5G in Low- and Mid-Bands Major Focuses of GSMA at WRC

The World Radiocommunication Conference this year is a “critical event” for the GSMA, Director-General Mats Granryd said during an ITU podcast. “It’s where we agree [on] the future spectrum, we harmonize spectrum, and spectrum is our lifeline,” he said. “It’s really an event that affects billions of people.” GSMA’s focus this year starts with low-band, 400-600 MHz, he said. Low band builds capacity and makes sure everyone around the world “can actually get online through a mobile device,” Granryd said. The next focus is mid-band, 4-6 GHz, which is equally important for building capacity, he said. Through spectrum harmonization, carriers can grow and have the same application programming interfaces (APIs) globally, he said. “With 5G now really kicking in properly, and we see more business-to-business applications ... we must have more spectrum,” he said. Granryd said the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona early in 2024 is nearly sold out. Businesses are trying to figure out how they can use 5G connectivity to their advantage, “how can I prosper from that,” he said. Hot topics will include 5G applications, open gateway, “which is basically API roaming," and AI and the use of AI, he said: “I think you will see a lot of use cases.”