WCA November 2016

Telecom news

Connected cars are at the centre of a tussle over spectrum between USA telecoms and the auto industry As self-driving cars start to proliferate on USA roads, several major telecom companies are moving to have spectrum previously reserved to the auto industry reallocated for use in WiFi. They assert that the automakers have not made extensive enough use of the spectrum. As noted by Ryan Matthew Pierson on readwrite.com , the issue arises “at a time when that spectrum is set to be more important” than ever before. (“Gimme, Gimme: Automakers and Telecoms Spar Over Spectrum,” 16 th May). Anticipating vehicle-to-vehicle communication, the US Federal Communications Commission in 1999 allocated spectrum within the 5.9 GHz band for use by auto makers. The telecom companies argue that this spectrum is better used for WiFi as, in their view, its utilisation in Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) devices is too limited to warrant dedicated bandwidth. Dell, Google, Broadcom, Qualcomm, Intel and others made their case in an open letter to President Barack Obama sent in late April. The companies claimed to have identified a growing need for spectrum for unlicensed use by the public. This growth, they wrote, is creating what they termed an unlicensed spectrum crisis. They proposed an arrangement whereby the disputed band would be opened up for unlicensed usage, with both ITS and WiFi signals sharing the spectrum. Mr Pierson reported that, on 5 th May, a “counter-letter” was sent to the White House. In it, more than 50 members of the auto industry and like-minded others asserted that de facto spectrum sharing has been taking place; and that the transportation sector, working closely with the wireless industry, has already brought a prospective solution to the attention of key government agencies. Giving up the 5.9 GHz band for free unlicensed usage would, according to this second set of advocates, limit the capability of Dedicated Short Range Communication (DSRC) systems to reduce roadway injuries and fatalities.

ICT Facts & Figures 2016, from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), shows that 3.9 billion people remain cut off from the resources available through the Internet, despite falling prices for information and communication technology services. While the UN specialised agency established that developing countries now account for the vast majority of Internet users – 2.5 billion users compared with one billion in developed countries – those population-centred results are starkly at odds with its Internet penetration results. Here the ITU data tells a very different story: 81 per cent penetration in developed countries, compared with 40 per cent in developing countries and 15 per cent in the category Least Developed Countries. Among the findings from the new edition of ICT Facts & Figures: Ø Mobile phone coverage is now near-universal, with an estimated 95 per cent of the global population – or some seven billion people – living in an area covered by a basic 2G mobile-cellular network. Advanced mobile-broadband networks (LTE) have spread quickly over the last three years and reach almost four billion people today – corresponding to 53 per cent of the global population. But while the number of mobile-broadband subscriptions continues to grow at double-digit rates in developing countries to reach a penetration rate of close to 41 per cent, mobile-broadband penetration growth has slowed overall. Globally, the total number of mobile-broadband subscriptions is expected to reach 3.6 billion by end 2016, compared with 3.2 billion at end 2015. Ø Global fixed-broadband subscriptions are expected to reach around 12 per 100 inhabitants in 2016, with Europe, the Americas and the Commonwealth of Independent States regions having the highest rates of penetration. Strong growth in China is driving fixed-broadband in Asia and the Pacific, where penetration is expected to surpass 10 per cent by the end of 2016. Ø Mobile-broadband services have now become more affordable than fixed-broadband services, with the average price for a basic fixed-broadband plan more than twice as high as the average price of a comparable mobile-broadband plan. Ø By the end of 2016, more than half of the world’s population – 3.9 billion people – will not yet be using the Internet. While almost one billion households in the world now have Internet access (230 million in China, 60 million in India, and 20 million in the world’s 48 Least Developed Countries), figures for household access reveal the extent of the digital divide, with 84 per cent of households connected in Europe, compared with 15.4 per cent in Africa. Ø Internet penetration rates are higher for men than for women in all regions of the world. The global Internet user gender gap grew from 11 per cent in 2013 to 12 per cent in 2016. The regional gender gap is largest in Africa, at 23 per cent, and smallest in the Americas, at two per cent. Ø By early 2016, international Internet bandwidth had reached 185,000 gigabits per second, up from a low of 30,000 gigabits in 2008. However, bandwidth is unequally distributed globally, and lack of bandwidth remains a major impediment to improved Internet connectivity in many developing and Least Developed Countries. ITU: Some 3.9 billion people – more than half the population of the world – will not yet be using the Internet at the end of 2016

BigStockPhoto.com • Photographer: Krishnacreations

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Wire & Cable ASIA –November/December 2016

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