Ofcom opens up more frequencies for 3G services

Ofcom has today introduced a new measure that will help mobile phone operators to increase mobile broadband speeds, deliver improved in-building coverage and widen mobile broadband coverage in rural areas.

From today the airwaves used by mobile phone operators for 2G services, such as making phone calls and sending texts, will be available to provide 3G services, such as mobile internet browsing.

Mobile phone operators could previously only use a limited amount of spectrum – the airwaves that mobile phones and other wireless devices use to communicate – to deliver 3G.

The remainder of their spectrum holdings was licensed in the 1990s with a condition that it could only be used for 2G services – mainly voice calls and text messages. This spectrum could in future be used to meet the growing demand from smartphone devices and the like for 3G services.

Consumer benefits

Allowing this spectrum to be used to deliver 3G mobile services is likely to bring significant benefits to consumers:

• Greater network capacity allowing more customers to be served and to enjoy higher mobile broadband speeds
• Improved quality of coverage allowing customers to use mobile broadband in more locations with greater consistency
• Improved in-building coverage
• Wider coverage of rural areas

ENDS

NOTES FOR EDITORS

1. 2G is the second generation of mobile telephony systems, suitable for making calls and sending text messages. 3G is the third generation of mobile systems, suitable for watching videos and TV and accessing the internet.

2. The UK was required to liberalise 2G spectrum for 3G use by two pieces of European legislation (the amended GSM Directive and associated Radio Spectrum Decision). The Government directed Ofcom to vary the existing licences to achieve this liberalisation on 20 December 2010.This Direction came into force on 30 December 2010.

Ofcom recently provided advice to Government on the likely consumer and competition effects of liberalising the 2G spectrum. This advice to Government was published on 27 October 2010. The assessment said that allowing operators to use their 2G spectrum to carry 3G mobile services is likely to benefit consumers and is unlikely to result in a material distortion of competition that requires further action to be taken.