What if BT ditches WiMax for LTE?

Michelle Donegan

September 2, 2008

1 Min Read
Should BT Do LTE?

11:30 AM -- So, here's an interesting idea to ponder, thanks to a helpful reader: If BT decides to bid for spectrum in the delayed 2.6 GHz auction here in Little Britain, it should use it to roll out so-called 4G cellular technology Long-Term Evolution (LTE), not WiMax. Check out the reader comment to this recent Heavy Reading column. (See BT Suffers as Ofcom Delays 2.6GHz Auctions, BT's WiMax Wish, and BT Wants WiMax.)

T-Mobile and O2 have successfully delayed the 2.6 GHz mobile broadband auction -- and thereby the entry of new WiMax players in the U.K. -- through a legal challenge, but they should be careful what they wish for. If the auction is delayed for long enough, and if this idea about BT deploying LTE idea has any legs, the U.K.'s cellular operators could wind up with a formidable new 4G competitor. (See Ofcom Delays 2.6GHz Auction, UK Operators Brace for Spectrum Struggle, and UK WiMax Faces Spectrum Fight.)

Is this so wacky it just might work? Or is it more likely that BT will never get the green light from investors to spend billions on wireless spectrum, anyway?

— Michelle Donegan, European Editor, Unstrung

About the Author(s)

Michelle Donegan

Michelle Donegan is an independent technology writer who has covered the communications industry for the last 20 years on both sides of the Pond. Her career began in Chicago in 1993 when Telephony magazine launched an international title, aptly named Global Telephony. Since then, she has upped sticks (as they say) to the UK and has written for various publications including Communications Week International, Total Telecom and, most recently, Light Reading.  

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