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Ofcom's first 4G survey shows that speed isn't everything
All of Britain's major mobile networks have been offering 4G for a while now, but because all have their own infrastructure, speeds and coverage can vary wildly. Each carrier is quick to boast their own statistics, but thanks to Ofcom's first ever 4G research report (which tested networks in five of the biggest UK cities) we're finally able to separate fact from fiction. EE and O2 took first and second place in the all-important average download speed test, reaching 18.4Mbps and 15.6Mbps respectively, while Three claimed victory for the time needed to load a simple webpage. The carrier, which was originally a 3G-only operator and the last to offer its customers 4G connectivity, also took the gold medal for latency, which is crucial for video calls and apps that require fast response times.
Ofcom releases 2012/13 plan: no UK 4G until you've eaten your vegetables
UK telecoms regulator Ofcom has released its draft plans for 2012/13 with big changes ahead for nerds on this side of the Atlantic. The auctioning off of the 800MHz and 2.6GHz spectrums for 4G internet is coming as soon as the British FCC has booted off the remaining TV services that still use 'em. It's gonna open an online complaints site (for when the Saturday evening show of your choice offends you), crack down on slow broadband speeds and keep the airways clear for the Olympic Games. Nearly 16 percent of Scotland and five percent of Wales has non-existent mobile coverage, something Ofcom's pledging to fix. TV-on-demand content also better keep its nose clean over the next 18 months -- it'll be getting the same level of government scrutiny that standard broadcasts receive. Rather wisely, the paper buries the real bad news: it looks like there won't be nationwide 4G mobile internet until 2015 -- so you win this round, America.
Report: UK couch potatoes switch to HD in growing numbers
According to Ofcom's latest Communications Market Report, 24 million HDTV sets were sold in the UK over the past 12 months, meaning about 20 percent of the population took home a new box in the past year. Yet despite watching nearly four hours of "telly" a day in 2009, in first 3 months of 2010, nearly a third of all households with internet access used on-demand catch-up services like the BBC's iPlayer, which represents an 8 percent growth over the same period last year. This data isn't all that surprising though considering the how much HD content has been made available in the UK over the last few years through free options such as Freeview HD, or premium services like Sky HD or Virgin Media. It's also still far behind US HDTV penetration, which stood at 33 percent back in 2009 and saw 5.5 million HDTVs sold during the 2008 / 2009 holiday season alone. That fact shouldn't stop electronics manufacturers from diving Scrooge McDuck style into their newly acquired money bags, or prevent newly minted British HD households from marveling at how ugly Jeremy Clarkson is in 1080p.
