4G Technology and Spectrum Auction

muon

muon

muon

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I thought a discussion thread is worth creating now since it is almost certain that Everything Everywhere will be given permission next week to use the ~1800mhz spectrum for 4G technology.

Similarly Three will be getting some ~1800mhz spectrum (so that EE don't have a monopoly) which should get permission later in the year for 4G use.

And finally 800mhz and 2600mhz spectrum space will be auctioned for rollout in late 2013.

Great link for thought processes at Ofcom as well as general information:
http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/consultations/award-800mhz-2.6ghz/statement/

Most recent news (20/08/2012):
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/17bc3bca-eae9-11e1-afbb-00144feab49a.html#axzz247HElkMl


edit:

Turns out that EE are only obliged to give the 1800mhz space in September 2013 and not this year as I thought (unless the Guardian are reporting it wrong). So EE will have a monopoly for a year!
 
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TheCenturion said:
There's some areas of the country that do not receive 3g signal and now the networks are upgrading to 4g - yay!
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I agree, there are some parts of the country that don't even have cellular access. Until we cover the whole country with first gen coverage, even all remote farms and homes, no one else deserves mobile internet at all.
 
Will using the small 1785-1805MHz(?) range create Three/EE specific phones that won't be compatible with newer 4G in 2013? Seems rather pointless to me.
Hope they don't c~ock up the rest of the GSM 1800 frequency range :p

muon said:
Similarly Three will be getting some ~1800mhz spectrum (so that EE don't have a monopoly)
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Three/EE run the same network these days?
 
sarge78 said:
Three/EE run the same network these days?
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Three run on 2100mhz. EE also use that, so I imagine the sharing is occurring there.

T-Mobile and Orange are the only companies (afaik) with 1800mhz spectrum space. So when they merged, they controlled all of it.

They are therefore being forced to sell 25% of it due to competition rules.

The sharing thing is probably (I'm guessing) why they will prefer to sell it to Three.

sarge78 said:
Will using the small 1785-1805MHz(?) range create Three/EE specific phones that won't be compatible with newer 4G in 2013? Seems rather pointless to me.
Hope they don't c~ock up the rest of the GSM 1800 frequency range :p
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Won't they just create multiband phones? Still LTE on 800, 1800 or 2600mhz.

iPad 3 won't work on any though. 700mhz?

http://www.gsmarena.com/apple_ipad_3_wi_fi_+_cellular-4620.php

Will be interesting to see what the next iPhone uses.
 
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muon said:
Three run on 2100mhz. EE also use that, so I imagine the sharing is occurring there.

T-Mobile and Orange are the only companies (afaik) with 1800mhz spectrum space. So when they merged, they controlled all of it.

They are therefore being forced to sell 25% of it due to competition rules.

The sharing thing is probably (I'm guessing) why they will prefer to sell it to Three.
Click to expand...

Yeah, MBNL selling 25% to MBNL... I bet they get a great deal :D
What are the chances we'll end up with two major networks in a few years? MBNL and o2/Voda.

muon said:
Won't they just create multiband phones? Still LTE on 800, 1800 or 2600mhz.

iPad 3 won't work on any though. 700mhz?

http://www.gsmarena.com/apple_ipad_3_wi_fi_+_cellular-4620.php
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Yep but those intermediate 1800mhz 4G phones/tablets probably won't be compatible with the later 800/2600mAh 4G.
 
I'm not really convinced that the networks have the underlying infrastructure in place to make 4G worthwhile anyway. 3G coverage is patchy on O2 I find, and even with a solid signal speeds aren't all that great.
 
muon said:
I agree, there are some parts of the country that don't even have cellular access. Until we cover the whole country with first gen coverage, even all remote farms and homes, no one else deserves mobile internet at all.
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4G is expected to be a better technology for supplying internet to remote locations. This 4G mobile broadband page says it should reach 98% of people in villages, towns and cities, and it may provide outdoor only coverage to 99% of the UK population.
 
radderfire said:
4G is expected to be a better technology for supplying internet to remote locations. This 4G mobile broadband page says it should reach 98% of people in villages, towns and cities, and it may provide outdoor only coverage to 99% of the UK population.
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I was kidding. I couldn't care less if coverage was only 50% as long as it covered me. If it didn't cover me I wouldn't complain as these companies are spending their private money.
 
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muon said:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LTE_(telecommunication)#Frequency_bands

Just create a triband device for 800, 1800 and 2600 and you cover all regions except for the US.

Kind of like it is now for GSM devices. I'm sure manufacturers are looking ahead.
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Current phones like the One XL run Telstra's 1800mhz LTE but don't have 800mhz support. Then again, we're all swapping phones very quickly these days :D

Edit: Seems the European One XL is a bit different to the Asian/OZ one, it supports 800/1800/2600 MHz LTE :)
 
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Nope, they already use next gen chips like the S4 or MDM9615 but they need correct antennas etc (Otherwise the HTC One S would support everything! :D)
 
well EE got their permission today.. got to say I'm pretty shocked and I'm not surprised O2 and Voda are having a paddy.

Just FYI, Voda and O2 are sharing resource on this I believe so rollout for everyone should be pretty swift, I just wish we'd get on with it, I've spent years in the industry being smug about how far in front of the US we are.. now what?!

Although I still prefer how our carriers don't charge entirely ridiculous fees to control every part of our lives.

Yet.
 
I'm quite surprised they allowed this, it does offer a massive competitive advantage to EE, but, depending on their launch strategy/pricing, it's possibly good news for us :)

I'm guessing it makes the most sense for them to roll it out as rapidly as possible, and make sure that Samsung/HTC et al make phones suitable for it (also I saw a rumour of the iPhone announcement being a day later, so slim chance of that being compatible?), if they can get it out for christmas time then they're gonna make shed loads whilst the other companies wait for the auction...
 
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