Digital Dividend and its Opportunities for Emerging Wireless Services: the case of Ethiopia
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Date
2016-03
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Digital television and mobile broadband services are significantly progressing
for the past three decades; this progress, in turn, is putting a burden in the
available spectrum. Two of the factors that contribute to the burden are:
underutilization of the spectrum occupied by the previous analogue television
transmission and congestion of the spectrum due to several wireless services
supported by the spectrum.
In Ethiopia, there are a limited number of terrestrial television channels and a
single mobile service provider. Hence, there is no imminent challenge from
spectrum scarcity at the present. However, as more television services
commence in the future and the telecom infrastructure expands further, where
both are in the immediate plans of the Government of Ethiopia, spectrum
scarcity will likely be encountered.
Digital dividend, which creates an opportunity in making use of the
underutilized spectrum, is a promising solution for the problem facing the
spectrum. Digital Dividend is a free spectrum band that will be created as a
result of the transition from analogue to digital terrestrial television
transmission. This spectrum can be used to support emerging services from
the broadcast and telecom sectors. Therefore, a proper frequency resource
planning that accommodates the two wireless systems is needed sooner or
later.
In light of this, this thesis shows how the resource can efficiently be used
without a considerable interference impact between the two systems. As the
world has sought the digital dividend as a hopeful solution in dealing with
spectrum issues, this paper discusses the context of Ethiopia's spectrum issues
Digital Dividend and its Opportunities for Emerging Wireless Services: the Case of Ethiopia Page IV
in proposing the analogue switchover and showing coexistence among other
wireless services. The coexistence and compatibility studies help radio
planners and national frequency regulator bodies to come up with new
management of the frequency resource. This facilitates a way forward for
designing a standard spectrum plan before many wireless services begin to
operate.
In this study, the wireless environment of the City of Addis Ababa is analyzed
with the possibility of applying the study for the rest of the country as well.
The results obtained identify the region 700-1429 MHz band as a digital
dividend out of which 795-1429 MHz band can be used for non television
wireless services, particularly for broadband mobile services such as the Long
Term Evaluation (LTE).
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Keywords
Wireless, Services