The GSMA reports that on 22nd June, Danish Minister of Culture Carina Christensen and Minister for Science, Technology and Innovation Helge Sander announced that the spectrum band 790-862MHz will be allocated to mobile broadband. This is a distinct policy shift on the part of the Danish government which had previously reserved all but 8MHz of the digital dividend spectrum for digital broadcasting.

In a press release Minister Christensen assured Danish citizens that the decision will not impact the quality of new digital TV services.

Demand for mobile broadband is growing fast in Denmark, which saw an increase in users of nearly 50% in the second half of 2008. By December 2008 Denmark had more than 300,000 mobile broadband users.

Completion of digital switchover in Denmark is scheduled for 1 November 2009.

Signs of a significant policy shift have also been noted in Russia where, according to initial reports, Minister of Communications and Mass Communications Igor Shchegolev today stated in a speech to the Association of European Businesses that the digital dividend spectrum could be used “either for the expansion of digital TV, or for a new generation of communication networks”.

Previously Russia had stated its intention to retain this spectrum for digital TV and the existing services that currently occupy the band.

The Danish decision brings the country into alignment with its neighbours Finland and Sweden, who have already allocated the digital dividend to mobile. To reach the decision, the Danish government had to renegotiate with broadcast providers who had previously been allocated these frequencies, yet they clearly felt that the benefits of having a band available for mobile that is compatible with the rest of Europe far outweigh the costs of broadcast migrating services out of the 790-862MHz band.

Government delegations from both Denmark and Russia attended the Baltic Sea Summit organised by the GSMA and the Finnish Ministry of Communications earlier this month. This week’s very welcome announcements represent swift reactions to the declaration of intent to coordinate on the digital dividend, which was jointly issued by the Baltic Sea countries during the Summit

The GSMA strongly welcomes these two announcements and urges other countries to follow a regionally harmonised strategy in their allocation of digital dividend frequencies.

For further information contact rercole@gsm.org or visit the GSMA Digital Dividend website at www.gsmworld.com/digitaldividend.