IMT standardisation and spectrum identification: Regulatory and technology implications

The lack of interoperability between 2G standards motivated the Radio Sector of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU-R) to become involved in the standardisation process of personal mobile telecommunication. The efforts of the ITU-R ended with a family of six radio interfaces called International Mobile Telecommunication-2000 (IMT-2000) and two radio interfaces called IMT-Advanced that collectively constitute 3G and 4G standards respectively. This paper argues that the IMT standardisation process has created a new type of technology neutrality that is limited to the IMT standards. Moreover, it is shown that the industry and ITU-R have different perceptions on the categorisation of technologies in terms of being 2G, 3G or 4G. In addition, it is argued that there has been indirect link between the spectrum and the IMT standards. However, the ITU-R took several steps to encourage regulators to allow spectrum re-farming. This paper shows also how the ITU-R set the framework for both cooperation and competition between the different technologies proponents.