Ofcom has said mobile operator Everything Everywhere (EE) can reuse its existing 1800MHz spectrum, previously used for 2G, for next generation 4G LTE and WiMAX technology.
The firm intends to vary EE’s 1800MHz licence to allow it to be used for 4G services and is accepting comments on the proposal until 17 April. EE is due to trial the 1800MHz spectrum for 4G in Bristol starting in April.
Ofcom said, "Allowing Everything Everywhere to reuse its spectrum in this way is likely to bring material benefits to consumers, including faster mobile broadband speeds and – depending on how Everything Everywhere uses the spectrum – potentially wider mobile broadband coverage in rural areas."
The regulator said that if it were to vary EE’s license it would mean it would be the only provider of 4G for some time and this could “risk of distortion to competition”. However, Ofcom said that it doesn’t consider the move a risk to competition with rivals.
Ofcom said, "As our view is that there is no material risk of a distortion of competition if EE is permitted now to use the 1800MHz band to deploy LTE and/or WiMAX technologies, we propose to vary EE's 1800 MHz licences as soon as practicable, subject to this consultation."
This is a positive step towards getting 4G rolled out across the UK, catching up with places like the US which already has a 4G LTE network. Apple’s recently announced iPad comes with 4G capabilities but this is useless in the UK at the moment.
Comments
Maccyroo said: If it brings faster speeds then fine but willit benationwide or will improvements be limited to large citiesI live in a large market town in Kent and on average get speeds of only 70KBps downstream and 30Kbps upstream on my droid It has nothing to do with the location of my house as i have run several tests in the town centre and other nearby towns with very similar results The fastest 3G speed i have recorded over two years of random testing was 150Kbps which is a joke in this day and ageI couldnt use the free500MB monthly data allowanceI geteach month as part of my contractif I tried because the 3G service is so poor
Gordonbraid said: I guess this will be likely to be London again I live in the West Midlands and can hardly get 3G in my area I just wish the same effort was put into sorting out the areas which can hardly get anything before bringing in new things for a limited area Surely it is better to make sure the whole country is set up with fibre optic first
Fr3kySnail said: 4G will reduce total 3g costsWe need to insure that the UK maintains the advantages of being ahead of the curve when it comes to communication technology We have been ahead of America for over ten years when it comes to broadband and data internet speeds4G is a must I cannot stress how much of a deal breaker this will be There are cost implications also The fact that 4g will be present willenforcebetter pricing for 3g This is exactly what happened to GPRS when the Third generation networks appearedFinal point ties in with comment- The 3g bandwidth will be free from intense data usage You will notice a complete Up-surge in your stability speeds and connectivity When 3g came out stage one deployment was USB mobile broadband 4G will very likely follow that same pattern
Fr3kySnail said: Thats backwards thinking dude Thats like saying We should sort out the analogue TV blackspots before we get Digital
Crossy1990 said: Before looking into the realms of 4G connectivity the UK should focus more on perfecting the current 3G signal With the fast growing computers and phones using more data for faster speeds Maybe the UK should look at improving the quality of its current service why would UK residents want ultra fast connectivity when the current signal can barley hold a phonecall with out loosing signal