lousy mobile phone networks

[jon0844]

The EU seems to think three networks is okay, so I am quite sure it will go through. Ofcom will start tough and then negotiate and perhaps Three will have to give up some spectrum.

It's going to take a while though. EE is already starting to try and stop Three getting any advantage with the MBNL joint venture, knowing that if it gets O2's network too (especially it's 2G network) then EE/BT will actually lose a lot of its competitive advantage.

 

[GaryMcEwan]

The EU seems to think three networks is okay, so I am quite sure it will go through. Ofcom will start tough and then negotiate and perhaps Three will have to give up some spectrum.

It's going to take a while though. EE is already starting to try and stop Three getting any advantage with the MBNL joint venture, knowing that if it gets O2's network too (especially it's 2G network) then EE/BT will actually lose a lot of its competitive advantage.

The CMA have actually now referred it to the EC for them to have a say on the matter as well.

But another problem is O2 and Vodafone's MBNL joint venture which could throw another spanner in the works...

 

[WestCoast]

In Germany, the EC approved the merger of O2-DE (Telefonica) and E-Plus, which were the third and fourth largest networks respectively. There's only three networks now (a lot of virtual operators though), with the merged O2/E-Plus venture having the most personal subscribers.

 

[jon0844]

The CMA have actually now referred it to the EC for them to have a say on the matter as well.

But another problem is O2 and Vodafone's MBNL joint venture which could throw another spanner in the works...

This is what EE is concerned about, and it has resulted in a bizarre situation where EE has been bringing its remaining 2G sites into MBNL as 2G and with an upgrade to 4G only.

What this means is that it doesn't automatically get upgraded so Three can use it for 3G. Of course Three can and probably will eventually fund the upgrade work itself, or maybe not if it knows it will get O2.

O2 and Vodafone's joint venture is called Cornerstone but it's being done in a very different, almost haphazard, way. It's nowhere near as cohesive (that became a word this week!) but of course will present problems for everyone to deal with.

 

[yorksrob]

Another of those 'what has the EU ever done for us?' things.

More like they can sort out a deserted foreign mountain, but they can't get their act together over here.

 

[jon0844]

The problem here is capacity. Providing coverage is easy. Just stick a load of 900MHz transmitters on max power and you'll cover miles and milles. But have capacity for hardly anyone and certainly not people wanting to stream iPlayer or YouTube.

Oh and then change construction of a lot of our buildings to improve indoor penetration.