The Government is to call on mobile providers to help achieve its goal of offering 98 per cent of the UK's population superfast broadband services by 2018.
According to a report by the Financial Times, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) will gather mobile operators around the table alongside other fixed line broadband providers to ramp up competition for the next phase of its rural broadband rollout.
The Government plans to allocate an extra 250 million to deliver superfast broadband to parts of the country not currently covered by the existing 530 million Broadband Deliver UK (BDUK) project, which aims to cover 90 per cent of the country by 2015.
The BDUK programme has come in for a fair amount of criticism since its creation, with spending watchdog the National Audit Office calling it a flawed, expensive process that has resulted in only BT winning all the contracts so far.
The DCMS hopes this next phase, looked upon as a separate process, will be more competitive and see rural communities being much more involved in the project.
Executives from EE, Three and Vodafone are thought to be attending the meeting, according to the Financial Times report, with 4G networks expected to fill in the connectivity gaps in coverage.
O2 already has a requirement as part of its licence to cover 98 per cent of the UK with 4G networks, although there is no guarantee that coverage will provide speeds fast enough to be considered superfast.
To qualify for funding, 4G operators will need to demonstrate they can attain the minimum threshold for superfast broadband of 30Mbps.
-
Should AI PCs be part of your next hardware refresh?AI PCs are fast becoming a business staple and a surefire way to future-proof your business
-
Westcon-Comstor and Vectra AI launch brace of new channel initiativesNews Westcon-Comstor and Vectra AI have announced the launch of two new channel growth initiatives focused on the managed security service provider (MSSP) space and AWS Marketplace.
-
Vodafone and Altice launch €7 billion joint venture in GermanyNews The British telco currently offers connections to over 24 million homes in Germany, its biggest market
-
EE rolls out 4G across Glasgow's underground networkNews The network is currently restricted to EE customers but is likely to expand in the near future
-
Nokia and NASA join forces to bring 4G to the moonNews Cellular service will provide the communications needed for meaningful moon exploration
-
Birmingham crowned the fastest UK city for 4G download speedsNews While Birmingham also recorded the highest speed hike over 2019, London came in at a middling 9th place
-
Vodafone to remove Huawei equipment from its core networksNews The decision comes after PM capped Huawei’s involvement in building the UK’s 5G telecoms network
-
LTE vs 4G: Which is better?In-depth Comparing LTE vs 4G has become common in recent years, but how exactly do they differ, and is 4G faster?
-
What is 4G?In-depth A look at the fourth generation of mobile networking technology and its availability in the UK
-
4G vs 5G - what's the difference?Vs From 3G to 4G, mobile connectivity has revolutionised our lives. Now 5G is set to do it again
