EU says yes to spectrum refarming

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Following approval from the European Parliament, the EU Commission has agreed to re-farming the 900MHz frequency for 3G.

Mobile broadband

The European Commission has approved the re-farming of the 900MHz frequency bandwidth, so it can be used for3G Mobile Broadband.

It follows the European Parliament's backing of the scheme to update the GSM directive, which currently limits 900MHz to 2G, GPRS or GSM. It will also allow for future 4G services to be accommodated.

Viviane Reding, EU Telecoms Commissioner, said: "By updating the GSM Directive, the EU has paved the way for a new generation of services and technologies where Europe can be a world leader."

Not everyone will be celebrating the amendments, as Vodafone and O2, which owns most of the spectrum, will be forced to rethink its stance on sharing with smaller providers such as 3, Orange and T-Mobile.

The new directive should be signed in September and come into force in October this year.

Jennifer Scott
Jennifer Scott

Jennifer Scott is a former freelance journalist and currently political reporter for Sky News. She has a varied writing history, having started her career at Dennis Publishing, working in various roles across its business technology titles, including ITPro. Jennifer has specialised in a number of areas over the years and has produced a wealth of content for ITPro, focusing largely on data storage, networking, cloud computing, and telecommunications.

Most recently Jennifer has turned her skills to the political sphere and broadcast journalism, where she has worked for the BBC as a political reporter, before moving to Sky News.