GSMA Mobile Asia Congress news

These days the Mobile Asia Congress of the GSM Association is been held in Macau. From the first speeches some interesting news extracted from the Mobile Business Briefing of the GSMA:

GSMA CEO: Digital Dividend key to future growth
GSMA CEO Rob Conway used his opening keynote address at the GSMA Mobile Asia Congress yesterday to call on governments around the world to free up further Digital Dividend spectrum for mobile use. Conway said that further mobile use of the spectrum ? which is becoming available due to the shift from analogue to digital TV ? would be a "major economic stimulus" that could help governments address the current global financial crisis. "Broadcasters have plenty of spectrum and using some of that spectrum for wireless is far more efficient and a much bigger boost to the economy than any TV channel," he said. "We all know the studies which show how mobile can increase GDP."
Conway added that the success of mobile broadband had meant that new spectrum is required to meet capacity demands and noted that future mobile standards such as LTE will also benefit from the new airwaves. "LTE depends on harmonised spectrum and LTE is the future," he said. Citing GSMA research, Conway said that network costs in lower frequencies such as 700MHz are around seven times cheaper than 3.5GHz, making network expansion into rural areas more economically viable and ensuring greater 'in-building' coverage. "The lower the harmonised frequency band, the greater the incentive for investing in LTE networks," he said. Conway hailed the recent decisions in France and Switzerland to make Digital Dividend spectrum in the 790-862MHz frequency band available for mobile use, but criticised the situation in Spain, which is allowing broadcasters to block the release of Digital Dividend for mobile. Elsewhere in his address, Conway pledged his support for measures aimed at increasing network efficiencies and reducing costs, such as network sharing between operators, and the deployment of energy efficient base stations.

And another one on NFC (Near Field Communications):

GSMA pushes for NFC handsets
The GSMA has called for full Near Field Communications (NFC) functionality to be built into commercially available handsets from mid-2009. Such a move would give a big boost to mobile payment services, it said. The Association's board also announced its support for the 'Single Wire Protocol' (SWP) standard that defines the interface between a mobile phone?s SIM card and its embedded NFC chipset. It is the NFC chip which communicates with contactless readers so users can make financial transactions over short distances, for instance using a debit or credit card to buy small items in a convenience store or a ticket on public transport.
A number of mobile operators are already conducting trials of NFC services as part of the GSMA's Pay-Buy-Mobile initiative. The GSMA claimed that the trials ? being conducted by nine operators, including South Korea's KTF, and Taiwan's FarEastone, in eight countries ? have already shown a growing consumer demand for mobile payment services. Further trials are planned by 15 operators in 14 countries. Encouraging results from Taiwan found that 90 percent of people felt positive toward the new service, whilst over 90 percent of triallists in France said they found contactless mobile payment convenient, fast and easy to use. This latest development follows issue of a detailed Device Requirement document by the GSMA in July to a wide range of vendors and suppliers in the Pay-Buy-Mobile ecosystem. The GSMA revealed that 37 key players responded, giving an understanding of the core requirements for any SWP/NFC device.

More information in Mobile Asia Congress website and the GSMA official page.