiatives that would need to be undertaken before equipment would be mass produced for the band.

The white paper is embedded below for reference:

Economic study of the benefits from use of 1.4 GHz for a supplemental mobile downlink

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