The 9th Asia-Pacific Spectrum Management Conference will take place from 25 – 26 April 2023 as a fully in-person event, at the Marriott Sukhumvit in Bangkok, Thailand.
Across 2 days attendees have the opportunity to be involved in discussions on the key spectrum topics for the APAC region and beyond, through interactive sessions, networking opportunities, an exhibition area and much more.
Registration is now open – reserve your complimentary place today.
This event is part of The Global Spectrum Series. The world’s largest collection of regional spectrum policy conferences.
This conference will be held under a Hybrid Format. To ensure the health and safety of our speakers, attendees, sponsors and staff while maximising interaction amongst participants, in-person attendance at this event will be limited.
There will be a significant in-person component to this event with demand likely to be high. If you are interested in participating in the conference in person we recommend that you express interest for a place as soon as possible. For those not attending on site, sessions will be live streamed to our events platform.
We will continue to monitor developments around the COVID-19 pandemic, follow recommendations regarding masks, social distancing, and sanitation set out by the venue and local authorities and may revise the capacity limit based on the advice received.
Director, BR
ITU
Secretary General
APT
Chairman
APT Preparatory Group for WRC-23
Please note, all speakers with * are to be confirmed.
WRC-23 is now less than a year away. The weeks leading up to this conference provided 2 opportunities to catch up on the most recent developments at a regional and global level respectively, through an APT Preparatory Group for WRC-23 (APG-23) meeting held in Korea; and the wider conference preparatory meeting (CPM23-2) in Geneva. This session will take stock on the positions that are emerging both here and elsewhere, and with one final APG-23 meeting now remaining (scheduled for Brisbane in August), at the challenges that still remain to be overcome. It will discuss what the region should be aiming for in terms of its key aims and objectives from WRC-23, and discuss the best way forward in order to ensure a successful conference that meets the growing connectivity needs of all key technologies.
Positions regarding the future of the 6GHz band in the Asia-Pacific region are starting to emerge, and it is clear that there are some quite different perspectives from countries on the best way to maximise the socio-economic benefits of this key band. Some countries, including Korea, have decided to allocate the entire 5925—7125 MHz band for unlicensed use; whilst others, including Australia, Japan and New Zealand, have allocated just the lower portion of the band (5945—6425 MHz) for unlicensed use. China on the other hand, have gone the other way and allocated the entire band for IMT on a licenced basis, and also dedicated the bottom 200MHz of the band for 5G private networks. This session will look at the evolving (and somewhat complex) situation in the region, and at the likely long-term future of the band. Given the diverging views that are being seen both here and globally, it will look at whether a harmonized approach to the band can still be a possibility, and with the future of the band up for discussion at WRC-23, it will discuss the importance of finding a speedy resolution for countries across the region.
The Asia-Pacific region is a big user of the 3.5GHz C-band frequencies for a variety of different users. C band is vitally important in Asia for satellite, whilst at the same time it is one of the bands being sought after around the world for the launch of 5G. In addition to this, spectrum in the 3.8 – 4.2 GHz upper portion of the C band is now increasingly being considered as an option to provide localised, private networks for vertical users using 5G technology. This session will look at the best approach across the entire 3.3GHz – 4.2GHz range in order to ensure that the needs of all the key users in this band can be met. It will look at the progress that has been made in rolling out 5G services in the band globally, and look at how these needs of IMT can be balanced with the key needs of satellite and other users. Is there a Win-Win outcome?
With a number of new rollouts being seen over the last 12 months, there are signs that fixed wireless access (FWA) is slowly starting to show some of the potential that has long been promised. With networks deployed in the Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, and India amongst others, this session will look at the emerging shape of the FWA ecosystem in the region, the trends and spectrum bands that are being seen, and the long term future that it may have.
Speakers to be announced shortly.
As countries across the region look to continue to close the digital divide, there are a number of challenges that still need to be overcome. Amongst these is the need to deliver ‘last mile connectivity’ in a sustainable and affordable way. There is a need to find a solution that meets the connectivity requirements of remote rural communities whilst at the same time providing a business case that makes sense for the connectivity providers involved. And of course, there is the need to ensure the required bandwidth is available to meet their connectivity needs. This session will look at the challenges of connecting rural and hard to reach areas and of delivering last mile connectivity in different environments. It will look at the role that policymakers, technology providers, NGOs and other key stakeholders need to play alongside the connectivity providers to ensure the delivery of sustainable and reliable solutions to deliver connectivity to remote and rural areas.
As the 5G ecosystem in Asia Pacific matures and mobile markets across the region continue to grow, it is vital that regulators and connectivity providers work together to ensure that backhaul services are able to keep up with a vastly increasing level of demand. This session will look at the important role that wireless and satellite backhaul solutions need to play alongside fibre in order to ensure that backhaul doesn’t become a bottleneck in the growth of 5G, and the work that needs to be done to upgrade backhaul services and ensure that they are able to support new use cases that are emerging.
One of the key factors that mobile operators will point to when looking at justifying investment in new technologies and networks is the need for regulatory certainty. To deliver this, there is a need for countries to provide forward looking spectrum roadmaps and outlooks. In addition to promoting
investment and innovation, planning ahead in this way can also help to insure the efficient use of spectrum. This session will provide case studies from a number of regulators on the work that is being done in their country to deliver a spectrum roadmap and outlook. Country representatives will provide an overview of the plans that they have for the next 3-5 years in order to meet the spectrum requirements that will enable the evolution of different technologies and users.
Whilst 5G is now well established across many countries in the APAC region, others are still at an early stage in the journey and in the process of preparing for network rollout and deployment. The next couple of years are expected to see a large number of new networks launching across the region, with the number of 5G connections in Asia expected to grow to more than 400 million by 2025. This session will look at the continued progress that is being made on the 5G journey, both in those countries looking to launch for the first time and in those who are more developed and are now moving towards 5G Advanced and the next step in the journey. It will examine the different approaches to 5G rollout that are being seen and at lessons that can be taken both for those countries that have not yet launched networks, and also more broadly as we move towards the next steps of 5G development.
Whilst the very early ‘buzz’ around spectrum for 6G was focussed around the terahertz frequencies above 90GHz, in recent months this has changed somewhat, and attention by industry has shifted more towards 7GHz – 24GHz range. These have been coined as the essential 6G bands by the mobile sector. However these bands are already intensively used by many well-established users, including satellite (for broadcast and to connect ESIMs), defence, scientific and fixed services. Against this background, this session will assess the current usage across these frequencies, what potential they may offer in helping to provide connectivity to realise the 6G vision, and what impact any moves to do this may have on satellite and other incumbent users. With the identification of spectrum for 6G set to be a big feature on the agenda for WRC-27, it will look at whether these frequencies should be included in the discussion here, and the extent to which it may ultimately be possible to find a ‘win-win’ solution to meet the needs of all key users across these frequencies.
