Ofcom detail 3G coverage with maps - shocking!

[3GScottishUser]

What a revelation.... no wonder most big businesses like BSkyB are sticking with 02 or others with GSM coverage.

http://maps.ofcom.org.uk/mobile/index.html

Checkout the maps on the website above.

More from the the Ofcom Report: "For mobile networks, the data show that over 97% of premises should have a strong enough mobile signal from all four 2G network operators to make a call when outside (73% for the five 3G networks). While coverage of premises is high, overall geographic coverage by all four 2G operators is 66% (just 13% for 3G). Coverage in
rural areas tends to be worse than in urban areas, but our analysis indicates that operators are often deploying more infrastructure per capita to serve rural users – highlighting the challenges of extending network coverage."

http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/binaries/research/telecoms-research/bbspeeds2011/infrastructure-report.pdf

[Hands0n]

What a revelation.... no wonder most big businesses like BSkyB are sticking with 02 or others with GSM coverage.



Errr, BSkyB has only just switched from Vodafone to O2, with results that I would have predicted quite reliably. Signal quality and availability, particularly 3G for the corporate BlackBerry and iPhones is very evidently weak or completely absent, particularly in London and the South East. No doubt it is cheaper to use O2 than Vodafone, and O2's sales team are to be congratulated. But the reality falls far short of any reasonable expectation.

[3GScottishUser]

Looking at the geographic and premises coverage for 3G it would be crazy for a business to commit to a 3G only service provider for mobile communications unless they only did business in areas of mass population.

I was amazed by just how little 3G has reached after all these years. The comparison between 3G and 2G coverage is a revelation.

[Ben]

It's utterly disgusting, but frequency has a lot to do with it. After the next spectrum auction we should finally see some progress made, but it's slow going.

I still believe geographic coverage requirements should be in the next auction. Surely Ofcom are thinking the same thing after these results.

[DaveC]

I've always thought the population coverage requirements were wrong in the first place. Cover a few major towns and cities and sit back.
O2 and Vodafone really need to push out at 900.
I have noticed that O2 have upgraded a number of cell sites near me to cover at 1800MHz as well as 900MHz that would make sense if they wanted to use some of their 900MHz spectrum for 3G

[Hands0n]

Looking at the geographic and premises coverage for 3G it would be crazy for a business to commit to a 3G only service provider for mobile communications unless they only did business in areas of mass population..

Why would that be then? Where I live, work and play it would be a completely sound proposition.

Meanwhile, back on to the point, if business were to think along the same lines then they would not be taking up smartphone technology. Only they are. And as anyone who has used smartphone technology the need for 3G is paramount.

Just try and use the networks' 2G EDGE on your smartphone and it is an experience that is the epitome of frustration. Typically, the 2G/EDGE cell is unable to cope with the load of even a few smartphone users and goes into meltdown. It is a simple fact, 2G/EDGE is wholly unsuitable for smartphone use.

The thing is, we have all moved on. This is 2011 and mobile data requirements are the norm. It is unacceptable to private individuals and business corporations alike for there to be inadequate or zero 3G availability across the nation.

[3GScottishUser]

But in reality businesses have to buy services that they can rely on.

02 probably got the BSkyB contract on the basis of a guarantee of levels of service across the UK for voice, text and data.

02's 900, 1800 and 2100 coverage with GSM, EDGE and UMTS offers the widest range of options so thats why 02 could probably offer the most attractive terms with a service level agreement that was deliverable at a price BSkyB found attractive and that met their business needs.

[gorilla]

I wrote a blog post (http://eamonnmallie.com/2011/11/are-you-getting-superfast-broadband/) about the ofcom report with specific reference to Northern Ireland.
We have poor 3G coverage, but good access to highspeed broadband. I really believe that data services need to be as close to universal as physically possible (not just economically viable). Northern Ireland covers a small geographic area, and still the mobile coverage is patchy. I can't imagine what it's like in Scotland.

[3GScottishUser]

I am guessing Scotland has a fair amount of areas without any mobile coverage. I recently visited a small village close to a huge wind farm which has no mobile network coverage at all in 2011!

The local hotel has WiFi available and it's not 1000 miles up in the Highlands either.... it's about 10-15 miles away from Girvan in Ayrshire.

So even with my limited travel in the country where I reside I have found places where no mobile exists not far from big towns and that is pretty sad.

Sure all the cities and major towns have all the services with good data speed too however Ofcom's mapping shows there is a need to cover more geographic areas as well as the need to further expand capacity in urban areas.

[Ben]

Off the back of this, apparently Ofcom are getting a little more aggressive about the 2012 spectrum auctions?

http://www.trustedreviews.com/opinions/the-breakthrough-in-britain-s-4g-broadband-bedlam

800MHz coverage is said to be mandated at 98%, up from 95%, which could be significant but only if properly enforced. The auction is also supposedly to take place closer to when originally planned, rather than being so delayed.

We can only hope.

Seems silly to auction the licenses at all when we all know who's going to buy them. Why not award them in exchange for thorough applications and business plans, judged by an independent panel, and instead force the networks to invest the billions of pounds in infrastructure by writing in tough geographic coverage requirements?

[3GScottishUser]

Seems silly to auction the licenses at all when we all know who's going to buy them. Why not award them in exchange for thorough applications and business plans, judged by an independent panel, and instead force the networks to invest the billions of pounds in infrastructure by writing in tough geographic coverage requirements?

They can't do that due to EU legislation. The spectrum has to be offered to all and that is the issue that Vodafone and 02 have concerns about. If Ofcom ring fence a set amount for a single operator it may be deemed anti-competitive.

It's a tough one... Ofcom are between a rock and a hard place but they have to apply the same rules to all interested parties and until they do there will exist a logjam preventing any company getting 800Mhz spectrum.

[Ben]

Thing is, it does offer the spectrum to all. It allows each entity requiring spectrum to submit a business plan and for that plan to be judged independently for its merits. It's much fairer than an auction because it does not simply allow the entity with the biggest bank account to gobble up all the spectrum and then create an anti-competitive environment. It's also in the interests of the consumer because the money that would have been spent on acquiring the licenses can instead be mandated to be spent on infrastructure.

I know it won't happen, but in my mind it's definitely a more productive way to award the spectrum. After all, no (real) money changed hands for 900MHz, afaik, and IMHO that worked out a lot better than 2100MHz!

I think the Conservative influence in government may help give Ofcom the stones it has needed for many years now. My bet is that the auction goes ahead with caps on how much spectrum each operator can own under 1000Mhz. It may well go to court afterwards, but it'll happen. At least one license will have attached a 98% population coverage obligation, which should translate into >50% geographic coverage - a marked increase from what any network is likely to have at the moment.

Can but hope.