The Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) announced that Ofcom, the U.K.’s telecom regulator, has joined the industry association representing the global 4G and 5G mobile ecosystem as a new GSA Associate. Regulators from across Europe, the Americas and Asia Pacific are now GSA Associates, gaining access to the latest global industry data and reports on 4G and 5G spectrum, networks, technologies and devices.
Welcoming Ofcom as the latest GSA Associate, Joe Barrett, president of GSA, commented, “As 5G spectrum auctions continue around the world, regulators are keen to learn from the experiences of others in the mobile industry and understand how best to licence their spectrum and deliver the maximum socio-economic benefit. Access to the latest global data on spectrum requirements, auctions and pricing, and equipment availability is a critical part of this. Many regulators look to Ofcom and the licencing models it adopts, and we’re delighted to welcome one of the most respected and innovative telecom regulators as a new GSA Associate.”
In addition to Ofcom, regulator GSA Associates include ARCEP (France), Australia Coms & Media Authority, ComReg (Ireland), European Communications Office, Government of Canada, Instituto Federal de Telecomunicaciones (Mexico), Infocomm Media Development Authority (Singapore) and Korea Information Society Dev. Inst. (KISDI). Industry regulators receive a 60 percent discount on the annual Associate fee.
5G spectrum is a major focus area for GSA, with the GSA Spectrum Group of over 135 member participants around the world acting as a global advocacy and technical team supporting the harmonisation and assignment of spectrum in a range of frequency bands for 5G; high-band, mid-band and low-band.
“With spectrum a finite resource, GSA advocates the efficient use of all spectrum bands to deliver a broad range of 5G services, from mobile broadband and fixed wireless access, to smart cities, urban and rural areas, as well as industrial and enterprise applications,” said Stuart Cooke, chairperson of GSA Spectrum Group. “As the industry association representing the global 4G and 5G mobile ecosystem, we support the technology and service neutral licensing of a sufficient amount of contiguous spectrum for 5G per network, with suitable regulatory conditions, to support the mass market delivery of high bandwidth applications and services.”
The GSA research team provides a number of resources, to help regulators and administrations understand 5G spectrum requirements, including spectrum reports, spectrum auction tacking and spectrum pricing.
GSA Associates get full access to all GSA resources including detailed industry reports and access to the GAMBoD databases from which GSA reports are compiled, as well as promoting their own white papers and business via the GSA web site. GSA Members also benefit from participation in GSA Working Groups as well as driving GSA messaging and programs.