Spectrum Appeal filed by O2 against Ofcom

The prominent O2 mobile broadband network operating in the United Kingdom, O2 has filed an appeal to the tribunal of competition appeals to have Ofcom, the telecommunications regulator of the country, amend licence adhering to the European Union GSM directive.

As a matter of fact, an appeal has been filed by the mobile broadband provider with CAT (Competition Appeals Tribunal) asking the body to direct the regulator to amend its licence according to the amended European Union Directive that came into prominence in October 2009.

The fresh directive from the European Union calls for the European Union member states to avail 900MHz and 1800MHz frequency bands that are ideal for 2G rollout for 3G broadband services as well by May 9.

O2 said that it had forwarded a formal request to the regulator in March asking it to vary its licence according to the freshly amended EU Directive, besides allowing it to operate 3G broadband services at the 900MHz spectrum.

On the other hand, the telecoms watchdog have been unable to finalise a decision due to the uncertainty about the spectrum policy of the coalition government of the UK both before and after the general election.

According to a spokesman of O2, they required to start spectrum reallocation to make sure that their customers could carry on enjoying a network they could rely on. The person added that running 3G broadband services over the 2G spectrum of 90MHz band would help thm in meeting the ever-rising demand from users for mobile broadband in major cities.

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