Everything Everywhere prepares for 4G

LONDON |
Thu Dec 8, 2011 3:52pm IST

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s biggest mobile operator Everything Everywhere announced plans on Thursday to invest over 1.5 billion pounds in the next three years to improve its coverage and prepare for the launch of a new generation network.

The group, a joint venture between France Telecom (FTE.PA) and Deutsche Telekom (DTEGn.DE) which runs the Orange and T-Mobile brands, said on Thursday it planned double digit growth in its 2012 network investment compared with 2011.

Everything Everywhere said the work would further integrate the two existing networks and kick off preparations for the rollout of a so-called fourth generation or 4G network which will enable faster access to the Internet via mobile devices.

“With mobile data increasing 250 percent over the past two years, we are making these investments so we can deliver on our ambition to provide the UK’s most reliable, biggest and best mobile data network,” Chief Executive Olaf Swantee said.

“We believe that the UK requires a 21st century infrastructure and are committed to rolling out 4G as soon as possible to support growing data use, connect parts of the country with little or no mobile broadband, and drive economic growth.”

Telecoms analyst Nick Brown of Espirito Santo said Everything Everywhere appeared to be positioning itself for a coming auction of 4G spectrum in Britain, whose terms are being thrashed out amid appeals from all the operators.

Regulator Ofcom has not yet published final rules for the auction, which may not take place before the end of the year. Germany has already sold its 4G spectrum and the French auction is under way.

“We wouldn’t be surprised to see it pushed back further to 2013,” said Brown. “The UK is falling behind when it comes to selling off these airwaves.”

Everything Everywhere said customers of both Orange and T-Mobile using the existing networks should see coverage improvements in the coming weeks.

For the future it will invest in improved equipment that provides faster and more reliable coverage and which will be upgraded to 4G once the appropriate spectrum becomes available.

(Reporting by Kate Holton and Georgina Prodhan; Editing by Georgina Prodhan)

Article source: http://feeds.reuters.com/~r/reuters/INtechnologyNews/~3/-exoiUwk7ac/everything-everwhere-idINDEE7B709020111208

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