EE and Three have ditched plans of sharing 800MHz. So they will do their own thing.

Meanwhile EE CEO Olaf Swantee wasted no time in slagging off the other networks....


http://www.mobiletoday.co.uk/News/25654/EE_ditches_Three_talks_over_4G_spectrum_share.aspx

EE has always planned for using 1800 first and foremost to build 4G, The final figure of coverage by 2014 is using only 1800. Simply because they are going to use the existing masts which provide good 2G coverage that i see few complaining about. Even the hyper rural project in Cumbria is via 1800.

1800 is the the best for high speed v's decent coverage v's bang for your bucks (ie antenna spacing)

Thats why i think the dig at Vodafone for having a go at greater than 800.

It will be interesting to see how the backhaul with O2/Voda deals with larger areas covered by 800 (ie more people using one site) and how speeds pan out with that.

Sure EE will use 800 but it's hardly needed. Will be good to see when they rollout 2600 in shopping centres etc to see what speeds that will provide!

I've heard certain EE shops shall be getting the tech in the next months...

Sad to see this but I guess it was sort of expected as EE seems to think it's a big it. I can understand O2 might struggle because it only has 800MHz [Maybe 2600MHz if they sort out bt deal] because of the Backhaul like Lucan says. But why will Three struggle I know they will only have 2x10MHz of 1800MHz come september but a lot EE's 4G network only uses that amount, I am guessing three will be doing a similar thing with there 800 like EE is. While the problem with Vodafone should be similar to the O2's but won't it be minimized if they use 2600MHz in big cities?

Vodafone has no spectrum issues, only the fact that they spent so much will they be able to take their network which currently performs last, invest like crazy and do that and sell with keen prices when they've spent so much on spectrum and have shareholders that are used to raking in profits without so much investment.

O2 will struggle, but it's ok BT will be their savior

Three will do alright with their current policy of DCHSPA with some 800Mhz rural and commuter cells that will be slower than Voda and EE, but so what. 10Megs down is fine on a train in Norfolk or through Bedfordshire. Three has 1800Mhz for inner city to layer over 2100Mhz DC and is going for the lower cost, slightly slower but suitable for anything you'd want to do route.

Agreed and it does look like Vodafone are willing to put down the money as they say they investing 1billion into it. Technically the 1800MHz Three are using should boost there indoor coverage as well [Obviously until voLTE comes in not a great help but still a minor increase for data users]. But agreed if they can give a solid 8-10MB on commuter routes I think most people will be happy with three.