Saturday, 23 February 2013

The Difficulty With 4G Mobile UK

By Beau Harrold


The coverage of mobile towers that offer phone and data is vast these days, blanketing most of the western world. British citizens were some of the first to benefit from the new technology of 3G around a decade ago, but they are now among the last to gain access to 4G, falling behind the US and most of western Europe. There have been many troubles with 4G mobile UK, which has greatly slowed the planned roll-out.

The majority of people in the UK would like 4G coverage sooner rather than later. In a survey done where over 2000 adults were asked for their opinion on the subject, over 80% of them said that they thought 4G coverage should be offered soon. Citing reasons like keeping up with competition in other countries, their thoughts were fairly clear. However, the poll did not state whether the people polled knew about the potential problems that new coverage could cause.

4G quite simply means 4th generation. Currently, 4G seems to imply the bandwidth at 800 and 2100Mhz frequencies. These are the best frequencies for the purposes of mobile providers. However, the 800Mhz band is significantly better at distance and building penetration than the 2100Mhz band, but is currently being utilised by a number of other technologies.

If new 4G technology were available, up to 10% of UK households situated near a 4G tower may have great reception for their mobile phones, but lose all of their digital television access to free television stations. The towers could potentially interfere with the signal boosters that many people use to get free television channels in their homes. Filters used to reduce this interference are not a complete solution.

Paid television may also be affected, although people could, of course, select to change to other options in these cases. However, there are a number of powerful companies behind paid TV now days, since it is such a very large business. This implies that there are strong opponents standing in the way of rolling out 4G at the present time.

One of the things submitted and started to be implemented was auctioning off the spectrum. Businesses or companies that wanted to use a frequency could acquire the rights to do so. Nevertheless, some of the companies that would be impacted have been holding up the process, ostensibly trusting a court verdict that they can use to their gain. Many of the participants are mobile providers.

Test versions of 4G networks have been achieved by a number of major providers in various regions across the UK. However, they do not use the spectrum which are of most controversy, and the frequencies they do use are not the best candidates for nationwide coverage. Some frequencies travel greater distances and penetrate buildings better than others, which are important qualities in a mobile phone signal.

It is seemingly improbably that 4G will not come to the UK, but it seems it's going to take its own sweet time getting here. Big companies opposing each other via courts, auctions, deals! courts, deals, auctions, and more can take some time to get it all resolved. 4G mobile UK seems like a giant pain at the moment, but most people are in agreement that the longer-term results will be advantageous.




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