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London (pte043/14.01.2005/16:00) - Britain's telecoms regulator Ofcom http://www.ofcom.org.uk has revealed plans to remove many of the restrictions around third-generation (3G) wireless services. As the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) http://www.wsj.com reports, Ofcom wants Europe to stop tightly controlling which wireless technology is used with which part of the radio spectrum. With this new approach, Ofcom hopes to allow new mobile phone service providers to compete with existing 3G services such as WiMax.
Set out in a 150-page consultation document published yesterday, Ofcom's proposals include selling via auctions 12 portions of radio spectrum in the United Kingdom between now and the end of 2008. Some of this spectrum could carry 3G-style services using WiMax and other new technologies, but not until 2007, the company suggests. This time restriction will give existing mobile phone operators time to begin earning a return on their substantial 3G license investments.
Although the proposals have been welcomed by some providers, such as mm02 in the UK, others are not over enthusiastic about the prospects. "How this is going to be implemented has to be looked at very carefully," said a spokesman for Vodafone. "2006-07 is too early to have another auction; all operators have only recently launched 3G services," added a spokeswoman for Orange, a unit of France Telecom.
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