4G Technology and Spectrum Auction

The Amazon.de HTC One XL should work out the box right? (800/1800/2600 MHz LTE bands, and assuming you have a compatible sim :p)
So, if Apple use the MDM9615 modem as reported and supports those bands for Europe, then yes, it'll work too.
 
Multiple Variants

The problem for consumers is we'll be in a similar situation to that seen in the early days of mobile phones: buying a phone on O2 means you'll only be able to use it on its (and maybe Vodafone's) network. That means we'll need to have multiple variants of each handset again, which could mean longer delays to get the likes of the Galaxy S4 on Orange compared to O2, or vice versa.

Everything Everywhere is hoping for a competitive advantage with today's announcement, being the first to deploy 4G and becoming the big cheese in data speeds – but if the new iPhone doesn't come in an 1800MHz flavour then that will severely dent the popularity of the service.
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Great :rolleyes:

(from TechRadar)
 
Why have different versions, is there anything stopping them making tri/quad band just like they do now. Surly that article is just rubbish and forgoton many phones support a wide range of bands.
 
Glaucus said:
Why have different versions, is there anything stopping them making tri/quad band just like they do now. Surly that article is just rubbish and forgoton many phones support a wide range of bands.
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If it was possible then you would have thought the Yanks would have done it rather than needing separate versions of phones, but then I know next to nothing about the tech.
 
^ LTE is a GSM upgrade path, the US has lot of other factors like CDMA support etc. It should be simple here, EE have a huge head start though.

Glaucus said:
Why have different versions, is there anything stopping them making tri/quad band just like they do now. Surly that article is just rubbish and forgoton many phones support a wide range of bands.
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Yep, EU devices are converging on supporting 800/1800/2600 bands. All the popular phones should be fine for network compatibility. (seems 900MHz isn't popular enough)

Bring on 50Mbit/s! (German LTE coverage looks great for a service that's only been around for a year btw, hope we get the same uptake)

 
Yep coverage shouldn't be an issue, due to the wavelength/standard. It goes much further and can handle far more.

Be interesting what companies offer for home broadband via 4g. They legally have to when they buy the new spectrum. Perhaps finally my parents will be able to get decent Internet and for me, it'll open a much larger range of living locations up.
 
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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If this reaches me, where 3g is just possible only on 3, i will INSTANTLY switch to EE, buy a compatible phone witb teathering and scrap my home broadband completely!

Oh please let it be so. Up to £40 per month with a free phone is justifiable if i can scrap the landline call package, line rental and broadband

All i want in return is 2megabit internet, decent signal and no caps!
 
muon said:
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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its definitely luck, they've been on 1800mhz since their inception so knocking on for 20 years, they didn't buy it they just happened to be on it already. Vodafone and cellnet were 900mhz and then orange and one 2 one came along with 1800mhz and then many many years later merged. They definitely didn't know LTE was coming when phones were only just becoming digital.

al4x said:
If this reaches me, where 3g is just possible only on 3, i will INSTANTLY switch to EE, buy a compatible phone witb teathering and scrap my home broadband completely!

Oh please let it be so. Up to £40 per month with a free phone is justifiable if i can scrap the landline call package, line rental and broadband

All i want in return is 2megabit internet, decent signal and no caps!
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there is literally more chance of me sprouting wings than you getting an uncapped service of any description :)
 
EE are creating a new brand for this 4G roll out. Nice additional price premium if you want 4G?

in some parts of Aber you cant even get normal cellular signal on some networks never mind 3G and that includes the univeristy campus itself!!
 
I think I'm right in saying these higher frequencies travel further but are less good at penetrating houses etc so wider coverage is available but less good inside.

And they're not creating a new brand, they're becoming everything everywhere officially according to reports although to be fair, I work with them and I've seen nothing about this being that imminent, its always been a longer term ambition.
 
matt100 said:
there is literally more chance of me sprouting wings than you getting an uncapped service of any description :)
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But i only want a few megabits lol

What would i need, maybe something like 3 do who i use now, no hard caps but if you start using to much you get throttled..say 100gb a month :-P

But if im not able to stream films, 40gb is probably fine..considering teather
 
@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.
 
matt100 said:
I think I'm right in saying these higher frequencies travel further but are less good at penetrating houses etc so wider coverage is available but less good inside.

And they're not creating a new brand, they're becoming everything everywhere officially according to reports although to be fair, I work with them and I've seen nothing about this being that imminent, its always been a longer term ambition.
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If that is a problem, you just have a small external antenna, like you do for tv.


I would certainly switch and pay premium. If the coverage is good.
 
totally, I'm likely to have 4g coverage at home before I get fibre which is mental considering the exchange is set for fibre.
 
The reason the 4G@1800 situation is easy for EE is because they own a huge chunk at 1800Mhz and can put a matched pair of bands (which is how 4G works) inside it, move calls off to 3G and be done with it. The other operators can't do this because they don't have a large enough band to fit the matched pair in along with their current demand.

TheVoice said:
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.
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Infrastructure is a trade off - you build too much, it costs you heavily for little payback. You don't build enough, you get less customers. The underlying connectivity of all networks is fine if that's what you're concerned about though.

I think it's hilarious ofcom have done this but eh, we will fight back :)

Qualcomm have multiband LTE radios coming out really soon which should fix the handset movement thing, tech radar are crying over nothing in all honesty. I'm in no rush to use 4G after using it for a few months and doing trials, it's OK but it's not exactly life changing. I guess it might be for country folk but they arn't worth the infrastructure investment anyway ;)
 
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