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O2 and Vodafone form alliance for the roll-out of 4G

by Alistair Lowe on 7 June 2012, 10:16

Tags: Vodafone (LON:VOD)

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With Everything Everywhere now covering both the Orange and T-Mobile networks and, with the firm applying for early access to 4G through the use of its existing spectrum, it seems only reasonable that other providers in the UK may be a little concerned that they may be late to market.

In an attempt to boost confidence and, in an announcement that hopefully should have a very positive impact on the UK's upcoming 4G infrastructure, O2 and Vodafone have stated that they will be teaming up to form their 4G networks. The two firms will pool their resources, constructing and sharing a common network infrastructure, whilst ultimately delivering independent services on different spectrums.

This means a boost in the number of sites available to each firm, resulting in a national grid of 18,500 sites, which works out at an increase in individual provider site count of 40 per cent and thus, better coverage, both for existing 3G and future 4G implementations. This also means that the two companies will be able to deploy 4G sooner, by sharing engineers and halving the load. O2 went on to say that it expects the group to reach a target of 98 per cent 4G coverage two years earlier than regulatory requirements, placing a complete roll-out of 4G sometime in 2015.

It appears as though Everything Everywhere will have to remain on its toes; Vodafone is already the largest UK mobile provider and, when teamed up with O2, the two firms will have the best UK-wide coverage on offer.



HEXUS Forums :: 14 Comments

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Certainly in the case of Vodafone improving the coverage of their 3G network would also be a good thing, my tablet's 3 mobile broadband is almost universal whereas my phone's Vodafone encounters serious blackspots and I have to use a SureSignal box at home. Suffice it to say I will be switching providers when the contract runs out!
I wonder what Three will do now, their main focus has been mobile broadband and having a “network designed for mobile internet” but at this rate they'll be the only ones without 4G.
kingpotnoodle
Certainly in the case of Vodafone improving the coverage of their 3G network would also be a good thing, my tablet's 3 mobile broadband is almost universal whereas my phone's Vodafone encounters serious blackspots and I have to use a SureSignal box at home. Suffice it to say I will be switching providers when the contract runs out!

Vodafone's 3g is great when you get a signal, 2G coverage is fine I find.
Been on 3 PAYG for a few years and reasonably happy, have to say their service is very patchy around here though (Northants). I join my mates for the odd gig and mine is always the phone without any service when in surrounding villages and stuff. Now that 3 have cut the freebies to 45 days Giffgaff sounds very tempting with the O2 infrastructure. 3 really should keep an eye on this or they'll get left behind.
The frustrating thing is still that Three are the only reasonable all you can eat data. I've moved and i get 0 signal in my new house (fine in the garden though…) so im looking to change networks, and not 1 really appeals for the price vs usage. I can only hope that the 4G roll outs alleviate this issue