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Hardware
makers, get your UK-tailored 4G LTE devices ready: it's just around the corner.
British
phone and tablet fans are late getting to the 4G party — it's undeniable. While
the UK was one of the first countries in Europe to get going on 3G, it will be
one of the last to allocate spectrum to operators for its successor.
Everything
Everywhere is now able to start selling 4G services. Are the delays to the
spectrum auction process finally over? Image credit: Everything Everywhere
But
that is set to change, now that Ofcom has opened the door to operators using
the 1800MHz band for 4G services. The move paves the way for the UK to get 4G
versions of existing mobile devices, such as Apple's iPad or the Samsung Galaxy
range — something people in other countries are already enjoying.
This
week, UK telecoms regulator Ofcom gave permission for Everything Everywhere to
begin reusing its existing 1800MHz spectrum for 4G services. In quick
succession, Everything Everywhere (EE) — the parent of T-Mobile and Orange —
announced it is selling portions of that band to rival Three, allowing it too
to start planning a 4G launch.
This
means that 4G services are likely to start arriving in the UK from at least one
of these two operators by the end of the year. But on top of this, the moves
should put an end to legal squabbling among operators that was stalling the
rollout of super-fast mobile broadband, according to minister Jeremy Hunt.
No more delays?
While
EE is the only company that can today start working towards offering 4G
services, it doesn't make much sense for rival operators to lodge any further
objections to the auction itself.
Other
operators (Vodafone, O2) involved in the auction process undoubtedly want to
get it moving as fast as possible, as they have a vested interest in playing
catch up to Everything Everywhere. Further threats of litigation would make
their rival's head-start only longer.
However,
a disappointed Vodafone has argued that Everything Everywhere itself now has a
reason to further delay the auction process, given its head start.
While
as a logical proposition that may be true, it takes a particularly cynical view
to reach that conclusion, and the basis for such a challenge from Everything
Everywhere remains a mystery.
Three,
the UK's smallest major operator, has been fairly outspoken about the lack of
spectrum equality in the past. But it too now has a reason — its new 1800MHz
band blocks — to stop complaining and start working towards its 4G launch.
Three
may not be able to use its two 15MHz blocks of 1800MHz spectrum for 4G services
until Everything Everywhere's traffic stops running across it in September 2013.
However, there is a chance that the operator could allow Three to use the
spectrum for 4G before that point.
Heading off objections
This
could also help if Everything Everywhere sees objections filed to Ofcom's
decision. If the challenge is that allowing one network to roll out services
excludes millions of UK consumers, this can be countered by pointing out that
it does make 4G available to 27 million.
It
doesn't make much sense for rival operators to lodge any further objections to
the auction itself
Complainants
could also argue that the move gives the T-Mobile and Orange parent an unfair
advantage and creates an uncompetitive landscape. If that does become a
barrier, then Everything Everywhere can now turn around and allow Three to
start offering 4G services, creating some competition for customers.
While
Ofcom's decision was never going to please everyone, the regulators have been
quite canny in effectively creating a situation in which no single operator
benefits from further delays to the spectrum auction.
The
arrival of 4G LTE in the UK has been a long-drawn-out affair, but that looks
like it's now coming to an end.
