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.
 
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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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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EE bought the 1800mhz spectrum and had the foresight or the luck to realise it could be used for LTE. Any regulation preventing that would have been absurd even if it damages competitors. You don't regulate against competitive advantages. However you do prevent uncompetitive practices which occur when a monopoly exists and that is exactly what is being done by forcing EE to sell 25% of the 1800mhz spectrum.

I seriously doubt that collusion between Three and EE will be allowed while they are the only LTE players in the market. Vodafone and O2 will make sure of it.
 
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@matt100

Oh ok, didn't realise rhey got it free, but that doesn't really change the argument.

Funny how O2 quickly forget they were allowed to use 900mhz for 3G services recently which improved coverage.
 
PiKe said:
Is 4G practical to use as your primary internet connection? We have slow ADSL at work and 4G would bring massive benefits to us assuming we can get a signal.

Is the range on the 4G spectrum better than 3G or just the same/worse?
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It depends on how many people are using that mast and how good QoS systems are. Also usage limits aren't going to be in the region of hundreds of GBs.
 
Apparently EE have a year to hand over the 25% of the 1800mhz spectrum to Three in September 2013. So that sale just became irrelevant in the grand scheme of things.
 
I would pay £40 a month to get a completely unlimited LTE tariff right now.

I already pay £25 a month for the One Plan, and £15 a month for the extra speed would be worth it to me. Especially right now where there will be little congestion.

I hope EE are listening and have something better than their Full Monty plan.
 
JUMPURS said:
Does that mean it is best to buy it on Orange or T-Mobile?
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Whoever you buy it from, it will only ever support EE and Three's LTE.

A bit moot now since only EE have LTE, but after the others roll out LTE you will have to be with these two to get LTE.

No doubt iPhone 6 will support them though.
 
sarge78 said:
I feel sorry for T-Mobile/Deutsche Telekom users in Germany, most of the country is covered by 800MHz LTE. It's just a few cities with 1800Mhz like the UK?

The lack of a 800/1800/2600 version is poor, you'd expect richest company in the world to do much better.
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Why did they select 850mhz? Who actually uses that?
 
Morfik said:
Why would they build in 800/2600Mhz support when no UK networks at least are anywhere near close to using it? And the way the auction has been delayed may not use it for years. EE is ready to go on 1800Mhz already.
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The entire EU will be using 800/2600 as the key LTE bands.

As you know the UK will as well, so it is nice to have a phone which won't be obsolete in its operability in the UK in 12 months time.

EE must be pretty happy iPhone 5 LTE will pretty much be exclusive to them in 12 months time even after other operators come online.
 
I wonder if Apple will release another revision of the iPhone 5 (like they did for Sprint in the US) which supports 800/2600. Still think it's a massive omission.
 
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