A new analysis from England is encouraging governments and regulators worldwide to allocate additional low-band spectrum to help close the digital divide in rural areas.
Spectrum below 1 GHz could significantly boost 4G and 5G coverage in rural areas, according to the report from GSMA Intelligence.
Rural areas depend heavily on low-band spectrum because it allows signal to travel further and penetrate better through barriers such as buildings. Rural residents spend twice as much time connected to low bands as their urban and rural counterparts.
Nevertheless, these rural residents are 28% less likely to use mobile internet and 30% less likely to “regularly engage in online services such as messaging, banking and education,” the report reads.
The following factors could make rural deployment more feasible for global providers:
- Increased spectrum allocation
- Long-term regulatory certainty
- Policies that encourage network sharing
- Lower regulatory costs
- Less expensive site access
Improving the business case for rural 4G and 5G buildout would, in turn, help close the digital divide in rural areas. 4G coverage improves by a 7 percentage-point increase with every 50 MHz of spectrum below 1 GHz, the analysis said, and 5G coverage sees an 11 percentage-point increase with the same allocation.
Additional spectrum can also improve download speeds by 8% and reduce congestion when users are far from cell towers, according to the GSMA analysis.
Researchers completed case studies in the UK, Australia, Brazil, and Indonesia but did not have specific findings related to the U.S. or North America.
However, another GSMA analysis said the 6G era could require three times as much mid-band spectrum as is currently allocated. North America could see a 60% penetration of 6G as early as 2035. In that report, mid-band spectrum was defined as 2 GHz to 4 GHz, depending on the level of demand in each country.
