In an interview, Qualcomm's president for Southeast Asia and the Pacific region, John Stefanac warned that mobile operators face a regulatory regime which is not allocating sufficient radio spectrum for 3G services. Citing a recent example in Indonesia, he told the South China Morning Post that the networks were only granted 5-10Mhz of spectrum each, which is not sufficient to deploy viable 3G services.

He also expects high-speed mobile network penetration in the region to keep increasing in the next two years, as governments in Thailand and Vietnam issue licences for 3G mobile services by the first quarter of next year.

Mr Stefanac called on the governments to speed up permitting operators to reuse their existing 900Mhz spectrum for 3G services, and while it allowed wider coverage with fewer towers, he expressed concerns about whether 3G services delivered in that frequency band can match those in the traditional 2100Mhz band.

"As the 3G service will provide rural coverage, the lower-frequency spectrum, on which the signal can be transmitted over a longer range, should enable mobile operators to enhance their networks at lower cost and better coverage."

As we have reported in the past, Thai operator - Advanced Info Service (AIS) recently launched a WCDMA network in Chiang Mai - using its existing 900Mhz spectrum.

In a recent white paper published by the GSA, Dr. Eetu Prieur, Head of Access Networks for Finland based mobile operaor, Elisa, said “3G coverage with UMTS900 can save 50 to 70% of our mobile network costs versus UMTS2100. And that includes both CAPEX and OPEX.” Elisa launched the world’s first UMTS 900 service last November.

Source: South China Morning Post