The regulator said yes to requests coming from mobile operators.
Background: Earlier this year, the four UK mobile operators (EE, Three, O2, and Vodafone) requested changes to their spectrum licences in the 3.4–3.6GHz range. These changes would update the technical conditions in each licence, to align them to the recent European Union Harmonisation Decision on the 3.4–3.8GHz band.
The decision: Ofcom ran a consultation, starting 18 April 2019, provisionally stating it was minded to agree to the variation. Back then, the regulator also noted this would be consistent with the proposed conditions for the award in the 700MHz and 3.6–3.8GHz bands. The updates include the addition of new emissions limits for Active Antenna Systems (AAS) that are relevant to the deployment of 4G and 5G systems in the 3.4–3.8GHz band. This should facilitate the future rollout of high capacity 5G services in a key spectrum band.
What does this mean in practice? Operators will now be able to deploy AAS systems. These can help deliver higher-quality mobile services in busy areas, by increasing network capacity and allowing spectrum to be transmitted to people’s devices more directly, so they get a stronger signal. The changes come into effect on 26 June 2019.
