The U.K’s Radiocommunications Agency confirmed Friday that it has awarded a license to
Tele2 (UK) Ltd.
to provide fixed wireless access services in
the 4GHz frequency band.
FWA provides fast Internet access as a radio-based
alternative to fixed “local loop” line networks.
Tele2 UK is a subsidiary of Millicom International
Cellular (MIC), one of the pioneers of wireless
telecommunications. The Tele2 Group is currently
building an advanced pan-European telecommunications
network for national and international long distance
telephony.
Tele2 (UK) Ltd. will launch the new 4GHz service in
the Leicester area and has plans to introduce a similar
service in the Nottingham, Bradford and Leeds areas in
the coming months.
Visitors to Tele2’s Web site will see that the company
has already been offering trials of its services
on a strictly local basis in the Thames Valley.
Its pricing structure, however, may well be affected
by BT’s introduction of ADSL services from July
onwards.
With Tele2, a permanent 128kbps connection to the
Internet currently costs £65 ($104) per month,
while BT’s faster ADSL connection, using the local
loop, will cost 30 per cent less.
Until recently the 4GHz frequency band was managed
by BT, which has now returned it to the
Radiocommunications Agency under an agreement to
transfer all of the fixed link spectrum to RA. It
is currently used by terrestrial point-to-point
microwave fixed links and satellite earth stations.
In Scandinavia Tele2 has over half a million Internet
customers and is the main alternative provider
of telephony services.