UK to weave 3G closely into general broadband policy
Published: 29 January, 2009
The UK authorities are likely to set a general tone for 3G policy across Europe, bringing cellcos more closely into an integrated plan to achieve universal broadband and keep upgrading levels of service.
A review by the UK Communications Minister is likely to recommend that UK mobile operators will not have to renew their 20-year 3G licenses on condition that they support the government's universal broadband plans. These plans have focused mainly on wireline operators in the past few years, since first stage 3G networks were too slow and too sparsely available to play a key role. Now that the cellcos are upgrading to HSPA technologies, which will eventually deliver 21Mbps, and planning to move to LTE in some areas in the next decade, there is a clear logic behind using mobile broadband in many cases to extend coverage and boost rates.
This line is already being adopted in Ireland, where 3 has won a deal to bring broadband to rural areas using its HSPA network. However, if the UK plan, due to be presented in the next few weeks, is adopted, there will be a high cost to the carriers for having their licenses held safe. To meet government objectives of bringing 2Mbps broadband speeds to every UK citizen by 2012, they will have to invest billions of euros in upgrading and extending their infrastructure, possibly at a faster rate than they would have done for purely commercial reasons, and even in rural areas where it is harder to turn a profit. This will make rules on refarming the rural-friendly GSM spectrum at 900MHz, for 3G purposes, urgent.
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