The cows were desperate to be milked, the sheep to be sheared
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Ofcom announces a major 4G spectrum auction
UK TELECOMS REGULATOR Ofcom has announced plans for a major auction of additional 4G spectrum.
Additional spectrum totaling three quarters of what is currently in use today will be made available in the auction in an effort to cope with rapidly increasing mobile traffic, thanks to strong growth in the smartphone and tablet sector.
The new spectrum will be made available in the 800MHz and 2.6GHz bands. The former is a band leftover from analogue TV, which will be freed up completely when the UK switches completely to digital TV at the end of this Summer. The 2.6GHz band is a higher frequency allocation intended to deliver extremely high speeds.
The auction will be one of the largest ever held in the UK, with 80 per cent more spectrum on offer than a similar auction for 3G in 2000.
Ofcom said that as an independent regulator it will award the spectrum to those it believes will offer the best return for UK consumers. It is encouraging investment and competition in a wide range of services and wants mobile broadband coverage extended to 95 per cent of UK citizens as a result.
The auction will begin in the first quarter of 2012. µ
Tags: Internet
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To stop spectrum hoarding like in case of 3G, I wish there should aggressive targets for 4G coverage after allocation. It will be no good to have 4G when rest of the world would have moved to 5G or equivalent. 3G has caught up only now in UK despite its small area and still there are many areas where 3G coverage is patchy and only 2G works. The potential of development through better mobile/broadband coverage should be examined.