Ben
16th November 2009, 10:10 PM
Some stats have landed in my lap today from the GSMA. There's lots of bits and pieces in there, but one little chart I noticed was for geographic and population coverage for 2G and 3G, broken down for Western and Eastern Europe.
Western Europe
2G: 98% Geographic, 100% Population
3G: 47% Geographic, 85% Population
Eastern Europe
2G: 99% Geographic, 100% Population
3G: 10% Geographic, 39% Population
It looks like Eastern Europe possibly has even better 2G mobile coverage than we do. Perhaps due to wired infrastructure being less developed? That's a total guess. They're certainly lagging behind in 3G rollout, but that could be a blessing if it means 3G rollout picks up in more preferable frequencies such as 900MHz.
Geographic coverage in Western Europe, though, is pitiful IMHO. In 2009, less than half of the landmass of Western Europe has access to high speed wireless signal?
Then what really threw me was a breakdown of population coverage by country. Apparently the UK is second only to Ireland in Europe, with a staggering 97%. Not that any UK subscriber has access to this, of course. Think how much money could be saved if a national network could be better managed or if subscribers had the right to roam onto whatever network they please - a bit like how we can use cashpoints belonging to other banks?
Western Europe
2G: 98% Geographic, 100% Population
3G: 47% Geographic, 85% Population
Eastern Europe
2G: 99% Geographic, 100% Population
3G: 10% Geographic, 39% Population
It looks like Eastern Europe possibly has even better 2G mobile coverage than we do. Perhaps due to wired infrastructure being less developed? That's a total guess. They're certainly lagging behind in 3G rollout, but that could be a blessing if it means 3G rollout picks up in more preferable frequencies such as 900MHz.
Geographic coverage in Western Europe, though, is pitiful IMHO. In 2009, less than half of the landmass of Western Europe has access to high speed wireless signal?
Then what really threw me was a breakdown of population coverage by country. Apparently the UK is second only to Ireland in Europe, with a staggering 97%. Not that any UK subscriber has access to this, of course. Think how much money could be saved if a national network could be better managed or if subscribers had the right to roam onto whatever network they please - a bit like how we can use cashpoints belonging to other banks?