Digital Dividend in Africa Elizabeth Migwalla On Behalf of the GSM Association

Brief History of the GSMA Founded in 1987 by 15 operators committed to the joint development of a cross border digital system for mobile communications Became the global trade group for the mobile industry, representing the vast majority of mobile phone networks across the world Now encompassing commercial, public policy and technical initiatives, ensuring mobile services work globally The Association’s members now serve more than 3.5 billion customers More than 750 operator Members across 218 countries Over 200 Associate Members (manufacturers and suppliers) For those of you that do not know, I will give a bit of background on the GSM Association. Originally founded in 1987, the GSM Association has become the global trade group of the mobile industry representing a very high percentage of mobile operators in the world. . . and more than 3.5 billion consumers who they represent. The GSMA has 750 operator members, and over 200 associate members, of which Qualcomm is one.

Beyond GSM: Voice to Video HSPA+ 42 Mbps HSPA 14.4 Mbps GSM 9.6 kbps GPRS in 2000 GSM First call made in 1991 HSPA in 2005 3G in 2001 EDGE in 2003 HSPA+ in 2008 LTE 172 Mbps EDGE 473 kbps WCDMA 384 kbps GPRS 114 kbps 3G HSPA: 120 million WCDMA: 238 million 2G GSM: 3.8 billion 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 While the GSM Association has retained its original name, behind that it has over seen a steady evolution of mobile technologies and services through wideband CDMA, HSPA through the release – to the consumer – of LTE technology this year. This has seen our service offering rise from simple voice, to a wider number of data services. Importantly, with the advent of HSPA, HSPA + and now LTE, we are able to offer video. Source: Wireless Intelligence, June, 2009 GSM technology holds nearly two decades of proven development

Broadcast and Broadband Video over the internet is a well-established phenomena YouTube and other social media sites drive video-over-internet usage BBC iPlayer has huge and growing usage 115m downloads December 2009 120m downloads January 2010 Broadband also has a big role to play in niche TV distribution The headline relationships between broadcast and broadband are well known. Social media sites have created a huge market for short video clips, but traditional broadcasters are also using the internet as an alternative means of distributing content. Broadcasters such as the BBC in the UK have realised that, instead of endlessly repeating content on alternative DTT channels, it would be a more efficient use of the UK’s airwaves to make content available on the internet for one week after the live DTT broadcast. Use of its iPlayer service is rapidly growing. However, broadband also has a role to play for the smaller, niche channels . . .

Broadband and the Multi-Channel Environment Research from Europe as DTV started to mature (2008) Both UK and France cases show heavy tail-off after first 6-10 channels In both cases, the top channel accounts for more viewing than all channels outside top 6 DTT is inefficient medium for distribution of very small channels Online TV / broadband can help: but mobile needs spectrum UK FRA These two graphs show channel viewer share – by percentage – in UK and France as their DTT markets began to mature in 2008. We will see similar maturity in Africa soon. The figures show that, after the first 6 to 10 channels, much lower viewing figures occur. These tail off to tiny figures for the last 15 or so. However, these last 15 channels will make the same use of the airwaves – will have the same spectrum demand – as all the others. Because of this, tiny channels have a very high transmission cost per viewer compared to the bigger ones when broadcast over DTT. Transmitting these niche channels online would greatly improve the efficiency of spectrum usage. Mobile can provide greater efficiency, but we need spectrum. Source: Human Capital, 2008

Worldwide Mobile Broadband Spectrum Bandwidth Deployment Options1 US/Canada 700, 850 MHz 1.7/2.1, 1.9, 2.5 GHz Europe 800, 900 MHz 1.8, 1.9/2.1, 2.5 GHz Asia-Pacific 450, 700, 850, 900 MHz 1.7, 1.8, 1.9/2.1, 2.3, 2.5 GHz FDD Blocks/ Spectrum band 5 MHz 10 MHz 20 MHz 2.5/2.6 GHz2 2.1 GHz (1.7 or 1.9 uplink) 1.5, 1.7, 1.8, 1.9 GHz 900 MHz 800/850 MHz Digital Dividend3 (700 to 800 MHz) ü ü ü ü ü Latin America 450, 700, 850, 900 MHz 1.7/2.1, 1.8, 1.9, 2.5 GHz ü ü Africa & Middle E. 450, 800, 850, 900 MHz 1.8, 1.9/2.1, 2.5 GHz Mobile’s need for more spectrum is a direct result of the wider services we offer. . . . And video takes up a lot of bandwidth. So just where will these new wider bandwidths come from in Africa. The key is the digital dividend. ü Recommended Technology FDD Blocks 5 MHz 10 MHz 20 MHz Recommended Technology HSPA+ & EV-DO Rev. B HSPA+ & LTE (2x5 MHz DO Rev. B) LTE (2x10 MHz HSPA+) ü ü ü 1Usable spectrum blocks for product implementation. 2IMT extension 2500 to 2690 MHz, 70 MHz+70 MHz FDD in most countries. 3Digital dividend; Region 1 (Europe, Middle East and Africa) 790-862 MHz, Region 2 (Americas) 698-806 MHz. Region 3 (Asia) – some 698-790 MHz (e.g. China, India, Japan, Bangladesh, Korea, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Philippines and Singapore) others 790-806 MHz

Africa: Covering All Areas Africa’s huge landmass creates specific difficulties for network operators Ensuring all consumers have the benefits of mobile broadband has a strong demand on spectrum and there are two vital bands for the LTE community: 2.5GHz Digital Dividend band Coverage of rural areas needs lower frequency spectrum to reach further Digital divide between urban and rural areas will be lowered by the Digital Dividend In to provide deliver broadband – and broadband video – to the African continent, the Digital Dividend is vital. The vast size of the African continent provides a unique challenge in providing comprehensive mobile coverage. Significant landmass is coupled with large numbers of rural population. This challenge is increased due to the lack of fixed line infrastructure: mobile voice massively outweighs fixed, while mobile broadband has overtaken fixed broadband in most countries, putting intense pressure on spectrum allocations. The African need for frequency spectrum for broadband is thus as strong as anywhere else in the world.

MOBILE & IMT (9 countries) WCNC Key Note 2008-04-18 The band 698-960 MHz 790 MHz 862 MHz 880 MHz 960 MHz BROADCASTING MOBILE & IMT IMT-2000 GSM/WCDMA REGION 1 (EMEA) 698 MHz 806 MHz 824 MHz 894 MHz MOBILE & IMT IMT-2000 cdma2000/WCDMA REGION 2 (Americas) 698 MHz 790 MHz 862 MHz 880 MHz 960 MHz This is an excellent portrayal of the outcome of WRC 07 in respect of IMT identification. Since October 2007 ITU regions have been engaged in meetings to agree on channelization arrangements The main aim is harmonization , for the obvious reasons of economies of scale. MOBILE & IMT (9 countries) MOBILE & IMT IMT-2000 GSM/WCDMA IMT-2000 cdma2000/WCDMA REGION 3 (APAC) 824 MHz 894 MHz

The band 698-960 MHz REGION 1 (EMEA) AFRICA BROADCASTING BROADCASTING WCNC Key Note 2008-04-18 The band 698-960 MHz 790 MHz 862 MHz 880 MHz 960 MHz BROADCASTING MOBILE & IMT IMT-2000 GSM/WCDMA REGION 1 (EMEA) 790 MHz 862 MHz 880 MHz 960 MHz BROADCASTING MOBILE & IMT IMT-2000 GSM/WCDMA IMT-2000 Cdma2000 While Africa is in ITU Region 1, a closer look reveals that it is quite similar to Region 3 in its current allocations and assignments. Thus the so called “dividend” in the 790-862 MHz is effectively reduced by 38MHz ( illustrative, bear in mind the centre gap) Causes a bit of a challenge , Europe rapidly moving towards agreed harmonized channeling plan. Are there other options? 824 MHz 894 MHz AFRICA

The UHF Digital Dividend: Fragmentation Risk Analogue TV Analogue TV only 470 DTT 862 MHz Transition Analogue. + DTT Holes Avoid fragmentation Full DTT plan Switch over UHF TV frequencies after SWO 470 862 MHz Source: Qualcomm Qualcomm Proprietary

Harmonisation is vital for Mobile services Digital Dividend Guard band Fragmented Digital Dividend / Unusable for mobile systems 470 862 MHz Harmonised Digital Dividend Reshuffling of frequencies to harmonise a sub-band 470 862 MHz Source: Qualcomm Qualcomm Proprietary

Please contact rbateson@gsm.org for more information Conclusions Assess the REAL need of Digital TV and the most spectrum-efficient means of distributing Assign DTT frequencies from the lower part of the band: even if re-planning is needed Ensure that regional discussion takes place and bear in mind opportunities for harmonization with other regions Old broadcast models are changing: mobile broadband can help the broadcast community reach more people more efficiently Please contact rbateson@gsm.org for more information How much digital content is there? What have other regions done? 698 MHz seems to be a natural choice for harmonization with region 2 and parts of region 3 2012/13 should see maturing of LTE, thus give additional insight to inform choices. These considerations must be done as a region/sub regions; excellent frameworks exist; SADC; WATRA; EAC etc. GSMA and its members are ready to support the broadcast community in delivering more content to more people.