With global agreement reached on clearing the 700 MHz band of analog broadcasting so it can be used for wireless broadband, the equipment will start coming to market soon. Unless the regional spectrum regulators clear the band in time, it will not be possible to reap the benefits.
After Global Agreement, Companies May Bid Higher at Wireless Auction in U.S. – New York Times
Because the conference elicited a global consensus, that confidence should extend worldwide. The conference said that countries could use the 700-megahertz slice for wireless broadband services like cellphones, mobile TV and WiMax, although at each country’s time of choosing.
The conclusions of the conference, which operates under the auspices of the International Telecommunication Union, a United Nations agency, carry the weight of an international treaty.
“Most people in the industry believe this will be very important going forward in terms of supplying new services and new technologies to consumers around the world,” said Richard Russell, who led the 150-member United States delegation, which included government and industry representatives.
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Nuwan
“Since 1994, the US Federal Communications Commission has conducted 82 auctions of radio-frequency spectrum. Of these, 14 have been for microwave spectrum (above 1,000 MHz), which can be used for fixed and mobile broadband services. Often postponed, the upcoming 700-MHz auction is finally scheduled to begin on 24 January 2008. On the block will be the largest amount of mobile, broadband UHF spectrum ever auctioned in the US. The FCC hopes this latest auction will net at least US$10 billion, but it will probably bring in billions more.”, by IEEE Computer Society, Internet Computing.
http://csdl2.computer.org/persagen/DLAbsToc.jsp?resourcePath=/dl/mags/ic/&toc=comp/mags/ic/2008/01/mic01toc.xml&DOI=10.1109/MIC.2008.23