O2 to debut 4G in London pilot
O2 has revealed plans to debut high-speed mobile internet speeds, or 4G, in London as part of a pilot scheme taking place over the next nine months with businesses including John Lewis.
The trial will use 4G equipment and will run across 25 mobile masts covering 40Km2 across the capital (see map above), letting users access services such as online gaming and video-streaming.
O2 has issued a statement claiming the trial will provide the 1,000 participating customers with internet speeds comparable to those currently available via a landline connection. Participants can access the high-speed network using a broadband dongle, which connects to a computer via a USB port, as 4G compatible handsets are not available on the market yet.
The pilot network will support download speeds of up to 100Mbps as well as 4G personal wireless hotspots. These speeds will let users download a 500MB file in just under a minute, whereas existing 3G network speeds would take up to five minutes according to O2.
Ronan Dunne, O2’s CEO, said, “The work we are doing now will lay the foundations for our commercial 4G network when it launches in the UK [following next year’s spectrum launch].”
Staff from John Lewis, readers of tech website Gizmodo and music fans at the O2 Arena will be able to access services such as 4G live music video and film streaming demonstrations, as part of the trial.
“The forthcoming spectrum auction is a watershed moment for the UK mobile industry, which will see the release of the airwaves capable of powering a whole range of exciting next-generation mobile services,” added Dunne.
The announcement comes just days after online retail giant eBay issued its Mobile Manifesto to UK policy makers, claiming poor mobile network coverage is holding back the potential of m-commerce (nma.co.uk 11 Nov 2011).
Government figures have also been openly critical of the UK’s mobile operators, many of whom threatened to legally challenge Ofcom’s earlier plans for the 4G license auction, which will eventually take place at the end of next year.
Early last month, the UK’s largest operator Everything Everywhere also announced that it was launching a similar trial with 200 participants in Cornwall, in conjunction with BT.
source
The trial will use 4G equipment and will run across 25 mobile masts covering 40Km2 across the capital (see map above), letting users access services such as online gaming and video-streaming.
O2 has issued a statement claiming the trial will provide the 1,000 participating customers with internet speeds comparable to those currently available via a landline connection. Participants can access the high-speed network using a broadband dongle, which connects to a computer via a USB port, as 4G compatible handsets are not available on the market yet.
The pilot network will support download speeds of up to 100Mbps as well as 4G personal wireless hotspots. These speeds will let users download a 500MB file in just under a minute, whereas existing 3G network speeds would take up to five minutes according to O2.
Ronan Dunne, O2’s CEO, said, “The work we are doing now will lay the foundations for our commercial 4G network when it launches in the UK [following next year’s spectrum launch].”
Staff from John Lewis, readers of tech website Gizmodo and music fans at the O2 Arena will be able to access services such as 4G live music video and film streaming demonstrations, as part of the trial.
“The forthcoming spectrum auction is a watershed moment for the UK mobile industry, which will see the release of the airwaves capable of powering a whole range of exciting next-generation mobile services,” added Dunne.
The announcement comes just days after online retail giant eBay issued its Mobile Manifesto to UK policy makers, claiming poor mobile network coverage is holding back the potential of m-commerce (nma.co.uk 11 Nov 2011).
Government figures have also been openly critical of the UK’s mobile operators, many of whom threatened to legally challenge Ofcom’s earlier plans for the 4G license auction, which will eventually take place at the end of next year.
Early last month, the UK’s largest operator Everything Everywhere also announced that it was launching a similar trial with 200 participants in Cornwall, in conjunction with BT.
source
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