4g spectrum auction delay.

Sponge Bob

Supposed to be held by Tuesday next but I hear it may even be october-march next.

Anyone else got any idea and why are they delaying again?

Salvation

Well the delay most likely is down to the current idiot government not knowing what they are doing that is most likely the main cause!

Sponge Bob

Idiot regulator you mean. Their project entirely.

Salvation

Yep them aswell

Maybe we will have 4G by 2020!!!

clohamon

Sponge Bob wrote: »

Supposed to be held by Tuesday next but I hear it may even be october-march next.

Anyone else got any idea and why are they delaying again?

I believe himself is away.
http://www.independent.ie/business/irish/comreg-boss-sent-back-to-study-on-threeweek-13000-harvard-course-3175380.html

Sponge Bob

Himself should not matter, apparently there is some problem with spectrum 'trading' rights meaning a consultation all summer and a decision perhaps in the late Autumn or early winter and then perhaps an auction.

I've completely lost track of Comreg and ther sh1tehawking now. It is interminable.

Sierra Oscar

Was the auction confirmed to take place by Tuesday next? Cannot seem to find much information on the timeline for the auction.

cookie1977

Lets be honest. Why would the networks rush to getting heavily involved (cost wise and all that) with 4G when they're still making stonking money from 3G.

Sponge Bob

Technically the 'auction' could be over since last Friday when applications and deposits were due...but why have we heard nothing.?

cookie1977

Oh they might buy the licences but when will they get around to implement the technology. They'll just hold them so no one else can get them and use them.

Sierra Oscar

Sponge Bob wrote: »

Technically the 'auction' could be over since last Friday when applications and deposits were due...but why have we heard nothing.?

Pretty awful communication by ComReg eitherway.

Tomk1

I don't understand the whole auction thing, it just seem counterproductive.
Why doesn't comreg put the infrastructure in place and then charge the carriers.

It's like the gov gets a lump sum of money from a provider who then has no more money to put the service into place.

I thought the whole point was to roll out real broadband faster and to everyone, so Ireland could become an e-ecconomy.

Looking back at what happened with 3G, each provider had to cop up money to pay for their own transmitters, aerials, sites & maintenance cost, and the new tech, rather than pool the money together and share a superfast service. At the moment I have to go the roof to get o2-3G, yet a network search on the ground has 3 & Voda -3G.

To me it makes more sense for providers to pay one government 4G shared network service (but not like eircom owning the land-lines ie. not being a provider), The more money a provider invests gives a higher bandwidth useage but not a monopoly.
-otherwise by the time 4G comes out it will allready have been superseeded, as broadband useage is going to constantly increase, not that what we have at the moment falls into the technical definition of broadband, maybe min-broadband, it's just a marketing tool. (ie. recently came across an old newspaper with an add for Irelands fastest internet speed which would make you laugh today) basically next it will something like super-broadband or hyperband

Point is we are allways at least a few years behind other countries.

So my opinion is skip the auction, even give the licences out for free/min-fee and roll it out asap rather than bankrupt whoever buys the licence and it'll be another decade before 90% of the country has coverage, when 8G or whatever is the new tech.

clohamon

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2012:081:0007:0017:EN:PDF

DECISION No 243/2012/EU OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL of 14 March 2012 establishing a multiannual radio spectrum policy programme


2. In order to promote wider availability of wireless broadband services for the benefit of citizens and consumers in the Union, Member States shall make the bands covered by Decisions 2008/411/EC (3,4-3,8GHz), 2008/477/EC (2,5- 2,69 GHz), and 2009/766/EC (900-1 800 MHz) available under terms and conditions described in those decisions. Subject to market demand, Member States shall carry out the authorisation process by 31 December 2012 without prejudice to the existing deployment of services, and under conditions that allow consumers easy access to wireless broadband services.

4. By 1 January 2013, Member States shall carry out the authorisation process in order to allow the use of the 800 MHz band for electronic communications services. The Commission shall grant specific derogations until 31 December 2015 for Member States in which exceptional national or local circumstances or cross-border frequency coordination problems would prevent the availability of the band, acting upon a duly substantiated application from the Member State concerned.

There's a 'get out' in both of them, but it looks like the end of the year is the general deadline.