UK's 4G and 5G connection to get better, as huge chunk of spectrum freed for phone companies
20 million homes had to have their televisions re-tuned
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Your support makes all the difference.The 700MHz spectrum band has been cleared as part of the UK’s 5G development, the government has said.
The spectrum is the airwaves by which televisions, mobile phones, and other devices communicate. Various channels and technologies are given specific frequencies, to ensure they work properly and can communicate, but there is a finite amount of space.
By freeing up this part of the spectrum, the 700MHz band can be used by mobile operators.
Over 1200 television transmitter sites were operated on, as 1000 workers cleared the spectrum, taking a total of two million hours to achieve the task.
A new temporary mast, taller than London’s Shard, was built alongside the Emley Moor Tower in Yorkshire.
The process took four years, and cost £350 million, but will increase capacity in the existing 4G networks in rural communities.
Previously, the band had been used for digital terrestrial TV broadcast such as Freeview, as well as professional radio microphones used in music studios, theatres and outdoor events.
The government says that 20 million homes have had their televisions re-tuned to allow them to continue to work on lower frequencies.
The total amount of radio spectrum available for mobile services has increased by 18 per cent following this move.
In a statement, Digital Infrastructure Minister Matt Warman said that the competition of the project is “a quiet revolution in the airwaves”.
Parts of the spectrum will still have to be auctioned, said Ofcom’s Spectrum Group Director Philip Marnick in a statement, but they will bring “better mobile and innovative new services”
Ofcom, will be releasing 80MHz of these airwaves for mobile companies to use at an auction expected to take place in January 2021.
It will also impose a 37 per cent cap on the overall spectrum that any one mobile company can hold following the auction, to ensure one company cannot achieve an unfair advantage.
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