3G Mobile Systems

Following a low-profile launch by Three in December 2013, all four of the UK mobile network operators now offer 4G LTE services to at least some of their subscribers. While early impressions of LTE data services are favourable, I have heard mixed reviews about the quality of voice calls for LTE subscribers in the UK,… Read more

NTT DoCoMo has announced that it will launch the world’s first combined HSDPA/LTE femtocells in December 2012, to enable improved indoor coverage for both 3G and 4G mobile handsets. Shops and offices will be able to offer high quality 3G and 4G coverage and users will be able to drop back to slower HSDPA services… Read more

The forthcoming auction of 800MHz and 2.6GHz spectrum, and the associated licence conditions, will have a profound impact on the mobile industry in the UK. In its latest consultation and proposals, Ofcom highlights that the auction is “likely to be the last significant opportunity to obtain prime mobile spectrum for many years” and that the… Read more

As we near the UK’s long-awaited auction of 800MHz and 2.6GHz spectrum for next-generation mobile services, there is very good news for UK consumers in terms of expected coverage of LTE services. Ofcom has published its latest proposals for the award of 800MHz and 2.6GHz spectrum, and it is clear that it has moved a… Read more

The BBC’s iPlayer has driven substantial traffic growth in fixed Internet networks in the UK. However, its impact has been artificially constrained on mobile networks by the restriction that iPlayer could only be viewed on mobile devices via a WiFi connection. This week, an update to the BBC’s iPlayer application on Apple iPhones and iPads… Read more

There have been two interesting developments in the UK mobile industry this month – one definitely good news for the industry and its consumers, and one distinctly bad. Firstly, the good news! We have devoted quite a bit of attention in this blog to the poor state of 3G coverage in the UK. While having… Read more

In his last blog article, Alastair Brydon talked about the BBC’s launch of its mobile mapping experiment’. The BBC encouraged users of Android smartphones to download and run a specially-developed application to measure and report back mobile signal levels. Yesterday, the BBC announced initial results from its so-called ‘crowd-sourcing survey’, which unsurprisingly shows that 3G… Read more

Mobile coverage – whether for voice services or mobile broadband services – is one of the most important issues for many mobile customers. In the UK, while the presence of many mobile operators has helped reduce mobile pricing levels, it has failed to deliver extensive mobile coverage. In July 2011, the Communications Consumer Panel reported… Read more

My analysis of the latest data from the European Commission for the penetration of mobile broadband dongles and datacards across Europe reveals that: Finland continues to have the highest penetration of dongles and datacards – at 30.6% of the population in January 2011 leading European markets have experienced substantial further growth in mobile penetration a… Read more