European Union telecom ministers have given their support for a plan to open the 900Mhz radio frequencies that have traditionally been allocated for GSM mobile phone service to allow advanced mobile services like 3G wireless data networks. The plan was proposed back in July and was backed by the GSMA on grounds that the 900Mhz spectrum offers 40% greater coverage than a comparable 3G network using the 2100Mhz spectrum. It’s said that 300 million across Asia, Europe, and Africa will have access to mobile broadband services by 2012 if 3G services were allowed on the 900Mhz band.
The only thing standing in the way is a 20-year old piece of EU legislation that limits the lower radio frequencies to traditional mobile communications. But, once the European Parliament approves the plan, new legislation would effectively abolish the current laws keeping 3G services off the 900Mhz spectrum. We’re not sure when we’ll get word of the European Parliament’s thumbs-up, but 3G (and 4G) are going to get a pretty big boost once they do.
[Via: Reuters]