Brain surgeons in Edinburgh operating on patients in New Zealand.” This is what Arthur C. Clark predicted in 1964 when he looked into the future to the year 2000. 3-D medical imaging allowing surgeons to supervise hospital operations on the other side of the world, holographic projections, high-speed financial trading, driverless cars and the “Internet of things” are all technologies which will be permitted by 5G technology.
However, 5G technology demands require access to large amounts of spectrum and an agreement at International Telecommunication Union (ITU) level in order to align frequency bands to host such services.
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Spectrum Above 6GHz
National regulators, such as Ofcom in the U.K., are therefore seeking to gather information on the use of spectrum above 6 GHz for 5G mobile services, taking into account other existing and potential uses of this spectrum, including satellite operators.
Existing Uses of Spectrum Above 6GHz
Spectrum above 6GHz is already being used for various services, including Fixed Satellite Services (FSS) within the bands 27.0 – 31.0 GHz and 17.3 – 21.2 GHz (Ka-band).
Comments
There are growing requests from the satellite community that regulators should not pursue action at ITU level to promote the allocation of the Ka-band for the implementation of 5G systems. VS
Joanne Wheeler is a partner at international law firm Bird & Bird.
