EC plans wireless broadband for all

Author: Gareth Halfacree
Published: 30th October 2009
Comments (22) Stumble
EC plans wireless broadband for all

You won't need these - the EC is hoping to offer wireless broadband to all European citizens.

The EC has outlined its plans to bring wireless broadband to the entirety of Europe using the space cleared by the closure of the analogue TV service.

According to an article over on V3.co.uk, the European Commission is looking to offer the radio frequency spectrum freed up by the closure of Europe's analogue TV service to "innovative providers of technology services," which it hopes will help the European Union meet its target of offering broadband coverage to all citizens by 2013.

As well as offering high-speed Internet connectivity to all, the EC believes that use of the freed spectrum will generate between £18 billion and £45 billion for the European economy - figures that are certainly not to be sniffed at as many countries are still limping out of recession.

In order to fully free the important part of the spectrum - the range between 790MHz and 862MHz, which offers both improved penetration of buildings and excellent range when compared to higher wavelengths - the EU commissioner for information society and media Viviane Reding is encouraging all EU member nations to pick up the pace with the digital TV roll-out and complete the transition to digital TV by the start of 2012.

With the technology already in place to offer a stable 12Mb/s connection wirelessly - as Nokia has proven with its Long Term Evolution project - re-use of the old TV spectrum in this manner could finally bring affordable broadband to those in rural areas not covered by cable or ADSL providers.

Do you believe that the EU's plan to offer wireless broadband to all is a great use of the analogue TV spectrum, or would you rather they simply increased the availability of ADSL? Share your thoughts over in the forums.
Quote Paradigm Shifter 30th October 2009, 14:02
It's not a bad idea, certainly. Whether it gets anywhere, after the bureaucrats have had a chance to mangle it is another matter entirely. Oh, and while 18-45 billion sounds like a lot, it really isn't. Bear in mind that the UK Govts. official 'debt' is currently 800 billion, rising to 1.4 trillion by next year... and if you take a more impartial estimate on the UK's debt, it stands now at 2.2 trillion. I can write the figure down, but I just can't comprehend that much in terms of money... not when an average person earns less than £25,000 a year.
Quote Sleepstreamer 30th October 2009, 14:35
And how would their antipiracy-suing-scheme work if everyone use a single open network? I must be missing something...
Quote Jamie 30th October 2009, 14:47
Where does the upstream come from?
Quote alpaca 30th October 2009, 14:53
does this mean everybody needs new network hardware?
Quote Blademrk 30th October 2009, 15:08
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jamie
Where does the upstream come from?

Was wondering that myself, would everyone need to have their own RF transmitter?
Quote Isitari 30th October 2009, 15:20
I'm afraid the national debt i.e. Personal debt of individuals, is far higher. It already stand at £1.5 trillion. All this sort of info can be found here: http://www.creditaction.org.uk/debt-statistics.html If you want to make yourself sad about how in debt we all are ;P.
Quote oatey4519 30th October 2009, 15:40
Thanks for that...

I think its a great idea - give it a go anyway.
Can't see upstreaming being any different then it is now..
Quote frojoe 30th October 2009, 15:58
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jamie
Where does the upstream come from?

I believe it works the same way data on a cell network works, just on a different spectrum. So yes you would need a radio for upsream.
Quote Woodspoon 30th October 2009, 17:03
How much is this going to cost us?
It's all very well and groovy the EU coming up with these ideas but it's our pockest it eventually comes out of, so how much is it going to cost me?
Quote Star*Dagger 30th October 2009, 17:42
This is a good thing to raise taxes a little bit for. The Common Good!
Quote HourBeforeDawn 30th October 2009, 18:14
okay you need to change the New sub titles from "Wireless broadband access for all!" to "Wireless broadband access for all in Europe!" ><
Quote Gareth Halfacree 30th October 2009, 18:26
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sleepstreamer
And how would their antipiracy-suing-scheme work if everyone use a single open network? I must be missing something...
It wouldn't be open - the EC is planning to offer access to the wireless broadband system, in the same way as you have access to a GPRS wireless system - you still need to pay for a contract (or PAYG SIM, pedants) and hardware in order to actually use it and can thus be tracked.
Quote s1n1s 30th October 2009, 19:09
I an't quite understand how this would work goes above my head but how would the speeds be for uploading and downloading etc better or worse than now
Quote tranc3 30th October 2009, 23:43
And here we are. 20 yards away from a wire. that they won't run to me.
Quote livesabitch 31st October 2009, 02:59
hmmm that interesting! well iphone on a good connection all the time a! might see what happens with this!
Quote Bazz 31st October 2009, 03:20
Like this will ever happen, too much polotics involved.
Quote Fused 31st October 2009, 12:17
If wireless broadband was available everywhere, if you had a phone capable of accessing wireless networks what would be the point in a mobile phone contract (mobile phone system)? When we could just skype anyone we want for free? (well obviously paying for the wireless broadband service but not for individual calls).
Quote TomH 31st October 2009, 12:59
Quote:
Originally Posted by Blademrk
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jamie
Where does the upstream come from?

Was wondering that myself, would everyone need to have their own RF transmitter?
This is part of the reason why it needs to go through the EC - licensing. Your 802.11 cards are tightly restricted to two 'ISL' bands that are unlicensed, and in sort-of the same fashion, mobile handsets are limited to specific frequency bands by license. So yes, the upstream frequency would certainly require its own radio in your CPE but it would of course be tightly locked to the frequencies allowed by the license given to your service provider.

It's only when you're allowed free reign across frequencies in the UK that you personally need to be a licensed operator.

I like the idea of re-using the analogue signal for this (or at least part of it) and LTE should make great use of it now and into the future, but I was still looking forward to having more HD channels over DVB-T2 in all fairness! There's always FreeSAT I suppose. :)
Quote LAGMonkey 31st October 2009, 19:02
of course this is an EU directive. who knows if OFCOM are going to listen or just stick their fingers in their ears and go "la-la-la". They've done it before and will prob. do it again!

As for the rest of the world. ill stick with me sat internet for the time being, reliable and stable. I like the 3.5G dongle i have but it just cant compete when your stuck in the desert with no phone signal (which isnt THAT often to be honest these days).
Quote Timmy_the_tortoise 31st October 2009, 22:04
When it comes to internet connection.. I just think that wireless is too unreliable.

I'd much rather they improved the hard-wired infrastructure to improve ADSL speeds.
Quote eddtox 1st November 2009, 10:30
Quote:
Originally Posted by Timmy_the_tortoise
When it comes to internet connection.. I just think that wireless is too unreliable.

I'd much rather they improved the hard-wired infrastructure to improve ADSL speeds.

I don't think the two are mutually exclusive. This is just another step towards making the internet available to everyone, whether that is wirelessly or through the various wired alternatives. I certainly don't think Virgin media or other ISP are going to say "Well, nevermind our wired network which we spent billions developing. We'll let that rot and move to wireless." :-P . I think there will always be companies and individuals who prefer the greater speed and reliability achievable through wired networks. However, for your average citizen it makes it that much easier to start crossing the digital divide.

ed
Quote Panos 2nd November 2009, 12:12
Since EU is planning to go wireless, why do I have to pay in UK the 5 pounds phone tax, so BT can put broadband exhanges in rich peoples country houses?
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