Improved 3G reception in Rural areas to be made available by Ofcom

Mobile network operators have recently been allowed to repurpose the spectrum they own for mobile broadband services by telecoms regulator Ofcom, which is expected to significantly improve 3G reception for users in the more rural parts of the UK.

An argument between network operators that has lasted three years and has severely impacted the growth and development of high-speed wireless networks has finally been resolved following a ruling by the regulator Ofcom saying that the “refarming” or redistributing of 900MHz and 1800MHz spectrum would in no way damage competition in the UK’s mobile marketplace.

Mobile broadband speeds could be increased further and billions of pounds raised for the Government as the findings by Ofcom are expected to allow for the auctioning of parts of the spectrum that analogue television currently uses.

Until now the owners of most of the 1800MHz spectrum, Everything Everywhere, which is the merged T-Mobile and Orange operation, and the owners of the 900MHz spectrum, Vodafone and O2, have only been allowed to provide 2G services through their allocated spectrum.

The massive take-up of smartphone devices has placed most networks under a great deal of strain recently but this will now be alleviated by allowing network operators to expand their 3G network capacity using both of these ranges. The current 3G networks in the UK operate over the 2100 MHz spectrum, although the lower frequency 900 MHz spectrum will prove useful for providing 3G networks inside buildings or over long distances.

A request for Ofcom to assess the possible impact of allowing 2G spectrum for 3G services was recently made by the coalition government and the findings by the communications regulator were that a change was “unlikely to result in a material distortion of competition” and was “likely to bring significant benefits to consumers”.

Ofcom went on to add “In the interests of consumers and citizens, our advice to government is that 2G spectrum should be made available for 3G mobile services as soon as possible.”

Source – FT