Although we have well and truly entered the digital age with the vast majority of households in the country being online, there are many areas of the UK that are still unable to hook up to the internet through no choice of their own. Many rural areas receive laughable speeds that would be outperformed by the worst modems of 20 years ago, while other areas are completely devoid of any form of internet connectivity whatsoever. Mobile broadband has provided a solution for some people in such a situation, although reliability and speed still fall short of fixed line broadband in more urban areas.
Now these days of sporadic rural connection issues may be a thing of the past, with the latest testing of 4G networks in the UK to take place at the end of the year. The government hopes to get 4G fully implemented in the next few years which will once and for all allow all UK inhabitants to enjoy decent connection speeds regardless of their location.
This policy will also affect other areas of internet use including mobile phones. In recent months we have seen a number of mobile phones designed with 4G network support make an appearance in the UK without this feature being implemented. A prime example of this is the new Motorola Atrix .
Users of the Atrix in the United States are now able to make use of high speed 4G networks throughout most of the country. Phone users in the UK however have completely missed out on this latest revolution in mobile phone technology as any semblance of a 4G network is completely absent in the UK.
Although 4G networks have already been tested in the UK this will be the first UK experiment to make use of real consumers for feedback on their experiences. The test is being conducted in a joint operation between BT and Everything Everywhere (Orange and T-Mobile) in a localised experiment in the South West of England.
Many areas in Cornwall currently have a complete lack of broadband connectivity (a common problem for very rural areas across the country) and so it has been deemed a perfect testing ground to see what this new technology is made of.
While there are a number of technologies available that are vying for 4G dominance the system being tested by BT and Everything Everywhere is known as Long Term Evolution (LTE).
Strictly speaking, technologies like LTE are not truly 4G networks as they do not meet the 1Gbit/s requirements set by IMT-Advanced to be classed as a fourth generation network technology. However, LTE has a potential for 150mbps, with real world speeds probably falling in the range of 10-30mbps.
This falls far short of the original definition for 4G, but should still offer significant advantages over existing 3G networks that are starting to show their age with the increasing demand for online entertainment. It will also allow people living in more rural areas to enjoy home broadband speeds comparable to that in urban areas.
The BT and Everything Everywhere experiments will seek to test the new technology across a wide range of formats including fixed line phones, mobile phones and mobile broadband. A sample of a hundred people will be given free use of the technology including specially equipped phones. People living in the area just south of Torquay can apply to take part in the experiment at www.4gwirelessbroadbandtrial.co.uk, with the tests expected to begin on 1st September.
The 800Mhz spectrum that has been designated for 4G network use recently became available with the digital switchover and is to be auctioned off next year. The first commercial 4G networks will probably not make an appearance in the UK until at least 2013.
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Correct me if I’m wrong, but did the government not promise Broadband for all within a timeframe that I cannot remember?
Is Cornwall part of their plan?