Europe pulls 900MHz out of its 2G funk
By Chris Ziegler 
posted Jul 28th 2009 3:40PM
posted Jul 28th 2009 3:40PM
Take yourself back -- way back -- all the way to 1987, when cellphones were still in their infancy and the nations of Europe threw together the forward-thinking GSM Directive. GSM, of course, would go on to become the world's dominant digital cellular technology, but here's the thing: it's not 1987 anymore. Sadly, part of the original Directive are still in full effect, and the 900MHz band is stuck in a world of days gone by while the bulk of mainland Europe happily whizzes along on the 3G-blessed 2100MHz spectrum up above it. Not all is lost, though -- the Council of Ministers has finally approved a plan to allow 3G and 4G services on 900MHz, which it believes will end up saving operators around €1.6 billion ($2.28 billion), ostensibly because lower frequencies allow towers to be spaced further apart from one another. Normally we'd be opposed to adding yet another band into the worldwide hodgepodge of GSM bands, but in this case, we feel like we're welcoming an old friend back into the club, you know?[Via the::unwired]
"Sadly, part of the original Directive are still in full effect, and the 900MHz band is stuck in a world of days gone by while the bulk of mainland Europe happily whizzes along on the 3G-blessed 2100MHz spectrum up above it"
Unfortunately, this is not correct. I live in a major metropolitan area in the UK and cannot get a 3G signal with O2, and so rely on the 900MHz band. The 4 largest UK networks each cover just over 80% of the population, and that leaves 12 million people in the UK alone unable to get 3G on 2100MHz. And then there are all the people still using 2G phones (surprising how many people are still using monochrome screen phones).
The same applies across the rest of Europe. 900MHz (and 1800MHz) are still essential for a significant proportion of the European population.
The UK isn't all that big of a country... it makes me wonder why they would leave 12 milllion people in the dark without 3G, especially with the announcement with Rogers here in Canada is "upgrading" their 3G to 21 Mbps. With only 8 million subscribers as well and the potential of only 30 million people across Canada. When you look at the size of the UK to Canada, it makes me wonder that with 4 companies combined 3G isn't offered everywhere. Doesn't make any sense to me.
In the following poster the UK is almost covered in 3G....so I can see you have a point, but why haven't they built towers yet?
http://www.gsmworld.com/roaming/GSM_WorldPoster2009A.pdf
P.S I live in a part of Canada with no 3G...I have to travel 3 hours to find 3G :(
Er...
The post said "the bulk" (80% sounds like the bulk to me) of "mainland Europe" (don't know about you, but I'm in the UK and most certainly not on mainland Europe - unless Manchester has moved dramatically since the last time I check). I take your point, but the post was correct ;)