4G Technology and Spectrum Auction

[Glaucus]

While things might be moving now I still see 4G as a relevant technology years down the line, not now.

I can stream TV from my phone now and tethered pull down up to 5MBit/Sec. Why do I need 50Mbit/Sec on my mobile? I don't. I for one will not at all be jumping over to 4G as I see no tangible benefit over the existing network speeds available now.

4g is not just speed. It massively increases both network capacity and coverage.
Areas where you get no 3G should easily get 4g.
So when you factor that in, I'll jump on 4g due to coverage, 4g is also suitable for home broadband and in fact as part of teh license agreements to be auctioned end of next year, companies will have to legally offer home broadband on 4g, all part of the governments aim to get everyone, even those in the countryside on high speed Internet.

Not sure how this is affected by the different wavelength EE will be using.

 

[matt100]

There's a lot of incorrect info in here...

4G has very little to do with 3G so just because you have or don't have 3G has little relevance on whether you'd get 4G, plus 4G coverage is part of the point of the move.

Secondly I'm convinced it will be capped, everything is.

Thirdly there will definitely be a premium, I know for a fact one network is planning £10 a month. I'd certainly pay that!

Finally, all you people saying you're happy with what you have/no need/not paying etc.. you know what website you're on? We gravitate here largely looking for unnecessary performance gains! Course you're going to buy! All it would take for me would be someone next to me with a newer iphone hammering through webpages like swiping through photos and I'd be sold

 

[Myshra]

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.

How'd you figure? 3 need this 1800Mhz chunk for LTE so by delaying this for a year they have to wait the same amount of time as everyone else (bar EE) does to get a spectrum allowance they can use. It could mean that 3 don't buy any spectrum in the 4G auction though... not sure if they would need it or not, havn't had too much time to look into what got sold.

A quick rule of thumb for comparing frequency bands - Lower penetrates more, refracts into valleys more but is slower in data transfer. Vice versa for Higher. There's a lot more to it than freqnecy band though, strength of the mast's signal is of huge importance for example and depending on the tech, cell shrinkage comes into play the more your users use a mast.

Matt100 - the biggest users of data on mobile arn't using it for webpages, they use it to stream music / video / torrents - things the mobile networks would rather they did through them / not do at all so it's a bit of a double edged sword. They can give away the ability to do it but they lose marketshare in other services. As with all things in mobile land, the networks are attempting to hit a balance

 

[413x]

For me coverage and consistency in speed are my two factors

A 100 per cent of the time 5megabit service at 90 prr cent coverage would be amzing for me, expected by most. And at home 5 mega bit would also be amazing

Like a previous post, if i was getting this on 3g i wouldnt bother

 

[Fillado]

I don't care about 4G for how I use my phone.

What I do care about is the use of the 800Mhz band. 2100Mhz is flippin' horrible. When I was on Vodafone I got full 2G (pretty much, it might fluctuate down slightly occasionally) but no 3G. Turns out there's a 3G mast located in exactly the same place as the 2G one

 

[Myshra]

LTE is not the same technology, you can't compare coverage to 3G like that.

 

[PiKe]

Where are the trial areas in Cumbria?

 

[Myshra]

Threlkeld according to what I just read. IIRC it was similar to the cornwall design so 2 masts, BT provided the site linkage, huawei dongles or huawei dongles plugged into routers that could take network IN via USB.

 

[PiKe]

We only get 3meg down and 800k up here so 20meg which is being reported in the trials would be a godsend.

 

[413x]

We only get 3meg down and 800k up here so 20meg which is being reported in the trials would be a godsend.

20 ... Druels.. Im a double digits virgin (download speed for any dirty minds)

 

[Myshra]

3 have got 2*15Mhz bands off EE it turns out which is more than enough to deploy a full LTE network @ 1800Mhz running FDD. Thanks to MBNL I would expect this to result in a smooth launch for them next year as they will have experience sorting out the equipment for EE's brands.

 

[Sumanji]

So what marquee devices are 1800MHz LTE compatible?

Wouldn't mind getting my paws on a One XL, and shifting my current One X whilst it's still worth something...

 

[Fillado]

LTE is not the same technology, you can't compare coverage to 3G like that.

Please explain why?

 

[Cosimo]

Questions from a useful guide to 4G mobile internet:

What does LTE/4G mean?
When is LTE/4G coming to my phone or tablet?
Which current handsets are compatible with LTE/4G in the UK?
Will the new iPhone be LTE/4G enabled in the UK?
Can I still get LTE/4G if I am not with Everything Everywhere or Three?
What are the long term ramifications of LTE in the UK?​

Answers can be found here:

http://blog.clove.co.uk/2012/08/24/...e-to-4g-mobile-internet-in-the-uk/#more-14594​

 

[Glaucus]

Nice, didn't know some phones abroad used some frequency. I think that'll take the worry of no phones supporting it away. The manufactures would be mad to have phones sat in a warehouse and coming of the production lines and not sell them in the uk know its been announced.

 

[Westyfield2]

Questions from a useful guide to 4G mobile internet:

What does LTE/4G mean?
When is LTE/4G coming to my phone or tablet?
Which current handsets are compatible with LTE/4G in the UK?
Will the new iPhone be LTE/4G enabled in the UK?
Can I still get LTE/4G if I am not with Everything Everywhere or Three?
What are the long term ramifications of LTE in the UK?​

Answers can be found here:

http://blog.clove.co.uk/2012/08/24/...e-to-4g-mobile-internet-in-the-uk/#more-14594​

Thanks for that! I knew some other countries already did LTE on 1800MHz and was wondering which handsets supported it!

 

[Fallen god]

This whole talk fo 4G has gotten me really interested, I'm almost at the end of a sim-only deal and looking to get a new contract, no way a 4g network could be ready in like 1 month?

 

[Arthur Hucksake]

Interesting article from the Telegraph.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/...oms/9499630/Orange-owner-defends-4G-plan.html

So there's going to be a new mobile brand of Everything Everywhere.

What I gather from this, we may well see the Orange / T-Mobile brands and another 4G one combined to a single high street entity under "Everything Everywhere" due to shareholder pressure.

 

[doggo]

Questions from a useful guide to 4G mobile internet:

What does LTE/4G mean?
When is LTE/4G coming to my phone or tablet?
Which current handsets are compatible with LTE/4G in the UK?
Will the new iPhone be LTE/4G enabled in the UK?
Can I still get LTE/4G if I am not with Everything Everywhere or Three?
What are the long term ramifications of LTE in the UK?​

Answers can be found here:

http://blog.clove.co.uk/2012/08/24/...e-to-4g-mobile-internet-in-the-uk/#more-14594​

Interesting read, thanks for the link

 

[Cosimo]

Everything Everywhere is calling its UK 4G service called "EE". It will be using combined Orange and T-Mobile networks:

http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/11/everything-everywhere-announce-the-uks-first-major-4g-network/

Nokia Lumia 920, 820 and Samsung Galaxy S III confirmed to be first phones on network:

http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/11/ee-confirms-nokia-lumia-920-820-and-samsung-galaxy-s-iii-among/