Tuesday 26 February 2013

4G the results


After more than 50 rounds of bidding, 4G spectrum has been won by Everything Everywhere, Hutchison 3G UK, Niche Spectrum Ventures Ltd (a subsidiary of BT Group plc), Telefónica UK Ltd and Vodafone Ltd. This spectrum, sometimes known as LTE, is suitable for rolling out new super fast mobile broadband services to consumers and to small and large businesses across the UK.



Although the auction has been completed, it hasn't all been a total success as it was £1 billion short if the government’s estimate of £3.5 billion as announced in the Autumn of 2012. There is a final round of bidding to determine exactly where in each band  (800mhz or 2.6ghz) the blocks that have been assigned will reside, although it is very unlikely that this bidding will make a significant dent in the cash shortfall. When you compare this outcome to the 3G auction which raised £22.5 billion in 2000, it really is not that impressive considering that mobile data use is forecast to continue rising until it overtakes voice traffic on the mobile networks.



Ofcom suggests that the networks will start rolling out 4G in the spring and summer 2013. 4G coverage should  extend far beyond that of existing 3G services, covering 98% of the UK population indoors and even more when outdoors.  This should be good news for parts of the country with limited mobile broadband currently.



By the year 2030 demand for mobile data could be 80 times higher than it is today. To help meet this exponential growth and to stop any capacity crunch, more spectrum is needed in the long term, along with other technologies to make the mobile broadband network more efficient. Ofcom is planning to support the release of further chunks of spectrum to accommodate the rapid growth and for possible future ‘5G’ mobile services.

Friday 1 February 2013

EE have pushed 4G into nine more UK towns


EE which is the first UK provider to roll out 4G has expanded it's super fast mobile network to nine more UK towns. The service is now available in 27 towns and cities covering 45% of the UK population. As well as adding the new locations, the operator has also improved network density in existing areas, which should improve the service.
the nine new locations are.
  • Amersham
  • Chelmsford
  • Hemel Hempstead
  • Southend-on-Sea
  • Stockport
  • Sunderland 
  • Sutton Coldfield
  • Wolverhampton
EE expects to have 98 percent of the U.K. population covered by the end of 2014. So far, the company is on track, but getting the low-invested areas of rural countryside swathed with LTE coverage will be expensive.
 
EE CEO Olaf Swantee said: “As the first operator to bring 4G to the UK it is important that we make it accessible to as much of the population as possible, as quickly as possible. To be ahead of schedule and covering approximately 45 per cent of the population within just 90 days of the launch is a great achievement for our network team.”  Source ; http://thenextweb.com/mobile/2013/01/31/ee-rolls-out-4g-ahead-of-schedule-to-9-more-uk-towns-covering-45-of-the-population/


 Ofcom has opened up the spectrum bidding process to other operators just over a week ago, but the process will take weeks and then the spectrum will be divided up between the bidders which may take a couple of months. These rival networks hope to start rolling out 4G by mid August or September at the latest.