It often is hard to visualize the massive increase in spectrum 5G will bring. Consider today’s reality. In Latin America, for example, mobile spectrum available in each country.
Total spectrum for six markets (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru) totaled 2,893 MHz at the end of 2018, up by 120 MHz compared to 2017.
On average, each country has about 482 MHz each for mobile services by all providers in their countries. If one assumes three carriers in each market, a typical mobile operator might have access to about 161 MHz of capacity.
Additional low-band and mid-band spectrum auctions are scheduled, primarily of additional assets in 700 MHz, 2 GHz and 3.5 GHz regions. But the amount of raw bandwidth varies dramatically by frequency. Where in Chile an additional 20 MHz of capacity will be added at 700 MHz, and 30 MHz in the 2 GHz region, 50 MHz will be added at 3.5 GHz and 850 MHz in the 28 GHz region.
The reason millimeter wave spectrum is becoming more important is the vast amount of spectrum available, compared to all assets in the low-band and mid-band regions. Globally, millimeter wave millimeter wave will vastly increase capacity, by one or more orders of magnitude initially, by perhaps two orders of magnitude in the medium term.
Staggering amounts of new spectrum are coming. In this illustration, note the present mobile assets at far left. Thickness of the bars indicates relative capacity. Then look at the thicker blue bands in the millimeter region, both proposed licensed and unlicensed spectrum assets the U.S. Federal Communications Commission plans to release for commercial use. Huge. Just huge.
Scarcity of spectrum, and therefore bandwidth, always has been a constraint in the mobile business. That might not be so much the case in the 5G and subsequent eras.
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