[daleski75]

Do any of you knowledgeable chaps reckon that at some point in the future all UK networks will offer the same blanket coverage for 4G across the entirety of the UK so consumers can choose a network based on price, tariff and extras rather than choosing whichever one is best suited for signal in the areas they travel?

Assuming that signal quality is pretty much on par across the board for all networks in any given area within the UK.

[swb1964]

In theory yes, or at least covering everywhere 2G currently covers.

I'm not holding my breath though!!

[DevonBloke]

4G will eventually become the current 2G network. In other words the base network with newer technologies on top (5G, 6G etc) so yes most networks will have 4G from all their masts. Three might not with 1800 on some and 800 on others.
Even if they all do you will also have to buy based on performance too though.

[daleski75]

True performance will always come into it as well as signal strength etc.

If all the networks one day get pretty close to each other coverage wise then more choice for us consumers can only be a good thing.

[Stereo Steve]

Well the whole thing has been skewed by 2 networks that did invest in coverage for data (EE and 3) not having access to the frequencies owned by the 2 networks who didn't invest anything in 3G. We have a choice in many parts of the UK. Calls or data. That should not be the case but it still is today.

It will change as 3 and EE are slowly rolling out 800Mhz and VOIP. Well, one has rolled it out but it doesn't work and the other hasn't got it working yet. But they will soon. If EE get 800 and VOIP right it will be a bit of a game changer and VOD need to watch out.

VOD seem to be going for 4G800 big time and have 2G900 to back up, probably re-farmed to 3G900 later and once all the switching is place, it can all be cranked up. So, if they don't stop at the edge of the towns as they did last time, that should be a good network. Time will tell.

3 and O2 seem individually a little hamstrung by lack of spectrum but I think the merger will go ahead, with spare being divested somewhere. A new 4th network maybe. That will make 3O2 a decent network as well.

[swb1964]

Personally I'd settle for a reliable connection with 2 or 3 megabits per second. Most people don't need to stream 4k or even HD video on the go, at least not yet.

[Chris1973]

It might happen although i'm not holding my breath, given neither EE or 3 can seem to bring usable 3G to half of a fairly large market town, and in relation for 4G, well i'm still waiting for Three's original end of 2014 4G Town List to become reality.

No idea what their (MBNL) problem is locally, when both O2 and Vodafone have impressive speeds on 3G and 4G in the same area, which suggests just how bad Three and EE are.

[Redcoat]

The simple answer is no.

It is unfeasible for any network to achieve even 100% outdoor coverage of the UK landmass without incurring horrendous expense. Indeed no terrestrial based RF system from VHF up does, like BBC national radio on FM.

Even a population coverage of 99.8% still fails to cover around 120,000 people.

Basically, coverage costs increase exponentially the more of the population you wish to serve.

[jchamier]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Redcoat

Indeed no terrestrial based RF system from VHF up does, like BBC national radio on FM..

analogue TV used to have the best coverage, but after digital switch over, the Government let the broadcasters shrink the footprint a bit, as they provided a 'solution' to the areas no longer getting signals. (They were given FreeSat installations).

[swb1964]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jchamier

analogue TV used to have the best coverage,.

Yes but it was nowhere near 100%

[neilybealy]

Should be treated like a utility and all masts offer all mobile providers 😁

[Stereo Steve]

Quote:

Originally Posted by swb1964

Personally I'd settle for a reliable connection with 2 or 3 megabits per second. Most people don't need to stream 4k or even HD video on the go, at least not yet.

Indeed.

[jchamier]

Quote:

Originally Posted by neilybealy

Should be treated like a utility and all masts offer all mobile providers 😁

http://www.arqiva.com/overviews/mobi...ms/site-share/

[Gigabit]

It's physically impossible to cover all of the UK. What would be the point in covering huge parts of Scotland where nobody lives?

[DevonBloke]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gigabit

It's physically impossible to cover all of the UK. What would be the point in covering huge parts of Scotland where nobody lives?

Some rabbits and sheep now have phones I believe......

[DevonBloke]

Quote:

Originally Posted by swb1964

Yes but it was nowhere near 100%

Also the picture was often like a blizzard and TVs had something called a "Horizontal hold".
You would go behind the TV and turn both the horizontal and vertical hold while the rest of your family went "Yes..... no...no no no.... up, no down, no, I mean up, a little more, tiny bit........... YES!! ok ok leave it , that's it!!!!!!"
Yeah... 20th century got a bit rubbish towards the end didn't it.........

[DevonBloke]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stereo Steve

Indeed.

Yeah but what happens when you want to watch 4K TV while your Model S drives itself for you?

[daleski75]

Maybe I chose the wrong word by using 'blanket' possibly duvet or covers would of being more appropriate!

But my thoughts where basically it would be nice that no matter where you lived you could choose any network provider knowing you would get a decent signal (assuming all networks in the future have a coverage of 97 to 98% 4G)

indoor coverage however is a different ballgame entirely.

Maybe it's a pipe dream like Sky Q being reasonably priced!

[swb1964]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gigabit

It's physically impossible to cover all of the UK. What would be the point in covering huge parts of Scotland where nobody lives?

Well people do go where people don't live.

The obvious example is a motorway through a rural area where almost no one lives- lots of people passing through.

You also don't get too many people living up Snowden or Ben Nevis but lots of people go there.

[binary]

...we wouldn't have this absurd situation where VoLTE is almost an afterthought to 4G! A whole next generation mobile network that doesn't offer voice telephony 'out of the box' - how on earth did this end up happening?!

The best explanation I've read is that everyone in the industry thought someone else was working on it.

It seems like we're moving backwards, from the inter-operable heyday of being able to bring any device to any network and it just working, to having to use certain devices supplied by the network one wishes to use (for VoLTE use)... doesn't seem like progress to me!

Plus of course VoLTE appears to be fiendishly hard to actually implement - so we've only got Three offering it so far, and by the sounds of things not actually offering very much of it at all.

[Orbitalzone]

Quote:

Originally Posted by binary

...we wouldn't have this absurd situation where VoLTE is almost an afterthought to 4G! A whole next generation mobile network that doesn't offer voice telephony 'out of the box' - how on earth did this end up happening?!

The best explanation I've read is that everyone in the industry thought someone else was working on it.

It seems like we're moving backwards, from the inter-operable heyday of being able to bring any device to any network and it just working, to having to use certain devices supplied by the network one wishes to use (for VoLTE use)... doesn't seem like progress to me!

Plus of course VoLTE appears to be fiendishly hard to actually implement - so we've only got Three offering it so far, and by the sounds of things not actually offering very much of it at all.

Presumably it was a driven buy phone company marketers desperate to get people to need a new phone? but it is absolutely mad how the next generation (supposedly) could get launched and be in use for several years before a defined voice standard was agreed upon.

and perhaps the networks aren't too worried, they'll no doubt soon promote 4G Voice that's only available via their supplied phones, nicely tying you into a phone contract whereas you may have gone SIM only.

I suppose it worked, we all bought new phones regardless of the fact 4G couldn't make voice calls and for 99.9% of users still can't.