Saturday, 16 February 2013

The Trouble Regarding 4G Mobile UK

By Beau Harrold


The range of cellular towers that offer data and phone is vast now days, blanketing most of the western world. British citizens were some of the first to gain from the new technology of 3G almost 10 years ago, but they are now among the last to gain access to 4G, lagging behind North America and the rest of western Europe. There have been many problems with 4G mobile UK, which has significantly slowed the scheduled roll-out.

Polls done in the UK show that a great majority of adults advocate increasing and creating 4G mobile coverage in more areas. Alluding to matters such as keeping up with business competition in other parts of the country, 82% of the adults polls endorse the creation of new 4G coverage. Nevertheless, whether the surveyed population knew about the potential issues involved is uncertain.

4G is normally defined as coverage that uses the 800Mhz and 2100Mhz frequency band. 3G networks use a separate spectrum. Greater coverage at faster speeds is possible when using 4G technologies at 800Mhz. The problem is that many other devices use the 800Mhz band or bands nearby, and any of these could possibly interfere with each other.

If new 4G technology were available, up to one in 10 of UK households located near a 4G tower might have a good signal for their mobile phones, but lose all of their digital television access to free television stations. The towers could possibly 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.

Other potentially impacted services include paid television and digital television, as well. Of course, as these are paid services people are free to switch to other options. However, the companies that run these services are not exactly thrilled with the prospect of being obliged to make major modifications or go out of business, so they have been persistent voices against rolling out the current version of 4G.

Some sharing of the frequencies has been accomplished 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 between mobile providers. A few companies give the appearance of holding back hoping that a number of in-progress court cases will sort things out.

Test versions of 4G networks have been attained by several large providers in various regions across the UK. However, they do not use the frequencies which are of most controversy, and the frequencies they do use are not the best candidates for UK wide coverage. Some frequencies travel greater distances and penetrate buildings better than others, which are considerable qualities in a cellular phone signal.

It appears that 4G will be coming to the UK, but it sure seems like it's slow getting here. For now, the large companies are battling it out in a war of auctions, court dates and business deals. 4G mobile UK may cause some short-term issues, but most citizens are for the implementation, which will offer greater capabilities in the long term.




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