Ofcom has tentatively given the ok to Everything Everywhere to launch its 4G network this year, pending five weeks of submissions by interested parties followed by a final ruling.
Everything Everywhere is the joint venture between Deutsche Telekom and France Telecom which owns the Orange and T-Mobile networks.
"Ofcom has considered whether allowing Everything Everywhere to use this spectrum in this way would distort competition, and provisionally concluded that it would not. And given the benefits this would bring to consumers, Ofcom is minded to allow this change of use."
Following five weeks of submissions from interested parties, the regulatory body will make its final ruling. Ofcom offered no firm date for the ruling.
"It’s very important that the UK does not get left behind in the building of a new infrastructure for the digital economy. We welcome today’s notice of 1800MHz licence variation from Ofcom, as it suggests Ofcom’s willingness to encourage the early deployment of 4G LTE," an Everything Everywhere spokesperson told CBR.
If there are no further problems or objections, Everything Everywhere could potentially begin rolling out the UK’s first commercial 4G mobile network as early as May – a year earlier than expected.
An Ofcom spokesperson told CBR that it wants to get the process moving ‘as quickly and as efficiently as possible, without any further delay.’
Eveyrthing Everywhere intends to use its existing 1800MHz spectrum formerly used by its 2G services for its launch, which would leapfrog the industry incumbents. It boosted its 4G spend to £1.5b and, in partnership with BT, has been testing around the country since September.
Last year Ofcom ruled that 2G spectrum (900 MHz and 1800 MHz) could be used for 3G, as part of plans to liberalise spectrum use – this included 4G use to meet the growing demand from internet connected devices such as smartphones and laptops.
As part of the Everything Everywhere merger, Ofcom ruled that Orange and T-Mobile would have to give up 25% of its 1800MHz spectrum. The merger was logistically tough, but once its 2G and 3G networks were harmonised, the 1800Mhz spectrum space, no longer being used by 2G services could be converted to 4G – a luxury its overloaded network rivals don’t necessarily have.
Ovum analyst Matthew Howett agrees that the proposal to grant Everything Everywhere’s request is both a win for it and potentially consumers in terms of getting early access to 4G services by as much as 15 months earlier than its competitors could launch services.
"There appears to be growing interest in deploying [4G] LTE at 1800MHz given the nice balance of characteristics the band has – good coverage possibilities whilst also providing for capacity – both of which are necessary ingredients of a good user experience. With Ofcom no longer guaranteeing EE spectrum in the upcoming award, it would have been unlikely to dismiss this request and could in some ways be seen as offering Everythign Everywhere a carrot to not legally challenge Ofcom’s current set of proposal for how the award should proceed," he said.
Howett believes that Hutchinson-Whampoa’s Three Mobile will likely be the most critical of Ofcom’s proposal. The company has been wrapped up in an ongoing dispute over Ofcom’s distribution of the sub-1Ghz spectrum. Ofcom had originally set aside 800MHz spectrum for Everything Everywhere and Three ahead of the spectrum auction, but this was challenged by O2 and Vodafone and revoked.
Most of Everything Everywhere’s rivals are waiting for the 4G spectrum auction at the end of the year, while doing initial tests. Ofcom’s spectrum auction for the two radio spectrum bands – 800 MHz and 2.6 GHz – is not due to occur until late 2012. This would have seen the auction winners able to roll out 4G as early as 2013. But many critics have maintained that the UK’s mobile network infrastructure is not up to scratch, and 4G would not reach maturity here until 2015.
"The moment is coming when it’s in the interests of all parties to let that award happen sooner rather than later. If the plan to auction the spectrum in Q4 2012 goes ahead then we could see widespread availability of LTE in the UK by the end of 2013," Howett said.
The spectrum auction process has been riddled with delays, which have quickly become political – especially as economic rivals the USA and Germany have already launched their 4G networks and are moving out of the early adopter phase.
The launch this week of the iPad 3, Apple’s first 4G device, has also disappointed 4G advocates here and in Europe, as it is only compatible with North American radio frequencies – counting out what was expected to be a key driver of 4G uptake.
An Everything Everwhere spokesperson said in a statement: "It’s very important that the UK does not get left behind in the building of a new infrastructure for the digital economy. We welcome today’s notice of 1800MHz licence variation from Ofcom, as it suggests Ofcom’s willingness to encourage the early deployment of 4G LTE."
