* Posts by Stephen T

4 publicly visible posts • joined 23 Feb 2016

Expired cert... Really? #O2down meltdown shows we should fear bungles and bugs more than hackers

Stephen T

Prof Stephen Temple

It is perfectly possible for one UK mobile network to back up another without creating a domino effect. There are two solutions. The first is an official "telephone preference scheme" that has been around for years for the fixed network for a time of national crisis. This is where critical uses can be identified, put on a register and MNO's obliged to have a dormant contract with a second mobile operator to take over the "priority user's traffic" should the mobile network they subscribe to go down.

The second solution is a commercial solution where the automatic back-up on a second network is a premium service anyone can buy into. The price of the premium service is set so that the number of such premium customers can be handled by the second network. This commercial approach is a dream solution - critical users have peace of mind and mobile operators have a new stream of revenue that is literally money for old rope. What is there not to like about it? Ofcom could do everybody a huge favor by mandating every mobile operator offers a premium back-up offer to their customers.

UK mobe network Three launches legal challenge over spectrum auction

Stephen T

Three is just "game playing" the system. They've already acquired 50 MHz of valuable spectrum at 3.4 GHz by buying the fixed wireless operator "Relish". One suspects Three are deliberately delaying the 3.4 GHz auction just to give themselves a head start with rolling out 5G.

UK's EE scores network reliability clean sweep, rival dwarves fume

Stephen T

I cannot quite see the logic of the Three case about uneven spectrum. If BT/EE have the most current customers it follows they need the most spectrum to support them and conversely if Three has the least customers they need the least spectrum. Where Three are the creators of their own misfortune is that they never bothered to turn up to the last spectrum auction for 2.6 GHz spectrum and BT did. It would be a very strange auction indeed if Ofcom stopped the buyers at the last auction from turning up at the next one.

Cameron co-opts UK mobile industry for EU Remain campaign

Stephen T

EU and UK Mobile's future

Andrew Orlowski is right to point out that the EU Commission did not have a central role in the GSM initiative. However it is not correct to characterise it as a private initiative blessed later by Ministers in Bonn in 1987. Politically GSM was an EU inter-governmental initiative of the big four EU Countries, it was blessed by the 1986 European Council (chaired by Mrs Thatcher) and the Commission had a role to play in reserving the spectrum for GSM. So David Cameron does have a basis of historic fact for his comments. This does not take away from Andrew his good point about the Commission's limitations. However Cameron's point that the future of UK mobile is locked into the EU is certainly true if for no other reason that our radio spectrum framework is locked into Europe and spectrum will remain the raw material for 5G and every wireless revolution to come. Our main land trade route is also via EU countries. There are some good reasons for Brexit but mobile radio is not one of them.