The Dutch arm of UK listed network operator Vodafone has raised concerns over plans by the government of the Netherlands to set aside additional spectrum for new entrants.
The criticism comes in reply to a decision by the Dutch parliament a week ago, to…
The Dutch arm of UK listed network operator Vodafone has raised concerns over plans by the government of the Netherlands to set aside additional spectrum for new entrants.
The criticism comes in reply to a decision by the Dutch parliament a week ago, to reserve 2x5MHz of spectrum in the 900MHz band for two new market entrants. The remaining 60MHz will go to existing operators T-Mobile, KPN, and Vodafone.
The 2x5MHz for new entrants come in addition to 2x10MHz in the 800MHz range also reserved for newcomers, according to an earlier decision.
A company spokesperson said Vodafone Netherlands welcomed that no changes to the future allocation of the 800MHz spectrum were made. But all available spectrum in the 900MHz range is currently in use by the existing three operators, he said. Therefore, taking parts of that spectrum away from established players to give it to new entrants would have a direct effect on the existing players.
He noted that sharing limited amounts of spectrum among more operators would directly affect the speed and quality of LTE services in the future.
Vodafone now has to investigate the effects of such a move on its network, and will need to go on the lookout for alternative solutions, the spokesperson said.
