The regulatory framework
We need to disabuse ourselves of the idea that the rollout of 4G mobile services will miraculously
eliminate our mobile broadband coverage divide, let alone our fixed coverage divide. The latest
statement from Ofcom regarding the 4G mobile spectrum auctions gives no confidence that the
regulator is imposing conditions on 4G licence-holders sufficient to drive mobile 4G investment with
acceptable performance in areas where there is little or no coverage today.
Agreed - Although it may provide some solution, In reality just how fast will 4G be?
Based on the current 3G service - Im fine if Im at home and on a good day can get around 2-2.5Mbps. Yet just a mile or so down the road and its painfully slow, sometimes I cant even get a signal at all and I stand in the garden frantically waving my phone around trying to pick up a signal despite there being no hills/tall buildings or anything other than houses in line of sight.
Data allowances are usually small and can be costly.
The need for political authority
It is in nobody’s interest to force fixed or mobile operators to invest in loss-making operations.
Regulatory measures can only redress to a certain degree the economic risk/reward hurdles which
today deter would-be investors in both fixed and mobile broadband infrastructures from building
out beyond the UK’s densely populated, high-value markets.
The necessary scale of this funding, together with the policy framework, objectives and conditions
governing its availability, can only be determined as part of a coherent nation-wide UK broadband
policy strategy also taking full account of economic realities and regulatory choices. This is why the
government must urgently reassert its authority over UK broadband policy.
Summed up very nicely in the fact that its a loss making venture hence why no-one wants to really tackle the issue.
The amount of investment required would be huge and knowing that theres little chance of recovering such a huge layout of funds.
I dont foresee any PLC's shareholders agreeing to something which could probably/possibly ruin the financial stability of the company. Most of them understandably just cherry pick the profitable areas. In fairness to BT at least they do at least try and balance some of the profitable areas against the not so much so.
The only way this could be done is by using public funding. However, does the UK economy have available funds to take on a public venture such as this. Its scares me how many previous public services -such as parts of the NHS- are being shipped out to private services as it is
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Edited to add - Just found this.
The 4G network delivered an average download speed of 4.1Mbit/sec. (Upload) 4G was able to move 41Kbit/sec.
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9201098/3G_vs._4G_Real_world_speed_tests?taxonomyId=166&pageNumber=2
