4G - Not for 'Free'

[Quillan]

Seems 'Free' has lost out and won't be getting a 4G licence.

http://www.lemonde.fr/economie/article/2011/12/22/deuxieme-round-d-encheres-pas-de-licence-4g-pour-free_1622021_3234.html

I like the comment from 'Free' about it "not being important for us" well what about it's customers, it may be important for them.

[NormanH]

I don't suppose that the friendship between Martin Bouygues and Sarkozy could have any possible bearing on the matter ??? [;-)]

[Quillan]

[quote user="NormanH"]I don't suppose that the friendship between Martin Bouygues and Sarkozy could have any possible bearing on the matter ??? [;-)]
[/quote]

Oh Norman you old sceptic you. [:D] I mean who ever heard of a corrupt French president. [8-|]

[pachapapa]

Mentioned elsewhere in the context of the wider implications of SFR winning TWO of the licences and the ability of Free to rent use of SFR 4G services. It should be remembered that Free will be rolling out their competitive 3G+ mobile service BEFORE the 15th january 2012.

23/12/2011, 10:48
pachapapa Joined on 02/06/2008 Posts 4,733	Re: Buying a television - Idiots guidance required please.
	The UK arrived late in the Full HD 1080 p/i terrestrial television and is already using DVB-T2; france is still on DVB-T and will only start with DVB-T2 in 2016. For example the next 6 channels on TNT to be awarded in march 2012 will be in DVB-T of which two in HD. OT but relevant possibly, yesterday thursday the 4G licences were awarded with SFR getting two of the four available meaning Free will have the right to piggy back on SFR; the 4G will give stratospheric bandwidths on Smart Phones more than sufficient for HD TV. The 4G is a direct result of the complete move to digital TNT so that the previous analogue 800 mhz bands will be used. It will all be functionong in 2013. So if you are thinking of taking a french TV back to the UK it may not give the full HD channel capability. UK TV to france assuming that the model is recent will not be a problem until 2016. In my opinion on the basis of the 2016 schedule and the probability that 4G Smart Phone may change usage preferences, it is more important to ensure that a new TV has DVB-S2 tuning capabilities for satellite reception as this is already relevant on pay sat TV services. Delivery care is important with large flat screen TVs with the Plasma TVs being particularly subject to screen cover fracture or damage, I had problems with mine and due to delaying more than 10 days in making a claim, I had to use the samsung Guarantee service. In future I shall in future use this service as the regional centre is in Tours with collection of defective equipment on a weekly basis using the firms own transport vehicules. OK enough for now but just one more point if you buy Samsung in the product code an B is 2009, a C is 2010, a D is 2011, a E  is 2012. It is close to 2012 so you might be able to get a discount on a D 2011 model, even though the 2012 models are unlikely to be released prior to the Electronics Show in LA in march. A D 2011 will have DVB-S2, a C may not .    Report

[Quillan]

Yes but the reality of 3G+ which has been around in the UK for a while is that with five bar reception speed rarely gets above 3Mbit/sec and often hovers around the 2.6 to 2.8 Mbit/sec. The alleged ability that 4G will be around 100Mbit/sec is yet to be tested in the real world although on the Gadget show where they demoed it they were getting above 90Mbit/sec. Considering what they want to use 4G for I can't see that 3G+ is going to get anywhere near the starting block. The other issue is coverage in France. I get an excellent signal with my SFR phone where I live (5 bars) but we don't have 3G. You have to go to big towns and then you might get it. Looking at a 3G map of France there is a hell of a big area not covered so what chance for 3G+? Actually just played around on the website I was looking at and SFR seems to give the biggest 3G coverage in France which I didn't know when I bought the phone by the way as data transfer is too expensive in France.

Talking of price at current rates (using 3G prices as an example) 5 seconds of 4G download at 100Mbit/sec will cost you about 24 Euros. I can't see this happening when things get up and running but it would be interesting to see just how much people will be charged for data transfer.