The organisation also released a new review of the socio-economic benefits of low-band spectrum, which complements previously released assessments for mid and high-band spectrum ahead of the ITU World Radio Communication Conference (WRC-23).
The report indicates that increasing capacity for mobile at WRC-23 will lead to better services delivered from less costly, and more sustainable networks.
It added that additional low-band spectrum can deliver broad and affordable connecting, building bridges towards digital inclusion.
Mobile spectrum is a key national resource for countries around the world, playing a central role as an enabler of socio-economic development, social mobility and the fight against climate change.
Future allocations of spectrum at national level are guided by decisions made at the ITU’s WRC conference.
Mats Granryd, director general of the GSMA, said: “WRC-23 is a critical inflection point for every government, every business and every person worldwide that uses mobile communications.
“More than five billion people rely on mobile every day, and the evidence is clear: increasing mobile capacity will deliver the maximum socio-economic benefit for billions worldwide and provide the biggest boost to national economies.
“Future growth, future jobs and future innovation all depend on policymakers making choices at WRC-23 that give 5G the room to grow and allow it to play a transformational role across all sectors of our societies and economies.”
The research is accompanied by a report that explores the importance of low-band spectrum.
Low-band is expected to drive around US$130 billion in economic value in 2030.
Half of the impact will come from massive IoT and many existing and future IoT use cases require wide area coverage, in addition to population coverage.
Without sufficient low-band spectrum, the digital divide is likely to widen, with those living in rural areas excluded from digital technology.
