Airwaves cleared for 4G as Vodafone, O2 and Three play catch-up with EE

Ofcom says airwave clearance will be completed today, enabling new 4G services to launch in the UK

Clearance of the airwaves earmarked for 4G mobile broadband will be completed by regulators today, enabling new 4G services to launch in the UK.

Communications regulator Ofcom said that a large section of radio spectrum previously used for broadcasting digital TV channels and by wireless audio devices, such as wireless microphones, is being released for 4G.

The clearance has been achieved after a combination of 600 television transmitter upgrades by engineers and retuning of TV receivers carried out by viewers around the UK was completed, marking the end of a four year process. Wireless microphones will now also use alternative frequencies.

The final TV retune will be completed today by Freeview viewers in northern Scotland, and this will mean that the airwaves will be cleared five months ahead of schedule, Ofcom said.

The TV signal frequency sits within the 800MHz band, which Vodafone, Three and O2 have won spectrum for.

Currently, mobile operator EE is the only company with a 4G network in the UK, which it launched using the 1800MHz spectrum previously used for 2G services. Meanwhile, Vodafone, O2 and Three have yet to finalise a date for the launch of their 4G services, despite spending millions on mobile spectrum in the 4G auction held just five months ago.

Vodafone said it was expecting to roll out 4G services by "the end of the summer", and O2 has indicated that it will also launch its 4G service by September. Three has said it would launch 4G at some point in the last quarter of 2013.

However, adoption of 4G has not been ground breaking - EE claims it has 687,000 4G customers, which represents about 2.6 per cent of its overall customer base. It said it was on target to reach or exceed its goal of one million 4G customers by the end of 2013.

The other operators will have to offer customers an incentive to sign up to 4G if they are to keep up with EE, although Three has promised to upgrade existing users at no extra charge when it introduces its service.

Vodafone CEO Vittorio Colao claimed that his firm's 4G services will be of a better standard than EE's.

"We are convinced our own 4G will be better performing," he said.

However, consumers seem unconvinced of the need for 4G services, particularly because of the extra costs involved in signing up for a 4G contract. This could yet change when there are more 4G services available, as EE and the other mobile operators will have to slash their prices in order to attract customers to their respective offerings.