Industry leaders attending the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on Monday called on governments to support the rollout of mobile broadband services to drive economic growth.
They said broadband, specifically mobile broadband, could act as an economic stimulus amid the current financial crisis, emphasizing that the wider use of mobile broadband services could stimulate growth and help the world recover from the economic crisis.
"For mobile broadband to be a mass-market service worldwide and powerful engine of economic growth, the mobile industry needs both a stable regulatory climate and access to the right spectrum on the right terms," Rob Conway, CEO and GSMA Board Member, said at a press conference.
"Wherever possible, governments need to allocate the same chunks of spectrum as other countries in their region, enabling equipment manufacturers to gain economies of scale by producing mobile broadband handsets, computers and other devices that will work in many different markets," he added.
"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," said Alexander Izosimov, GSMA Chairman and CEO of Russia's VimpelCom.
"The rolling out and operation of 3G networks in China will create 300,000 job opportunities directly and indirectly," said Wang Jianzhou, Chairman and CEO of China Mobile.
"On the one hand, 3G investments will directly boost the development of the telecom manufacturing industry; while on the other, 3G handsets and 3G applications will drive consumer spending and help companies through the difficulties brought by the financial crisis," he added.
"The evolution of mobile broadband is proof that capital expenditure by operators lays the foundations for the growth of an entire ecosystem," said Franco Bernabe, CEO of Telecom Italia.
"In the currently uncertain economic climate, it is simply unimaginable that we will enter a new phase of European and worldwide growth if we do not have sufficient availability of bandwidth."
Bernabe described bandwidth as the "necessary driver for direct investments such as radio access infrastructure and demand for fibre-optic backhauling" and "a driver of indirect investment, through the emergence of new market players and new services."
"Our industry and the authorities must work together to find sustainable business models for mobile broadband," said Jon Fredrik Baksaas, President and CEO of Telenor Group.
"If we get this right, mobile broadband will have the same deep changing impact on people's lives as basic mobile services have had," he added.
"Mobile broadband is essential for socio-economic growth and, with LTE, the industry has, for the first time, a true global standard," said Carl-Henric Svanberg, President and CEO of Ericsson.
"Mobile technologies are the most powerful tools we have for combating extreme poverty in the most isolated parts of the world," said Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the Earth Institute.
"By closing the digital divide, mobile connections give the poor access to vital health services and students from all parts of the world a chance to learn through 'global classrooms.'
"Digital technologies will play a core role in ending poverty and in enabling the world to join together through markets, social networks, and cooperative efforts to solve our common challenges," Sachs added.
According to a new report by Professor Leonard Waverman and Consultancy LECG for the GSMA, the release of new spectrum for mobile broadband services in 2009 will ultimately add the equivalent of 211 billion dollars to China's GDP, and add the equivalent of 95 billion dollars to India's GDP.
The rollout of mobile broadband networks will create hundreds of thousands of jobs, encourage new businesses across the value chain, improve productivity and boost consumer spending, the report said.
In Europe, Finland, Sweden, Switzerland, France and Britain have already committed to allocating some of the spectrum freed up by the switchover from digital television to mobile broadband services.
The World Bank estimates that connecting an individual to a mobile network can cost one-tenth of that of providing a new fixed-line connection.
The GSMA represents the interests of the worldwide mobile communications industry, spanning 219 countries and regions, uniting more than 750 of the world's mobile operators as well as 200 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset makers, software companies, equipment providers, Internet companies, and media and entertainment organizations.
It focuses on innovating, incubating and creating new opportunities for its membership, all with the end goal of driving the growth of the mobile communications industry.
As many as 400 CEOs, government ministers and officials are participating in the four-day congress, which has attracted more than 1,280 mobile and Internet operators and 500,000 visitors.