Some 120 policymakers,
regulators, private sector executives and representatives from interest groups
stormed the Camerounian capital, Yaounde for the first-ever spectrum management
meeting put together by the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO),
reports ITRealms.
The three-day session
was attended by representatives from the Global System for Mobile
Association (GSMA), International
Telecommunication Union and African
Telecommunications Union.
Also in attendance were
international and regional organisations as well as private-sector participants
including AINMT, ATDI, Avanti Communications, Inmarsat, Facebook and MTN.
Over the past three
decades, the CTO has run numerous capacity development and training programmes
for radio communications engineers and policymakers on spectrum. At one point,
the organisation was known mainly for such technical programmes.
CTO’s
Secretary-General Shola Taylor in
his opening address underscored the importance of spectrum management.
"As mobile and
wireless communication technologies continue to improve, and as many more of us
access and increasingly also depend on these technologies, spectrum is becoming
an evermore important resource," he said.
Taylor also said that
at the very least, spectrum's economic value has increased dramatically from
what it was only 20 years ago, and today it is no longer a mere natural
resource or commodity for many of CTO member countries, it is increasingly also
a life-critical and life-changing resource.
“5G data and
machine-to-machine wireless networks alone will inevitably increase ICTs
contribution to the economy of those countries, but the underlying technologies
require more spectrum and international consensus on how it should be
allocated, hence our decision to dedicate a whole event to this subject," Mr Taylor said.
During three days,
participants discussed a range of issues, including: Planning for 5G: global
and regional perspectives; WRC-15’s outcomes and implications for spectrum
sharing, Maximising spectrum capacity for broadband development; Spectrum
bands, technologies and solutions; Efficient spectrum utilisation for universal
access Spectrum planning for the future of broadcasting and spectrum auctions
The event was
officially opened by Honourable
Minette Libom Li Likeng, Minister of Posts & Telecommunications of
Cameroon who also called on regulators to maintain transparency and fairness
when assigning spectrum.
Oya Midele/GEE
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Pix: Secretary-General Shola Taylor and the Honourable Minette Libom Li Likeng, Minister of Posts & Telecommunications of Cameroon
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