Back in November 2007 Finland became host to the world’s first 3G network that used the 900 MHz band. This was an important milestone because for as long as anyone can remember Europe had standardized on using the 2100 MHz band for high speed mobile broadband. With time several other countries deployed similar networks, more recently with O2 in the UK and now today with Three in Sweden. The reason why an operator would want to switch on a 900 MHz network is simple economics really, compared to a cell site that operates at the 2100 MHz band, one that uses 900 MHz can cover an area 4x as large, not to mention better penetrate buildings, therefore reducing the need for microcells. Another benefit to switching to 900 MHz for 3G is that it’s a more spectrally efficient technology, so more calls and data can be handled per cell site compared to older 2G technologies. Many mobile phones on the market now have dual mode and even triple mode 3G to make use of these lower frequencies, with one notable exception, Apple’s iPhone.
Europe has traditionally reserved the 900 MHz and 1800 MHz bands for voice, but recently the EU has agreed to let operators use said spectrum for deploying 4G networks, something called refarming. Orange, T-Mobile, and TeliaSonera have urged the industry to standardize on LTE in the 1800 MHz for Europe, and leave 900 MHz for 3G or 2G. It wouldn’t surprise us to hear about several European operators deciding to switch off their 2G networks around 2015; Japan has already done that. Anyway, if you’re in Sweden, and have a handset that you purchased in the last year or two, you should start noticing improved coverage right away. Three says that their new 900 MHz network can deliver speeds of around 16 Mbps, which isn’t quite as fast as their network on the 2100 MHz band, but give them some time and they’ll fix that.