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What is the perceived need of various sectors for broadband connectivity, whether through service provided by specialised operators or through broadband communication managed in-house, and how much frequency spectrum is required to meet this need?
A growing demand for broadband wireless communication is anticipated in nearly all studied sectors. The underlying drivers are high-quality video streaming, particularly for VR and AR applications, and expertise centralisation. Much of the required connectivity can already or is expected to be consumed based on generic networks (PLMN). Consumers indicate a preference for using connectivity as a service based on generic technology, due to the ecosystem benefits it offers. The desired control over infrastructure, service and equipment (to ensure coverage, availability and reliability in the future) is the main reason for not procuring communication as a service. Furthermore, the availability in the market of the requested services depends on the scale level of the application.
From our research and market discussions, it emerges that 40 MHz is the most appropriate amount of spectrum to allocate to specific applications, based on TDD and exclusive spectrum control on one's own (campus) premises and within own buildings.
This estimation is based on the following arguments:
- The required capacity for specific applications is still relatively limited in the short term. With a 20 MHz LTE carrier (TDD), a throughput speed of 1 Gbit/s per site can currently be achieved under ideal conditions. An amount of 40 MHz (unpaired) spectrum thus fulfils the identified capacity requirement.
- A larger amount of spectrum than 40 MHz is likely to result in inefficient spectrum use: the equipment (licences) are more expensive, and there are hardly any applications that require such capacity and cannot be served with an alternative. Additionally, adding base stations for users of specific applications is often relatively straightforward.
- LTE is most efficient when using 20 MHz carriers (above which carriers can be combined). Besides, it is still possible to deploy two networks (each 20 MHz or 2x10 MHz) with reasonable efficiency.
- Although 2x20 MHz spectrum (based on FDD) could meet the demand, TDD is preferred due to the typically higher required upload capacity that specific applications need (FDD can dynamically meet this demand). Nonetheless, TDD is less suitable in situations with many terminals and when different users share the same spectrum.
