Analogue TV spectrum to become mobile broadband

A radical new us has been proposed for the analogue TV channel to be freed up when UK goes completely digital in 2012 was put forward to the government by Kip Meek. The proposal will see the current broadband speed double and the coverage raised to 99% of, covering virtually every part of the UK.

Meek, adviser to the communications minister Lord Carter wants part of the spectrum that will be freed up by the switch-off of analogue television in to be sold next year under the condition that it is used to get basic mobile broadband coverage to 99% of the population. The proposal also wants the UK’s five mobile phone companies will also have their existing 3G licenses extended indefinitely in return for extending high-speed mobile broadband coverage from its current base of just over 80% of the population.

If the proposal is accept and implemented by the government, it is said that it would put the UK at the forefront of commercially-deployed mobile technology around the world, delivering economic and social benefits that far outweigh the costs. The expected speed of this broadband is 4Mbps.

Though this proposal gives mobile broadband services provider and advantage but when you compare broadband speed from various providers whether the use mobile technology, Adsl or fibre optic, UK broadband speed test are still slightly behind those of other leading industrialized countries in the world.

Kip Meek proposal  preclude O2 and Vodafone from buying the new spectrum that can be used once the analogue television signal is switched. The two mobile giants are however free to enter the market if the sell off some of their current capacity. You don’t have to wait till the new proposed fast broadband access is live before you can buy access at affordable price, you can  compare prices of broadband access at various websites on the internet.

Broadband to go? Three is your vehicle

As I hammer out this blog post on my laptop, connected to the Internet via 3 USB modem, mobile broadband, I could not help the felling of excitement that came over me, here I am sat in my car, parked on a motorway service station on the M4 surfing the net adding a new post to my blog.

It seemed a few short years a go when I had to keep ringing BT, asking when my local phone exchange will be upgraded so that I can have Broadband in my house, now, broadband customers do not have to chase BT to upgrade the exchange, on the contrary, BT and a multitude of broadband providers are chasing after customers bribing them with all sort of freebies to signup for a broadband service.

And 3 shall be called 1

I have had my mobile phone with T-mobile for years, when three join the UK high street with their mobile phones shops, I have very little reason to check them out. Perhaps because they are the last player to enter the mobile market or perhaps because they have management that actually listen to people and come up with what people wants, most mobile phone users I know do not like being tied to long contract, that is what made me go into my local 3 shop for the first time, they were selling Pay as you go mobile broadband, you just pay for the modem and then top up your broadband as you need to, this suites perfectly because I already have broadband at home, however occasionally, when I go on business trip, I do not like using the exorbitant priced hotel broadband, so 3 no contract mobile broadband did the trick for me. Instead of being called 3, I think they should be called 1st, they seem to be the first to come up with sensible price plan compared with the other players who are always trying shackle you with long contracts.

Dangle your Dongle or Flash your bits?

3 mobile broadband connection device comes in two flavours, the dongle that comes comes with USB connection at the end, with a reasonable length of cable between the dongle and the USB plug, the SIM slots info the dongle. The second version is a slim sexy looking USB flash drive look-alike, this version come with an optional USB cable that can connect the USB stick to a computer if you do not want to plug the USB directly info your computer. The USB stick version if far neater to use than the dongle version, but either device will get you online almost anywhere in the UK (Three currently have 95% coverage in UK).

One thing I love about installing 3 broadband is the fact that there is no need for install CD, just plug your dongle or USB stick into you computer and Windows will recognise and install the required drivers, Mac users are not so lucky, they need to use an Install CD.

The only thing I find mildly annoying about the install is the language option, or shall I say lack of options. When installing the device, you are asked if you want to install in US English, this seem to imply that there is a British English version option, but alas, its like Henry Ford proposition about the colour you can have you first Ford production car in ‘you can have it in any colour, as long as its black’ You can install you 3 mobile broadband in any version of the English language you like as long as its US English.