Posts Tagged 4G broadband
Ofcom approves 4G ahead of spectrum auctions
Posted by Jeremy in Latest Broadband News on March 23, 2012
In a surprise move by Ofcom, it has been announced that the UK’s largest mobile phone company will be given the go ahead to launch 4G services ahead of the upcoming spectrum auctions, due to take place next year. Everything Everywhere (EE) owns both Orange and the T-Mobile networks and many claim that this provides an unfair commercial advantage to a company which is already dominant in the market.
Ofcom has made the following statement in regard to the matter: “Ofcom has considered whether allowing Everything Everywhere to use this spectrum in this way would distort competition, and provisionally concluded that it would not. And given the benefits this would bring to consumers, Ofcom is minded to allow this change of use.”
Culture secretary Jeremy Hunt has stated that providing the UK with 4G LTE services is one of the government’s key objectives; so many argue that this latest development is politically driven. The UK is one of the last countries in Europe to license 4G services, and many claim that Ofcom faced significant pressure to approve EE’s proposal, even though it clearly provided the company with an unfair commercial advantage over its competitors.
4G services are unlikely to be available for companies such as Three, Vodafone and O2 until the end of 2013, when the spectrum auctions are scheduled to conclude. A spokesperson for the company has said, “We seriously doubt that consumers’ best interests will be served by giving one company a significant head start before any of its competitors have a clear path to 4G.”
By reading reviews on a broadband comparison service the inconsistency in the availability of the existing high-speed internet becomes obvious, and many feel that this latest move will lead to further discrepancies.
EE, unsurprisingly have expressed their approval of Ofcom’s ruling, making the following statement: “It’s very important that the UK does not get left behind in the building of a new infrastructure for the digital economy,” This echoes the words of the government who have stated that the availability of 4G services is vital to growth of the economy and to the development of the UK as a whole.
4G mobile broadband could be coming to your commuter train
Posted by Jeremy in Latest Broadband News on March 13, 2012
Commuters facing long train journeys to and from work will be pleased to hear that they could soon be able to use their mobile phones whilst travelling. A consultant for Ofcom, Mott Macdonald, has stated that rail coverage may be included in the upcoming 4G licence agreements.
Later this year Ofcom will be selling off any remaining spare capacity on the wireless spectrum in order to make way for the launch of 4G services. For many this auction couldn’t come soon enough; the US has been using this technology for a considerable time and there have been proposals to convert the existing UK wireless system into a 4G spectrum to allow the launch to be brought forward.
For anyone that doesn’t know, 4G is simply the next level of broadband technology and is designed to better cope with the rising demand for mobile internet services. It provides super-fast speeds allowing for improved coverage and reliability and a generally more efficient service. This is mutually beneficial to both consumer and provider so it’s no surprise that both are keen for the technology to be deployed immediately.
The culture minister Ed Vaizey has stated that 4G technology is essential to UK growth, but was clear that solutions need to be provided to any problems presented before this technology can be introduced.
For example, a primary concern is that TV interference could be experienced by up to a million homes in the UK, with each one requiring a filter to prevent this from happening. It’s unclear at this stage what other problems may arise, but other worries include sound interference and degraded picture quality.
However with the auctions not due to take place until later this year and Ofcom still yet to approve any proposal to bring the launch of 4G technology forward, it seems it could still be some time before the luxury of being able to experience all the delights of the mobile internet is available to us during rail travel.
Government allocates £180 million to minimise 4G television interference
Posted by Jeremy in Latest Broadband News on February 25, 2012
Even before the auction of ‘next generation’ 4G mobile broadband bandwidth has taken place, the government has announced a new fund that will help to minimise any interference digital TV viewers may experience when 4G services eventually get up and running.
The £180 million fund will be made up of contributions from telecoms companies following the auction of the 4G spectrum bandwidth which should take place later this year, after communications industry regulator Ofcom has confirmed the conditions under which it will take place. It is believed that ‘next generation’ mobile services will be available to UK consumers by 2015.
When 4G services go live, experts estimate that roughly 3 percent of homes in the UK will experience signal interference. This is because many television sets have receivers installed that pick up signal from various bandwidths, including the 800MHz band that 4G will operate on.
Ed Vaizey, the Communications Minister Ed Vaizey said that as use of mobile devices to access web content is becoming more commonplace, making more spectrum available is “essential”.
Vaizey said: “Next generation mobile services are essential for economic growth. They will bring an estimated benefit of £2 to £3 billion to the UK economy. There will be some interference when 4G services are rolled-out but we will have the solutions in place to eliminate the disruption to television viewers.”
Advisory group Open Digital has already warned that delaying the roll-out of 4G networks could potentially cost the British economy £730 million a year. The group also claims that the download speeds that 4G could provide could save British companies in excess of 37 million business hours each year.
Regulator Ofcom, however, has warned that 4G services for business will not be available until 2013, and a nationwide roll-out scheme would take until 2017 to be completed.