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Mobile broadband 'would stimulate economic growth'
Thursday 19th February 2009, by Daniel King
The rollout of mobile broadband networks could help boost business and drive future economic growth across Europe, industry leaders have claimed.
Speaking at the GSM Association's (GSMA's) Leadership Summit, experts stressed the need for governments to encourage investment in network infrastructure and mobile services.
They suggested that mobile broadband could play a "unique role" in stimulating growth, creating new jobs, improving efficiency and productivity and boosting business and consumer spending.
Chairman of the GSMA Alexander Izosimov said: "If the mobile industry can continue to grow and develop at the rate it has over the past 15 years, it could act as one of the few locomotives which can help pull our economies out of the current slump."
However, he added that governments would need to put in place policies that would "nurture its potential, rather than stifling it".
The GSMA highlighted the "once-in-a-generation opportunity" offered by the switchover to digital television, which will free up large segments of the low-frequency spectrum.
It claimed that part of this should be used to facilitate the rollout of mobile broadband networks, which would be far more cost-effective than deploying fixed-line infrastructure.
Cooperation between governments to ensure that each country allocates the same spectrum for mobile services would also allow people to use the same devices across different parts of Europe, the group added.
This comes after a report by Analysys Mason which highlighted the growing take-up of mobile broadband.
According to the research, the total number of mobile broadband connections across Europe is likely to reach almost 150 million within the next five years.
Categories: Broadband
