The GSM Association has welcomed an initiative driven by the Finnish Ministry of Communications to develop a unified approach to the allocation of ‘Digital Dividend’ spectrum - the spectrum that will be freed up by the switchover from analogue to digital TV - in the Baltic Sea region. The Ministry recently hosted a Baltic Sea Summit on the digital dividend in Helsinki attended by government delegations from all the Baltic Sea states, namely Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia and Sweden. The objective of the meeting was to discuss how best to maximise the economic and social benefits promised by the digital dividend in the Baltic Sea region. Allocating some of the digital dividend to mobile broadband will increase Internet penetration and have a significant positive economic impact by driving innovation, job creation, productivity and competitiveness. However, harmonisation of the spectrum on a regional basis is needed to drive down handset and network equipment costs and make mobile broadband affordable to consumers.

The characteristics of the low-frequency digital dividend spectrum in the 790-862MHz band mean that it is ideally suited to the roll out of mobile broadband in rural areas. This is of particular importance in the Baltic region where population density is typically lower than in other parts of Europe. However, in many of the Baltic Sea states, legacy aeronautical systems as well as analogue broadcast systems occupy parts of the 790-862MHz band. There are also multiple border issues which threaten to complicate coordination. A key objective of the Baltic Sea Summit was to consider ways to overcome interference with aeronautical systems and mediate between military and broadcast use of digital dividend, at a regional level.

Harmonisation of digital dividend spectrum at EU level is an important element in the greater spectrum debate in Europe, which currently faces an urgent need for more spectrum to accommodate significant increases in mobile broadband usage. Extending coverage to rural areas and ensuring that the ‘digital divide’ between town and country is lowered is also a vital element of EU policy.

The European Parliament’s decision to liberalise the 900MHz spectrum band through amendments to the GSM Directive forms a part of this exercise, and is also fully supported by the GSMA. Work on the digital dividend must continue alongside this to ensure universal connectivity.
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