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back to article UK auction delay would be major blow to WiMAX

The UK’s upcoming auction of 2.GHz mobile broadband spectrum is intensely anticipated - partly because it is the first major European market to make the move, and so will provide some clear indicators for the rest of the region; but also because it represents the best chance for a WiMAX operator to gain a national licence in a …

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  1. amanfromMars Silver badge

    Could be/Should be...... ? :-)

    "BT has made it clear it will drop out of the race if prices go insanely high, as they did during the 3G auctions at the turn of the century, but it is still widely expected to acquire a licence, since wireless would enhance several of its businesses."

    It is not necessary to purchase a license for Spectrum to make Free Use of IT ..... although it does permit Participation and Oversight of BroadBandContent Creation for Hire.

    After All, Today will Furnish Tomorrow with Fresh Virgin Content, because, Ideally, we wouldn't be wanting anything Old and Jaded to be Building the Future on/with. That would be a Folly.

    That does make BT a User of TeleComms but with the Sharing of ITs XXXXPertEase, will IT be easier for them to Instruct Other in their KnowHow and at the Same have Others Building the Future and ITs 21CN Networks and Rooting Router Hubs/Creative IP Centres.

    AI MetaMorphosis and Binary Progression of what is Presently, Special Intelligence Services?

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  2. Anonymous Coward
    Coat

    Forever delayed

    "But the auction, which has already been delayed once and is now expected this fall,..."

    I guess that this will be delayed a while as in the UK we have Autumn.

    Mines the one with the conker in the pocket (lets see what our US friends make of that)

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  3. Mage Silver badge

    Wimax / LTE

    LTE in 20MHz = 100Mbps

    Mobile WiMax? Does it work? Sprint/Clearwire.

    Will current Mobile Wimax deleiver more than 10Mbps sector capacity?

    They are now working on a new incompatible Mobile WiMax spec.

    Fixed WiMax works and offers some advantages (mainly cost & capacity) for Fixed Wireless Broadband.

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  4. Charlie Clark Silver badge

    Is WiMax really ready?

    No, it isn't. There's a lot of hype from infrastructure companies hoping to get a slice of the pie but this time the networks know the score.

    But actually that doesn't really matter. As the article points out: consumers are not prepared to pay much for mobile broadband and so the networks won't throw money at the licences unless they can integrate them into their current offerings and that, whatever the technical merits or shortcomings, means LTE.

    Of course, when the bidding does finally get underway you can expect the networks to try push prices up to keep out any networks. What they pay in licences one year, they offset against tax the next.

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  5. Anonymous Coward
    Coat

    hopefully forever..... delayed

    if i want to stick my head in a microwave, i can simply jimmy the saftey lock.

    walking down the street being deep fried is not fun and i protest against being zapped without my authorisation.

    they should junk all further opening up of microwave frequencies, cos they are gonna get bitten badly later when they are forced to give refunds and compensation to all those injured by it.....

    if i want networking ill use cable, cat5/6

    mines the foil lined one....

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  6. c

    frequency

    "since low frequencies are poor at supporting urban areas, because of interference and low capacity."

    Ummm - bollocks. The frequency matters very very little in urban environments. Capacity is exactly the same. Interference can be completely negated with proper radio planning. It can almost be argued low freqs are better in urban environments for in-building coverage performance.

    Wimax is in serious trouble - it may not even reach the dizzying heights of "CDMA2000" in terms of subscribers at the current rate.

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  7. c

    LTE 20MHz >300Mbps

    Mage,

    LTE speced for ~320Mbps downlink for each 20MHz of spectrum - much more that 100Mbps!

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  8. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Down

    "Wimax is in serious trouble"

    I'd go a step further than that.

    I'd say it was where powerline as a last mile broadband technology was two or three years ago - it's dying on its feet, with only the primary industry players refusing to accept otherwise.

    Even the PLC Forum appears to have given up now, and WiMax as a mass market technology will soon be headed the same way. Sorry Intel, you backed the wrong horse (just like with Itanic).

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  9. Robin A. Flood
    Thumb Up

    Spanish WiMax

    Here in Spain I've had a broadband WiMax link for nearly a year, and other than the occasional thunderstorm passing the base station causing rare drop-outs, it is excellent. The uplink and downlink speeds are consistantly what I pay for, or higher - unlike broadband over wire by Telefonica - and I rate the service at 99%.

    I see the French government over the border to the north of us is also pushing WiMax in rural areas; I guess once again British dithering is going to leave UK citizens in the lurch as usual.

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  10. Slaine
    Paris Hilton

    apologies in advance but...

    "major blow" and "lose head" can only mean ONE icon.

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