As anyone with a passing interest in
mobile technology will have noticed, the UKs first 4G mobile network launched
Parlier this month, with much hype and hyperbole. Is it really that
revolutionary, and do you need to upgrade?
So what is 4G and why should I care?
Much like transition from 2G mobile
services in the 90s to 3G in the 2000s, 4G is the next generation of mobile
network technology. It produces faster download and upload speeds, better call
quality and (eventually) better mobile reception and reach.
4G LTE also uses its radio waves far more
efficiently, so more users can be crammed onto the same radio space (similar to
how we now have 100s of Freeview digital channels where only half a dozen used
to fit in the old analogue TV days).
4G
LTE also uses its radio waves far more efficiently, so more users can be
crammed onto the same radio space
4G is also the most cost effective way of
getting proper broadband speeds to Britons living in the most isolated parts of
the country, where there is no financial incentive for the fixed line broadband
companies to roll out fiber optic cables.
Much like how faster internet produced
unexpected new use cases (such as Facebook and Youtube), 4G may do the same for
mobiles. Unfortunately, existing smartphones cannot receive 4G signals. You
will need to upgrade your handset, and jump on a more expensive plan.
Why should I upgrade?
The speed difference on 4G is so stalk that
a good 4G connection will offer download speeds much faster than what the
majority of Britons experience with their fixed line internet connections at
home.
The average UK internet connection is
around 8mbps, while 4G LTE starts at around 15mbps and can ale all the way up
to nearly 4tknbps (depending on reception), and eventually 1000mbps in the
future.
As any mobile user would’ve noticed
(particularly in the past year or two 3G reception and data performance has not
been too great in the UK, particularly amongst the larger operators Put simply,
most of these networks are running at capacity, and groaning under the strain
which leads to dropped calls, slow loading Google maps GPS and terrible video
performance.
Just
last month Ericsson’s Mobility Report showed that mobile data traffic has
doubled in the last year alone, driven by increased video consumption.
The strain comes not just from the large
number of people using these networks at the same time, but also how they’re
using the network. Since the advent of the iPhone in 2007, data use by
customers has grown exponentially far beyond what the experts had predicted.
Already 50% of Britons own smartphones, some of the highest ownership rates in
the world.
Just last month Ericsson’s Mobility Report
showed that mobile data traffic has doubled in the last year alone, driven by increased
video consumption. It predicts that Mobile Data will increase ten told by 2016,
with 85% of the world covered by high speed mobile internet y 2017. 3G and 2G
networks simply can’t handle that load
So why is there only one network
offering 4G?
The UK’s largest network operator. Everything,
Everywhere was controversially given the go-ahead to launch its EE 4G network
by the telecommunications regulator Ofcom earlier in the year. Everything
Everywhere was formed out of the merger of Deutsche Telekom and France
Telecom’s mobile divisions (T-Mobile and Orange) in 2010. It finally launched
its 4G last month, too much fanfare. To start 4G, the networks needed to buy
more radio spectrum. Unfortunately, there’s only one owner the Government and
much of the required spectrum was already being used for terrestrial TV. Once
the Government had cleared that and launched the digital only Freeview, Ofcom
was able to hold a ‘spectrum auction’ to sell the newly freed radio waves to
any buyer. That auction is due to start at the end of this year or early
January, after multiple delays (see ‘A quick history of UK 4G’).
To
start 4G, the networks needed to buy more radio spectrum. Unfortunately,
there’s only one owner
EE got special permission from the
regulator to launch on the radio spectrum it already owned (gained through the
aforementioned Orange)T-Mobile merger), which has caused a lot of anger from
the other networks EE has effectively been handed a monopoly.
The other networks, such as Vodafone,
Telefonica’s O2 and Three (and all their customers, sixth as Tesco Mobile,
Gift-Gaff etc.) can’t do a thing until they buy radio spectrum at the auction.
This means the earliest we will see competing 4G plans will be the middle of
next year.
That doesn’t really seem fair...
Ofcom has made a ‘common-good argument that
is, the benefits to the nation outweigh the negatives of a monopoly.
“EE’s 1800 MHz licenses now will deliver
significant benefits to consumers, and that there is no material risk that
those benefits will be outweighed by a distortion of competition,” it stated in
its judgment.
“EE’s
1800 MHz licenses now will deliver significant benefits to consumers, and that
there is no material risk that those benefits will be outweighed by a
distortion of competition,”
Long story short? Basically Of corn got
sick of all the lawsuits, the pressure from the public and politicians, and
finally decided to let the one network who wanted to get started do exactly
that. What Mobile isn’t going to go into the backroom politics and dealings
here, but MPs of all colors were furious at the delays. Several Conservative
Party MPS, especially those in Cumbria and Cornwall where EE’s tests were
ongoing, paid multiple visits and gave EE’s their blessings.
Sadly Of corn’s decision is correct (even
if a monopoly does fly in the face of any pure capitalistic principles). It is
just sad that it had to come to this.
