Industry body the GSMA called on governments across the globe to increase their support for identifying mmWave spectrum for mobile, a move it argued will be crucial to the future deployment and success of 5G technology.

In a letter sent to ministers and heads of regulatory authorities in 170 countries, the GSMA urged governments convening in Egypt for the ITU World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-19) in November to identify spectrum for mobile in the 26GHz, 40GHz and 66GHz bands.

The body forecast mmWave 5G will contribute $565 billion to global GDP and governments’ decisions “on new radio spectrum for 5G services will determine whether, and when, the promise of 5G will be fully realised”.

Those three bands, in particular, will enable key capabilities for 5G including ultra-high capacity and high-speed services, it argued.

It also pointed to research by the mobile industry and ITU over the past four years in the technical study of frequencies, along with analysis undertaken by governments and industries, which it said showed mobile could safely operate in these bands without interfering with services including weather sensing services using adjacent airwaves.

“On behalf of the mobile industry and, more importantly, the citizens and businesses all over the world that depend on robust mobile networks, the GSMA Board urges governments to identify spectrum in the 26, 40 and 66 GHz bands at WRC-19 for mobile. By doing so, you can lay the essential foundation for a bright 5G future,” GSMA wrote.