Digital Plan Will Boost France's Competitiveness

Digital Plan Will Boost France's Competitiveness

LONDON, October 22/PRNewswire/ -- The GSMA, the global trade body for the mobile industry, called on
governments across Europe to emulate the "Digital Plan" unveiled by the
French Government. By allocating part of the digital dividend* spectrum to
mobile broadband services, France is well-placed to improve its economic
competitiveness by closing the digital divide between those with access to
broadband and those without.

"The French government has acted decisively by allocating 72MHz of the
spectrum freed up by the switchover to digital television to mobile broadband
services, which will reach rural communities that can't be served
economically by fixed-line broadband networks," said Tom Phillips, Chief
Government & Regulatory Affairs Officer of the GSMA. "Radio signals in this
spectrum band travel much further than signals in the higher bands, enabling
future mobile broadband networks to reach as far as 2G networks do today. The
rest of Europe should follow France's example as soon as possible."

The French Government's decision to initially allocate the 790MHz to
862MHz band for mobile broadband services will further encourage equipment
makers to develop handsets and base stations for this frequency band, which
the World Radiocommunication Conference has allocated to the provision of
mobile broadband services in Europe, Middle East and Asia.

The GSMA calls on other European governments to also commit this spectrum
band to mobile broadband services. Harmonisation of spectrum across countries
provides manufacturers with the economies of scale necessary to drive down
the price of mobile devices and makes it easier for people to continue using
their handsets while traveling abroad. The success of GSM is partly due to
the harmonized allocation of spectrum by European governments. The Swedish
and Finnish governments have already decided to make the 790MHz -862 MHz band
available for mobile applications.

Notes to Editors

For more information please see: http://www.gsmworld.com/digital_dividend

*The switchover to digital television will release so-called Ultra High
Frequency (UHF) spectrum in the 470MHz to 806/862 MHz band, in which radio
waves can travel further and deeper within buildings than is the case in
existing mobile spectrum bands. These characteristics would help operators to
achieve much broader and more cost-effective mobile broadband coverage,
particularly in rural areas.

About the GSMA:

The GSM Association (GSMA) is the global trade group representing more
than 750 GSM mobile operators across 218 countries and territories of the
world. The Association's members represent more than 3 billion GSM and 3GSM
connections - over 86% of the world's mobile phone connections. In addition,
more than 200 manufacturers and suppliers support the Association's
initiatives.

The primary goals of the GSMA are to ensure mobile phones and wireless
services work globally and are easily accessible, enhancing their value to
individual customers and national economies, while creating new business
opportunities for operators and their suppliers. For more information, visit:
http://www.gsm.org

Source: GSMA

For further information contact: Mark Smith / David Pringle, GSM Association, t: +44-118-920-7669, Email: press@gsm.org

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