The UK government is expected to intervene in the
dispute between mobile operators over sharing radio spectrum to
be used to provide wireless broadband to rural areas.
The government wants mobile operators to use the 900MHz
bandwidth to provide wireless broadband to areas where fixed line
broadband is too expensive.
This is a key part of the proposed Digital Britain project to
make a broadband connection of at least 2Mbps available throughout
the country.
Vodafone and O2 own the 900MHz spectrum and will have to reach
an agreement on sharing it with Orange, T-Mobile and 3 for
government plans to go ahead.
Lord Carter, the communications minister, set a deadline of
April 30 for the mobile operators to reach an agreement on trading
spectrum between themselves.
In February,
Carter summoned UK mobile phone operators to a meeting to discuss
ways of resolving the dispute.
Government ministers look likely to step in as industry-led
talks appear headed for failure, according to the Financial
Times.
Carter has said the government will support an "imposed
solution" to the spectrum dispute if an industry-led compromise is
not agreed by the end of April.
Mobile operators need to reach agreement soon if the government
is to meet its commitment to provide broadband to every UK home by
2012.