Monday, 25 March 2013

The Difficulty Regarding 4G Mobile UK

By Beau Harrold


Cellular coverage has blanketed the planet now days, especially in developed nations like the UK. The British public were the first to have 3G networks nearly a decade ago, but now they lag behind much of Europe and North America in terms of 4G mobile UK. This is not simply a matter of getting it done, however. The issues with the roll-out of 4G networks have caused stopping and slowing in the efforts to bring the UK up to speed.

Many people in Great Britain would like 4G coverage sooner rather than later. In a survey done where over 2000 adults were questioned for their opinion on the subject, more than 80% of them said that they believed 4G coverage should be offered soon. Citing reasons like keeping up with competition in other countries, their thoughts were fairly clear. Nevertheless, the poll did not mention whether the people queried knew about the potential problems that new coverage could cause.

4G is normally described as coverage that utilises the 800Mhz and 2100Mhz frequency band. 3G networks use a separate frequency. Wider coverage at faster speeds is possible when using 4G technologies at 800Mhz. The trouble is that numerous other devices use the 800Mhz band or bands nearby, and any of these devices could possibly interfere with each other.

One likely issue relates to television signal boosters. If a 4G tower goes in close by someone with a television signal booster, the signal could be disrupted and that household could fail to get access to free channels. This could affect up to 10% of the population, which is millions of people. Filters that try to inhibit this can be used, but they are not fully effective.

Paid TV may also be affected, although people may, of course, choose to switch to other options in these cases. Nevertheless, there are a number of powerful companies behind paid TV now days, since it is such a huge business. This suggests that there are strong rivals standing in the way of rolling out 4G at the present time.

Some sharing of the frequencies has been fulfilled by auctioning off the favoured wavelengths. Companies that have an interest in utilising them put up money to 'own' the rights to that wavelength. A substantial amount of the competition for 4G airspace has actually been from among mobile providers. Some companies seem to be holding back hoping that a number of in-progress court cases will sort things out.

Trials with 4G are in progress in several cities in the UK by several mobile providers. However, they are not using the debated frequencies at this time. The reason that the frequencies are so popular is that they facilitate bigger areas of coverage with less towers, and improved penetration of buildings. Therefore, they all want the 'best' frequencies.

Unfortunately, it appears that the UK population will need to be patient for a little bit longer before 4G mobile UK is rolled out. Nevertheless, it seems unlikely that nothing will occur, because the concerns that the UK needs to stay up to date with the rest of the developed world are quite real. Inevitably, a compromise of some sort will be attained, hopefully very soon.




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