UK’s Everything Everywhere (EE), which is currently in the process of selling 1800MHz spectrum while awaiting regulatory approval for the introduction of 4G services over its 3G spectrum, has launched a lobby campaign to speed up 4G rollout.
To…
UK’s Everything Everywhere (EE), which is currently in the process of selling 1800MHz spectrum while awaiting regulatory approval for the introduction of 4G services over its 3G spectrum, has launched a lobby campaign to speed up 4G rollout.
To underline its case, the JV, owned by T-Mobile and Orange, today published the results of research conducted by Capital Economics, which claims that the UK would suffer significant economic losses if it failed to introduce 4G broadband.
The study, which was commissioned by EE, argues that the rollout of 4G will generate 125,000 jobs, create direct investment of £5.5bn (US$ 8.9bn) and, in the long run, could even add 0.5% to GDP.
Olaf Swantee, EE chief executive, insisted in an interview with TelecomFinance that the campaign, called 4GBritain, was independent and that other operators had been invited to join.
So far, MVNO Virgin Mobile has signed up to the campaign, but full-scale operators have not joined. A spokesperson for Three Hutchison UK commented that the company is unclear about the motivation for the campaign. “We’re keen to know the objective of EE’s campaign so we can better understand whether it seeks to restore competition to the UK mobile market or reduce it still further,” he said.
1800MHz auction attracts “lot of interest”
Talking about EE’s application to roll out 4G services over its 3G spectrum, Swantee said he expects a decision by UK regulator Ofcom before the summer.
Swantee said that before October, the company intends to announce the winner of the separate sale of spectrum in the 1800MHz range, which it has to offload to satisfy European Commission conditions that are tied to its approval for the creation of the JV in 2010. Swantee refused to discuss details of the process, which is conducted by Morgan Stanley, but said that “obviously there is a lot of interest for 1800MHz spectrum from the industry overall.”
