It’s official – 4G lobbying has started, as six of the world’s biggest mobile operators have formed a lobbying group. Next Generation Mobile Network (NGMN) Forum is formed by the Vodafone, T-Mobile, Orange, KPN, NTT DoCoMo and China Mobile. The goal is to prevent a repeat of the struggles operators faced from paying exorbitant amounts for 3G licenses and to allow operators to use their existing spectrum to run 4G, super fast wireless broadband services without seeing the governments cashing in.
The problem is that in Europe regulators have prohibited operators from migrating to more advanced technology in their existing GSM bands (in the US, operators don’t have to buy new spectrum). To provide such services as WiMAX and other wireless broadband technologies in Europe, operators would have to buy new spectrum.
I’m sure we’re all looking forward to higher speeds on our smartphones. We’ll see what will come from this. In the meantime, read The Guardian’s article with more in-depth info on the subject (registration required).