The World Radio Conference 2012 (WRC-12) has confirmed the International community’s support for future regulation to allow for additional spectrum for International Mobile Telecommunications (IMT).

In the official closing communiqué from the Conference, the ITU Secretary-General - Hamadoun Touré - highlighted the importance of the allocation of spectrum resources for mobile, specifically identifying the digital dividend which, he said, “now provides for a great deal of global harmonization of the use of the 700 MHz band for all regions by the services which most need it”.

Article published 6th february, 2012

For some time now, one of the biggest problems with LTE is the lack of support for traditional mobile phone services like voice calls, text messages, multimedia messages, and various other systems implemented on traditionally circuit-switched systems.

Without a system to handle traditional phone services, LTE cannot replace current 2G and 3G networks. . .

Extract from Ryan King’s article in gigaom

With the fast expansion of LTE networks, we need devices to use them. And there will be plenty, according to In-Stat. The research firm is predicting that LTE handset shipments will eclipse 154 million units in 2015.

And by 2015, there will be 290 million LTE subscriptions in the world, predicts In-Stat. LTE will be part of a larger growth in cellular subscriptions, which is expected to hit 6.5 billion by 2015.

An interesting article is on-line at Radio-Electronics.com about the potential and timing of Voice over LTE deployments, in line with the GSM Association IR.92 specifications.

"...These specifications highlight specific standards to deliver voice and SMS services over an LTE network using IP Multimedia Sub-systems (or IMS as it is often called). So in other words, VoLTE is essentially VoIP over 4G using IMS..." states the article, which goes on to discuss the merits of LTE for operators and over-the-top providers.

According to a report from McKinsey research, India could become the first mobile digital society, with over 3/4 of users choosing mobile internet access above PC browsing.

Their report - “Can India lead the mobile-Internet revolution?” - predicts that the impact of the mobile Internet would see 450 million Indian users by 2015.

McKinsey suggests that "...All the elements are in place: the cost of network access and handsets is going down, wireless networks are going up, and Indian consumers already display an insatiable appetite for digital services. In addition, bypassing the personal computer—moving straight to widespread mobile access—simply makes sense...."