LONDON, June 9 /PRNewswire/ --

The GSMA, the global trade association for the mobile communications
industry, welcomes an initiative driven by the Finnish Ministry of
Communications to develop a unified approach to the allocation of 'Digital
Dividend' spectrum - the spectrum that will be freed up by the switchover
from analogue to digital TV - in the Baltic Sea region. The Ministry today
hosted a Baltic Sea Summit on the digital dividend in Helsinki attended by
government delegations from all the Baltic Sea states, namely Denmark,
Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia and Sweden.

"The leadership of Minister Linden has been significant. There are many
millions of citizens in the Baltic countries who will only have access to
high speed broadband if mobile can use the digital dividend spectrum. By
ensuring that Baltic countries harmonise their plans with the wider European
region, their citizens will benefit from the scale economies of a 500 million
population market," said Tom Phillips, Chief Government & Regulatory Affairs
Officer, GSMA.

The objective of the meeting was to discuss how best to maximise the
economic and social benefits promised by the digital dividend in the Baltic
Sea region. Allocating some of the digital dividend to mobile broadband will
increase Internet penetration and have a significant positive economic impact
by driving innovation, job creation, productivity and competitiveness.
However, harmonisation of the spectrum on a regional basis is needed to drive
down handset and network equipment costs and make mobile broadband affordable
to consumers.

"Consumers will increasingly demand wider availability of mobile
broadband, which will enable innovative solutions which deliver on the
promise of the converging worlds of Internet and mobility. The mobile
industry urgently needs clarity on the availability of spectrum bands and
regulatory issues, to accelerate the efficient and cost effective
implementation of these mobile broadband solutions. The 790-862 MHz band is
important, as it has significant potential to provide excellent coverage over
large geographical areas," said Timo Ali-Vehmas, Vice President of
Compatibility and Industry Collaboration at Nokia. "We welcome the Finnish
Ministry's leadership of regional discussions to achieve this."

"The digital dividend has the potential to provide universal access for
all consumers and to allow operators to accelerate mobile broadband
throughout the Baltic Sea region," said Esa Rautalinko, Country Manager and
President, TeliaSonera Finland.

"In Finland, digital switchover is now complete. We strongly hope this
Summit will provide the momentum to develop a regional solution which will
enable licensing arrangements to proceed. Given that this kind of opportunity
won't come around again in the foreseeable future, it is important that these
decisions are well-informed and strategic," said Riitta Tiuraniemi, CEO, DNA.

Background

The characteristics of the low-frequency digital dividend spectrum in the
790-862MHz band mean that it is ideally suited to the roll out of mobile
broadband in rural areas. This is of particular importance in the Baltic
region where population density is typically lower than in other parts of
Europe. However, in many of the Baltic Sea states, legacy aeronautical
systems as well as analogue broadcast systems occupy parts of the 790-862MHz
band. There are also multiple border issues which threaten to complicate
coordination. A key objective of the Baltic Sea Summit was to consider ways
to overcome interference with aeronautical systems and mediate between
military and broadcast use of digital dividend, at a regional level.

Harmonisation of digital dividend spectrum at EU level is an important
element in the greater spectrum debate in Europe, which currently faces an
urgent need for more spectrum to accommodate significant increases in mobile
broadband usage. Extending coverage to rural areas and ensuring that the
'digital divide' between town and country is lowered is also a vital element
of EU policy.

The European Parliament's decision to liberalise the 900MHz spectrum band
through amendments to the GSM Directive forms a part of this exercise, and is
also fully supported by the GSMA. Work on the digital dividend must continue
alongside this to ensure universal connectivity.

About GSMA:

The GSMA represents the interests of the worldwide mobile communications
industry. Spanning 219 countries, the GSMA unites more than 750 of the
world's mobile operators, as well as 200 companies in the broader mobile
ecosystem, including handset makers, software companies, equipment providers,
Internet companies, and media and entertainment organizations. The
Association's members represent more than 3 billion GSM and 3GSM connections,
around 86% of world's mobile subscribers.