<HTML><BODY style="word-wrap: break-word; -khtml-nbsp-mode: space; -khtml-line-break: after-white-space; ">fyi<BR><DIV><BR><DIV>Begin forwarded message:</DIV><BR class="Apple-interchange-newline"><BLOCKQUOTE type="cite"><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" color="#000000" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; color: #000000"><B>From: </B></FONT><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">Jennifer Bussell <<A href="mailto:jbussell@berkeley.edu">jbussell@berkeley.edu</A>></FONT></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" color="#000000" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; color: #000000"><B>Date: </B></FONT><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">19 November 2007 19:54:38 GMT+03:00</FONT></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" color="#000000" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; color: #000000"><B>To: </B></FONT><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">TIER <<A href="mailto:tier@tier.cs.berkeley.edu">tier@tier.cs.berkeley.edu</A>></FONT></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" color="#000000" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; color: #000000"><B>Subject: </B></FONT><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica"><B>[TIER] UN agreement on freeing spectrum for wireless</B></FONT></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; min-height: 14px; "><BR></DIV> <DIV><BR class="webkit-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV><A href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/2ece0dd2-962c-11dc-b7ec-0000779fd2ac.html">http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/2ece0dd2-962c-11dc-b7ec-0000779fd2ac.html</A></DIV><DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><FONT face="Arial" size="5" style="font: 18.0px Arial"><B>Radio spectrum freed for mobiles</B></FONT></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><FONT face="Arial" size="3" style="font: 11.0px Arial">By Frances Williams in Geneva</FONT></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><FONT face="Arial" size="3" style="font: 11.0px Arial">Published: November 19 2007 01:23 | Last updated: November 19 2007 01:23</FONT></DIV><P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 15.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Arial" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Arial">Valuable radio spectrum now used mainly by broadcasters is to be opened up to broadband services offered by mobile phone operators under a United Nations agreement endorsed on Friday by governments from over 160 countries.</FONT></P><P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 15.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Arial" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Arial">For the first time, the decision will provide a common chunk of spectrum for mobile broadband services globally, boosting the market for new wireless technologies. It is also expected to reduce significantly the cost of expanding mobile networks in poor or predominantly rural nations.</FONT></P><P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 15.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Arial" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Arial">The accord follows a month-long diplomatic conference that pitted traditional broadcasters against mobile phone operators in a battle over who should benefit from the “digital dividend” provided by the continuing switch from analogue to digital television.</FONT></P><P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 15.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Arial" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Arial">Digital signals require much less bandwidth, freeing space in the coveted ultra-high frequency (UHF) band, which has been the almost exclusive preserve of broadcasters.</FONT></P><P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 15.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Arial" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Arial">Mobile phone companies have pushed for access to the UHF band for two reasons. One is that the quality signals support high-speed mobile broadband connections, enabling faster downloads of data and video to mobile devices and encouraging the development of new internet-based services.</FONT></P><P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 15.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Arial" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Arial">The other is that UHF signals can penetrate buildings and travel long distances, so fewer base stations are required for coverage of large areas, cheapening the cost of rolling out wireless broadband networks.</FONT></P><P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 15.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Arial" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Arial">Under the deal, the Americas and much of Asia, including China and India, will open up the 698-806 Megahertz band to mobile wireless broadband services between now and 2015 as the transition from analogue to digital television proceeds.</FONT></P><P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 15.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Arial" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Arial">In Europe, Africa and the Middle East, where broadcasters have retained a bigger share of UHF spectrum, only the 790-862 Megahertz band will be available for mobile wireless broadband and not before 2015.</FONT></P><P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 15.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Arial" size="3" color="#003a8c" style="font: 11.0px Arial; color: #003a8c"><A href="http://www.ft.com/servicestools/help/copyright">Copyright</A></FONT><FONT face="Arial" size="3" style="font: 11.0px Arial"> The Financial Times Limited 2007</FONT></P> </DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">_______________________________________________</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">TIER mailing list</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; ">Website: <A href="http://tier.cs.berkeley.edu">http://tier.cs.berkeley.edu</A></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><A href="mailto:TIER@tier.cs.berkeley.edu">TIER@tier.cs.berkeley.edu</A></DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; "><A href="https://www.millennium.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/tier">https://www.millennium.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/tier</A></DIV> </BLOCKQUOTE></DIV><BR><DIV> <SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; 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font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: auto; -khtml-text-decorations-in-effect: none; text-indent: 0px; -apple-text-size-adjust: auto; text-transform: none; orphans: 2; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; "><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 20px; ">Eric M.K Osiakwan</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 20px; ">Executive Secretary</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 20px; ">AfrISPA (<A href="http://www.afrispa.org">www.afrispa.org</A>)</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 20px; ">Tel: + 233.21.258800 ext 2031</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 20px; ">Fax: + 233.21.258811</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 20px; ">Cell: + 233.244.386792</DIV><DIV style="margin-top: 0px; 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