On Friday, U.K. Telecom regulator Ofcom announced plans to update licenses held by Vodafone and O2, including the 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, and 2.6 GHz bands. ISPreview reported that these bands can only employ 4G today, but reframing the existing spectrum could accommodate 5G services.
Ofcom is expected to update the technical conditions of licenses held by Vodafone across all bands mentioned above and remove a restriction placed on O2’s unpaired spectrum in the 2.6 GHz band. O2’s block is adjacent to Vodafone’s unpaired allocation, so the telecoms must work together to synchronize transmissions. The change enables O2 to use an unrestricted 20 MHz of spectrum, reported ISPreview.
In addition to the potential advancements that could help improve data speeds and network coverage, Ofcom plans to make the bands technology-neutral for the future adoption of 6G. The regulator also noted that it would “consider making similar changes to other licenses operating in these bands, upon request.”
According to Ofcom, “Overall, we believe that consumers are likely to benefit from the proposed license variations because these changes will enable licensees to provide innovative mobile services and to make more efficient use of spectrum. Consumers may also benefit from these services providing faster download speeds and improved coverage.”
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