ITU Decision Makes 700MHz Band a Global Mobile Broadband Standard

This'll be good for signal penetration also but will require new chipsets in devices to support the newer band!

http://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2015/11/itu-decision-makes-700mhz-band-a-global-mobile-broadband-standard.html

3G / 4G possibly coming to the London Underground.

We have Virgin Media's WiFi between stops but this looks to improve on that. 

http://www.engadget.com/2015/02/20/london-underground-3g-4g/

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/long-term-economic-plan-for-london-announced-by-chancellor-and-mayor-of-london

4G home broadband in London - Was only a matter of time.

As I predicted before 4G had even hit the ground. If 4G delivered on its promises (bandwidth, latency) then it would mount a serious challenge on the fixed line market.

Enter: Relish, offering unlimited data with multiple service offerings.

Surprisingly what looks to have given them this ability might be that they are not wholesaling from the big 4 cellular networks and are using UKBroadband's network for 4G instead.

Considering there is no line rental to pay. £20 for unlimited data providing isn't that bad and 1 month contracts are available! At the moment its limited to central London but as UKBroadband's network expands, i'm sure they will as well.

https://www1.relish.net/athome#inyourarea

Not to mention that we might start seeing other providers popping up who Wholesale off them. Lets just hope that contention doesn't become a big problem later on down the line when/if their network gets busy.

Ofcom Propose to Allow 3G and 4G Mobile Communications on Aircraft

It’s already possible to make 2G based voice calls on-board flights (note: not all allow it though) and Ofcom has now launched a new consultation that aims to extend this by enabling the use of 3G (UMTS at 2100MHz) and 4G (LTE at 1800MHz) based Smartphones and related devices on a licence-exempt basis while flying.

The UK communications regulator has based its new proposal on a related decision by the European Commission (EC), which allows for the inclusion of additional access technologies and frequency bands for mobile communications services on aircraft.
http://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2014/02/ofcom-propose-allow-3g-4g-mobile-devices-aircraft.html

rators EE and Three strike a deal to share 4G infrastructure

Cost savings and better coverage hopefully!

http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2326622/rival-operators-ee-and-three-strike-a-deal-to-share-4g-infrastructure

Verizon LTE now available in 35 NYC subway stations

London underground is falling behind. Admittedly, Virgin Media have done a good job with the Wifi rollout compared to hotspots such as TheCloud (It was poor when it was in Waterloo Station) but we need 3/4G!   

http://www.engadget.com/2014/01/28/verizon-lte-nyc-subway/

The best 4G sim only plan? 1month rolling - £25pm with 6GB plan

Tesco mobile which has great customer service and run off the back of the O2 network. Looking at new deals as my contract expires. 

I don't get all the other plans with with great 4G but heavily capped plans! 

EE and Huawei to switch on LTE Advanced network in London's Tech City

LTE Advanced makes such a big difference as it makes use of 2x2 MIMO technology to use multiple masts and can make more efficient use of the radio spectrum i.e. letting devices use 20 MHz down at 1800 MHz and also the 20 MHz at 2.6 GHz. While the headline speed is 300 Mbps, it is expected that speed tests in the region of 60 Mbps will be more the norm.
http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/6141-ee-and-huawei-to-switch-on-lte-advanced-network-in-tech-city.html

UK MVNO's start talking about their 4G plans.

Both Giff Gaff and Tesco run on the O2 network so it's not surprising that they are releasing plans around the same time. Lets hope things get competitive!

http://www.neowin.net/news/giffgaff-announces-uk-4g-plans-new-handset-store-coming-soon

http://www.tescomobile.com/about-us/4G

O2 bag the LTE Google nexus 7 exclusive in the UK

The wait is over for folks in the UK who want to get their hands on the new Nexus 7. The tablet, which was launched just over a month ago, can now be purchased for £199.99 (16GB Wi-fi only version) and £239.99 for the 32GB version.

There's also an LTE version priced at £319.99 on offer at O2 for those needing the cellular availability add in, but that won't be available for a couple of weeks. The N7 can also be picked up in Germany, France, Spain, and Japan from today.

The updated N7 features a 7-inch HD screen with a 1920 x 1200 resolution (323 ppi), the device also packs an Adreno 320 GPU, a 1.5GHz snapdragon processor, 5-megapixel rear-facing  and 1.2-megapixel front-facing cameras. In the U.S. Best Buy is currently taking orders for it with the 16 GB and 32 GB SKUS costing $229 and $269 respectively.

http://www.neowin.net/news/new-nexus-7-now-on-shelves-in-the-uk-starting-at-19999

https://www.o2.co.uk/shop/tablets/google/nexus-7-4g-black/

EE's UK 4G usage stats reveal social media data volumes to grow 10-fold

With upload speed vastly better than ADSL2+ and lower latency than 3G is it really that surprising?

"Two in three say they are using the mobile internet over 4G for at least an hour a day, while 23 percent say they are online via their 4G mobile devices more than three hours a day.

“4G users are intuitively taking advantage of increased upload speeds. We predict data volumes over social media sites will increase tenfold by 2015,” added Karonis.

Over one in three say they download apps, use GPS services and access social media more with 4G than 3G, possibly because 4G users are, on average, five years younger than 3G users."
http://www.eurocomms.com/industry-news/49-online-press/9229-ees-uk-4g-usage-stats-reveal-social-media-data-volumes-to-grow-10-fold

BT - the next OTT provider thanks to 4G - The Full Spectrum

Very interesting. Do BT have something like Vodafone's SureSignal in a USB form to connect their routers to customers local mobile phones.

FON doesn't really work well in my opinion but if the range was good on these add ons and BT was to give them out free or dead cheap they could build a pretty big (although patchy) 4G network pretty fast. Combine that with a spectrum sharing agreement with another 4G supplier and there are some interesting concepts to explore for all parties involved!

BT - the next OTT provider thanks to 4G - The Full Spectrum

Chat apps now more popular than SMS worldwide

Certainly find Whatsapp ideal for group chats and a less messy way of knowing the recipient has received the message (1 tick next to the message means it sent, two and they have received).

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57581830-94/chat-apps-now-more-popular-than-sms-worldwide/

O2 ropes in BT to help with its 4G rollout

Whats more interesting is the rumours that BT might be looking to get back into the mobile business. Having sold off Cellnet many years ago, its an interesting move but its probably worth some exploration with the low latency that 4G brings.

http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2264667/o2-ropes-in-bt-to-help-with-its-4g-rollout

Vodafone UK Beat EE to Have the Most Valuable 3G and 4G Spectrum

This is kinda what I was thinking looking at who bought what spectrum in the auctions. The question is if Vodafone will capitalise on this and how.  BT don't have any 800MHz spectrum so maybe a future deal could be struck there if BT requires it.

I was surprised but how little O2 invested given that this is their core market.

http://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2013/03/vodafone-uk-beats-ee-to-have-the-most-valuable-mobile-spectrum.html

EE might be bought by a consortium.

ISPreview http://www.ispreview.co.uk/index.php/2013/02/private-equity-firms-target-4g-mobile-operator-ee-uk-with-gbp10bn-bid.html

Three are not going to do an EE and bend you over for 4G....Shock!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-21322211

River Thames to bathe in upgraded long-distance WiFi

Nice, I wonder if this actually covers the full distance of the Thames like it claims, I'll have to pop down by Kingston river and give it a test when its upgraded. I'd dubious as no matter how good your AP is, it still has to contend with the output power of the device sending back to it.

http://www.engadget.com/2013/01/29/river-thames-wifi-upgrade/

Ofcom announce the 4G auctions bidders

Interesting not to see Virgin in there as they were running some 4G trials.

BT are in the mix via Niche Spectrum Ventures Limited.

I was kinda hoping for a surprise from a a big name fixed line ISPs but it seems they aren't interested.

B Sky B have The Cloud.

TalkTalk operate an MVNO

So I guess they consider the fix line market a core technology for another generation at least.

Going forward with fibre, the speeds will certainly beat 4G but 4G does bring down the latency on mobile connections. It'll be interesting when there is a mature 4G network in place, we might see more and more people willing to forgo a fixed line to save costs.

Thinkbroadband:
http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/5637-ofcom-announce-the-4g-auctions-bidders.html

First official indications of Fibre on Demand pricing from Openreach

Thinkbroadband mentions wholesale prices for next year. Looks like the installation costs are going to be high which will deter a lot of people. Then again its understandable given the massive cost to rolling out infrastructure.

I can see fixed line providers looking to lock customers into lengthy contracts in order to cover any subsidising of the initial installation costs, which'll be look news for them given that 4G services are going to bring faster mobile data rates with lower latency causing increased competition..

Thinkbroadband: http://www.thinkbroadband.com/news/5614-first-official-indications-of-fibre-on-demand-pricing-from-openreach.html