After years of waiting and months of speculation, the dates for the UK 4G auction have been announced by communications watchdog Ofcom - and its music to the ears of the UK government - who are expecting the sale to generate a windfall in excess of 3.5 Billion.
And as well as being a welcome relief to the government, the news also couldn't come a moment too soon for the service providers left trailing in the wake of Everything Everywhere's early adoption of the 4G network. Now, at least, the lucky auction winners will be able to activate their new networks by March 2013.
The guidelines set forth by Ofcom stipulate that any companies wishing to bid for the 4G mobile spectrum must have completed and submitted their applications - along with a 100,000 cash deposit - in full by December 11th, in order to be eligible to participate in the auction taking place in January 2013.
Both Vodafone and O2 will be especially keen to get their networks functioning as soon as possible - and make up lost ground on EE who launched their 4G network earlier this month - since it was revealed that EE's 4G network had experienced serious teething problems, resulting in large areas of their network not being able to access 4G connections.
And the new 4G network will also give British businesses the chance to catch up to their European rivals who have been enjoying the benefits of 4G technology for over a year - a long time in business.
The auction will also (finally) give all UK businesses the opportunity to catch up to the increased connection speeds that their European competitors have been enjoying for over a year - although still a long way off the speeds enjoyed by Japan, South Korea, the US and others.
The auction will also give a much needed boost to the country's economy, although a number of groups are lobbying the government to spend the money in their own sphere, with tech firms in particular calling for further investment to be made to Britain's digital infrastructure in order to ensure further benefits to companies in the future.
But regardless of how the funds may or may not be re-distributed, the fact that Britain will finally have a halfway decent telecommunications network will come as a welcome relief to all manner of businesses, consumers and service providers alike - and hopefully next time we won't all have to wait so long before the next upgrade.
And as well as being a welcome relief to the government, the news also couldn't come a moment too soon for the service providers left trailing in the wake of Everything Everywhere's early adoption of the 4G network. Now, at least, the lucky auction winners will be able to activate their new networks by March 2013.
The guidelines set forth by Ofcom stipulate that any companies wishing to bid for the 4G mobile spectrum must have completed and submitted their applications - along with a 100,000 cash deposit - in full by December 11th, in order to be eligible to participate in the auction taking place in January 2013.
Both Vodafone and O2 will be especially keen to get their networks functioning as soon as possible - and make up lost ground on EE who launched their 4G network earlier this month - since it was revealed that EE's 4G network had experienced serious teething problems, resulting in large areas of their network not being able to access 4G connections.
And the new 4G network will also give British businesses the chance to catch up to their European rivals who have been enjoying the benefits of 4G technology for over a year - a long time in business.
The auction will also (finally) give all UK businesses the opportunity to catch up to the increased connection speeds that their European competitors have been enjoying for over a year - although still a long way off the speeds enjoyed by Japan, South Korea, the US and others.
The auction will also give a much needed boost to the country's economy, although a number of groups are lobbying the government to spend the money in their own sphere, with tech firms in particular calling for further investment to be made to Britain's digital infrastructure in order to ensure further benefits to companies in the future.
But regardless of how the funds may or may not be re-distributed, the fact that Britain will finally have a halfway decent telecommunications network will come as a welcome relief to all manner of businesses, consumers and service providers alike - and hopefully next time we won't all have to wait so long before the next upgrade.
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Saul Saresi writes regularly about Voip technology and systems for his site VoIPDito business voip More information about Voip can be found by visiting his site voip for business
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