UK has worse wireless broadband than Mongolia
The UK has slower wireless broadband networks than Uzbekistan and Mongolia, according to Wireless Intelligence, an analytical arm of the GSM Association.
While regulator Ofcom and network carriers ponder how to move Britain onto 4G LTE services, with arrival not expected until 2014 at the earliest, smartphone surfers in Uzbekistan, Poland and other countries are already using commercial rollouts of the technology.
The UK, by comparison, is two generations behind – relying on HSPA 3G technology. Three says customers using these services can get access at up to 5.6Mbits/sec, but average download speeds are 1.5Mbits/sec.
Meanwhile, trials of LTE by O2 have demonstrated download speeds of between 65Mbits/sec and 150Mbits/sec.
Stepping stone
In between these two services is a stepping stone technology known as HSPA+ that offers significant throughput improvements on its predecessor, with rates starting from 14.4Mbits/sec.
Although Britons might expect to be lagging behind Japan and Singapore, who are already using commercial HSPA+ services, it might come as a surprise to find that networks in Armenia, Mongolia, Indonesia and the Faroe Islands have also stolen a march on the UK.
HSPA+ services are expected to arrive in the UK to alleviate network congestion, but no carrier has so far announced a commercial launch.
While regulator Ofcom and network carriers ponder how to move Britain onto 4G LTE services, with arrival not expected until 2014 at the earliest, smartphone surfers in Uzbekistan, Poland and other countries are already using commercial rollouts of the technology.
The UK, by comparison, is two generations behind – relying on HSPA 3G technology. Three says customers using these services can get access at up to 5.6Mbits/sec, but average download speeds are 1.5Mbits/sec.
Meanwhile, trials of LTE by O2 have demonstrated download speeds of between 65Mbits/sec and 150Mbits/sec.
Stepping stone
In between these two services is a stepping stone technology known as HSPA+ that offers significant throughput improvements on its predecessor, with rates starting from 14.4Mbits/sec.
Although Britons might expect to be lagging behind Japan and Singapore, who are already using commercial HSPA+ services, it might come as a surprise to find that networks in Armenia, Mongolia, Indonesia and the Faroe Islands have also stolen a march on the UK.
HSPA+ services are expected to arrive in the UK to alleviate network congestion, but no carrier has so far announced a commercial launch.
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