Three, O2, Vodafone and Meteor have been awarded licences that will see long-term evolution (LTE or 4G) mobile networks arive in Ireland from next year. The auction of space on the 1800MHz spectrum awarded licences covering two time periods (2013-2015 and 2015-2030) and will raise a total of €854.6 million of which €481.7 million will be paid up front.
LTE networks can deliver data speeds of 180Mb/s to mobile devices, roughly five times faster than 3G. The move will go some way to addressing EU targets of making minimim speeds of 20Mb/s available for all citizens by 2020.
Minister for communication, Energy and Natural Resource Pat Rabbitte said: "The outcome of this auction is to provide valuable spectrum for the rollout of advanced telecommunications services. The availability of spectrum in the 800Mhz band, for the first time, will allow telecommunications operators to provide new high speed broadband services that were not previously available. This particular band was made available following the successful switch over from analogue to digital TV three weeks ago.
"I expect that the telecoms companies who were the successful bidders will move quickly to build the infrastructure so that we can start to benefit from 4G mobile broadband services in 2013. This will be an important dimension of Ireland’s competitiveness in the coming years. It is a key component of the Government’s National Broadband Plan which envisages high speed broadband services being rolled out across Ireland in the lifetime of this Government."
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